Chapter 3

Xavier was used to driving in silence, but he needed to let her in on some secrets.

“As you heard before, my name is Xavier Delgado,” Xavier started.

Jessica was brought back to reality by his voice, breaking her chain of thought. She turned to face him to take in all that he had to say. Since he needed a wife, there must be a backstory.

“My grandfather is sick and in the hospital, and he had been hugging me to get married. I was going to get married to a girl from a wedding agency, but she didn’t show up, so I got married to you.”

“I had told my grandfather that we have been dating for a year now, and that’s why we got married.”

“Okay,” Jessica responded.

“What do you do?” Xavier asked her when he saw her respond.

“I’m an assistant chef at L’Verine restaurant,” Jessica answered.

Xavier knew the place, where he had dined several times. He wondered if she had seen him. The thought of her approaching him on purpose, since she knew he was rich, crossed his mind, but he did not bother.

He knew that he would settle for an amicable divorce after a year. Even if his grandfather were still alive by then, it would be easier to convince him of why they decided to divorce.

“But you will tell my grandfather that you are currently studying for a Ph.D.,” He said

“What do you do?” Jessica asked.

Xavier wondered whether she was being truthful or pretending not to know him.

“You don’t know me?” Xavier asked. Although he was a man of few words, he was always curious and made sure to satisfy it, which made him a good listener to everyone. His curiosity fueled him to ask if she knew him.

“Are you a celebrity?” she asked back. “Even if you were one. I would not know you. I barely have time to make enough money for myself, so I barely know anything about my environment,” Jessica confessed.

She was horrible at taking note of her surroundings. She could barely tell the difference between celebrities, fell asleep when watching movies, and only listened to old music. She heard a new song on the bus or in a taxi.

“No, I’m not,” Xavier answers.

It was the first time he met a girl who did not recognize him. He thought that they all knew him and drooled over his pictures in business and fashion magazines. After all, he was an icon in both worlds.

“I work in Braxton Industries,” He said.

“Which of them?” she asked happily.

The only reason she knew Braxton was that she applied to work as an assistant chef in their hotel. She was never given, but she applied every year while working at L’Verine.

“All of them,” Xavier said.

For some weird reason, Xavier’s answer made her laugh. Well, since the morning, she had barely had a good laugh. She had to give it to him for making her laugh.

“What do you mean by all of them?” she asked while cleaning the tear that fell from her laugh.

“I’m the chairman’s grandson,” Xavier answered nonchalantly.

“What?” Jessica asked, her eyes widening beyond their capacity.

“I’m the heir of Braxton Industries,” He said again. He must truly confess that he had a great deal of patience today. He answered all of her questions without getting angry.

“What?” Jessica asked again.

Did she just get legally hooked on a billionaire?

“Any other thing I need to know before meeting your grandfather?” Jessica said as they pulled into the hospital parking lot.

“He is always tired because of the liver cancer, so he can barely talk. Let’s just greet him for today, and that would be all,” He replied.

He hoped that getting to the hospital room would at least get him to stop talking at last.

“Okay then,” Jessica said, pulling out a small mirror in her bag. She checked her image and practiced smiling. If they were dating, she had to make it believable that she was happy to be married to a stranger.

Xavier stared at her as she did so. There was something very different about her. She has an aura surrounding her that he cannot explain.

“Shall we?” Xavier asked, unclasping his seat belt and opening the door. Jessica did the same, and they both came down.

“Here is the ring. I hope it fits,” Xavier said, pulling out two rings from his pocket. One has a diamond head crest inside a gold band; the other has small diamond stones cresting a gold band as well.

Jessica collected the ring and put it on. She could not believe that she got to wear a diamond ring. The best Burke could have given her would have been a stainless band painted gold, yet her heart still yearned for him. The ring fit perfectly, as if she had gotten her fingers measured for it.

“Stay close,” Xavier said.

Xavier sounded cold to Jessica, but one could still hear his concern and warmth. She believes that he put on a cold, I-don’t-care front to keep people away from him.

It was obvious that that was what he did. Although she was not vested in the recent news and happening there was not a single soul living in Chiachester City who didn’t know of the brutal death his parents faced.

Some people even thought they were intentionally killed, but the police investigation concluded it was an accident when the other drunk man driving the truck was caught.

The culprit was charged with hit and run and imprisoned for only a year, and was let go afterward.

Xavier must be putting up a front to protect himself from letting anyone in and then having to lose them.

Here he was about to lose his grandfather, who was now the only person he had in his life.

“I was wondering what gook you so long,” Dawson said.

He had been expecting his grandson to come, since his grandson had promised to bring a wife today.

“There was a little issue at the courthouse,” Xavier replied.

Dawson had expected Xavier to show up with an excuse as to why he had no wife, but to his surprise, he was with his wife. He wondered where Xavier had seen a wife. He knew for a fact that he had no girlfriend, like he always said.

He only let him get away with it because he knew the struggle his grandson was having to accept more people into his life. Here he was accompanied by a girl accompanying him. He wondered where she came from and if she would turn out to be a good match for his grandson.

He planned to leave him with a good person. He would fall in love later.