(Not) The Billionaire’s Replacement Bride

Chris chuckled. But he then followed Ariana to the trunk and helped the girl unload her actual luggage, not much. “Have you been virgins?” sneered Chris.

Ariana kicked the man’s leg until the man groaned. “Damn you!” he cursed. He pulled a paper bag from the trunk roughly. When he turned around, he saw Gerald staring intently at him.

“What is he doing here?” asked the man sarcastically.

“Suits me. This is a public place,” Chris replied before Ariana could retort. Fine, let these ownerless dogs bicker with each other. Ariana chose to ignore them and went back towards the restaurant entrance. “What about you? Why are you here?” Chris’s question reached Ariana’s ears before she opened the door.

“Finding my wife,” Gerald answered. He walked closer, and perhaps due to his long legs or maybe he was half-running, because his steps were in line with Ariana’s when she opened the door.

Amber stared at the three of them in turn. Her face clearly displayed her confusion. But Ariana ignored her. “We have two guests coming to our restaurant this early. Maybe they’ll ask for breakfast. Ask Jody to make breakfast for them. And then, charge them according to the restaurant booking rate. Split it into two,” she instructed Amber and then continued walking upstairs to the second floor.

“Where are you going?” “Where are you going?”

Both questions were thrown simultaneously, making Ariana stop in her tracks. “To the bathroom!” she replied nonchalantly. Amber chuckled while Chris frowned. He didn’t know Gerald’s reaction as he chose to continue his steps towards the second floor promptly.

Once at her room, she went in and locked herself in. Why did problems have to come at the crack of dawn like this? She grumbled in annoyance.

Ariana decided to open the contents of the paper bag that Chris brought. Everything she bought with her money was inside, complete. Nothing was missing. Ariana smiled happily.

She was neatly folding all the clothes and underwear she had bought, ready to put them in the wardrobe when a knock on the door sounded. “Who is it?” “Amber!” her cousin answered from outside.

“What’s up?” Ariana asked again. She didn’t even intend to open the door. “How long are you going to seclude yourself?”

“Until Mount Bromo runs out of sand. Why?” Ariana asked irritably.

“Two people downstairs are having a cold war. Don’t you want to intervene?” Amber replied with a pleading tone. “For those already fighting, just pour hot water on them. What’s the big deal?” Ariana ordered irritably.

Amber hesitated. “As if they’re cats fighting. You’re cruel, too. How can you pour hot water on someone?”

Ariana snorted. “You said they were having a cold war. Fine, help me heat things up,” she shouted. She could hear Amber stomping her foot in frustration. But Ariana didn’t care. She chose to go inside her room, disregarding whether Amber was still waiting outside or not.

A few minutes later, the door was knocked on again, this time with force. Not just a knock, but a loud bang. Irritated, Ariana walked towards the door, expecting it to be Amber, but then regretted assuming so because there stood Gerald and Chris. Both of them seemed to be banging on the door simultaneously.

Ariana looked at them alternately, folding her arms in front of her chest and wearing an annoyed expression. “What now?” she asked. “What are you doing here?”

“Why aren’t you coming down?”

Once again, they asked simultaneously.

Ariana glanced at Gerald and replied, “This is my room, and I can do whatever I want here.” Then she looked at Chris. “It’s up to me whether I want to go down or not.” Then she glanced back and forth between them. “So why are you both here?” she asked, annoyed.

“Following you.”

“Following you!”

They both answered simultaneously again. Ariana wanted to laugh but managed to hold it back. “So what do you want?”

Gerald clamped his hand over Chris’s mouth with full force. “I’m here to have breakfast with you. And I’ve paid a lot for it. I can’t possibly eat alone,” Gerald then removed his hand and roughly wiped it on his pants while glaring at Chris. Meanwhile, Chris shrugged and looked at Ariana.

“You told Jody to cook, she made plenty. How can you not eat?” he said. Ariana looked at Chris a bit longer, then nodded. “You’re right. Poor Jody who cooked a lot,” she replied. Ariana simply accepted Chris’s offer of help and ignored Gerald. He stared at Ariana with his mouth agape, not expecting that she would choose Chris over her own husband. Nevertheless, Gerald followed them downstairs.

Vivan, who had been standing still, watched the three of them come down the stairs together. She was clearly trying to hold back her laughter, observing Gerald’s irritated expression as he walked behind the two in front of him.

Amber and Jody, both considered Ariana’s staff, stood frozen near the table. The dining table, which was usually set for two, had been combined into one. And the chairs were lined up in threes, facing each other. In front of each chair was a plate of fried rice. Gerald’s statement turned out to be a lie. Ariana sighed. “Cooked a lot of what? It’s just fried rice, Jody can make it in less than five minutes,” she complained, glaring at Chris.

“Yeah, there are six plates. There’s no way I could eat all of this alone,” Chris replied. He then pulled out one of the chairs and let Ariana sit there. Gerald glared at him.

Ariana sat down, and then the two men sat on her left and right. Amber glared at Ariana, while Jody and Vivan seemed to be holding back their laughter at the antics of the three people in front of them.

Without any small talk, Ariana grabbed a spoon and started eating, even before the others had properly sat down. Her intention was to eat quickly, finish her breakfast, and return to her room upstairs. Or else she would kick out her three annoying guests. Yes, three guests, because she counted Gerald’s assistant as one of them.

“Eat slowly, why? I won’t ask for it,” Chris warned. Ariana ignored him.

Ariana swallowed her food without chewing properly. She might feel full and hungry again quickly, but she didn’t care. What she really wanted right now was not to see those two there.

“Stop bothering her, will you?” Amber replied. “Besides, what’s wrong with both of you? Coming here early in the morning and making a scene. Are you acting like Popeye and Brutus chasing after Olive?” Amber asked, her tone sharp.

Ariana laughed, while Chris and Gerald just looked at Amber with confused expressions. “So, which one of you is Popeye, and who’s Brutus?” she asked.

Amber nodded towards Gerald. “He’s SweePea’s father.” And that answer made Ariana burst into laughter.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.