Alvera,the Revenger,Married the Billionaire novel Chapter 40

Alvera hung up the phone and looked into the shadows at the door.

"Mr. Francois, you'll scare someone to death standing there in the middle of the night."

"Where have you been? Why did you come back so late?" he demanded.

Without thinking, she lied, "I took a walk after dinner."

"You're so dense. Aren't you afraid of getting into danger again?"

Alvera gave him a half-hearted smile and stepped up to the door to open it.

"You didn't bring your keys?"

He did not respond as he followed her into the house.

Alvera turned on the lights and bent down to take off her shoes. 

She could smell the alcohol on Roland as he approached her while she was changing into her slippers.

She backed away from him nonchalantly. "You reek of alcohol."

...

She dropped the keys on the table and poured a glass of water for him.

Both of them did not talk about what happened a week before tacitly.

Roland took the glass and sat down on the sofa.

"How's work these few days? Are you getting familiar with it?"

"It's fine."

Her smile was the same as always, distant and reserved.

Roland stared at her for a long time.

Finally, he patted the seat beside her. "Come and sit here."

"I've had a heavy dinner, so I'll just stand."

"I'm not going to eat you."

"I'm too big for you to eat."

"Were you so insufferable when you were with Antoine?"

"When I was with Antoine?" she repeated to herself silently. 

She looked out of the window into the dark night.

At that time, she was just seventeen or eighteen-year-old.

She had hopes and dreams for her future.

At that time, she could fill the sky with laughter when she was sitting behind him on his bicycle.

At that time...

She frowned, then shook her head and smiled. "No, at that time, I was very cute."

Roland's expression turned cold. "Never mind, I'm not interested in your sappy love life."

"I wasn't going to tell you even if you were interested." She yawned.

"It's getting late. I'm going upstairs to take a bath. Remember to lock the door when you leave later."

"My driver has  left. Are you asking me to drive while I'm drunk?"

Alvera looked at him indifferently. "Then I'll get a room ready for you. Would you prefer the first floor or the second floor, Mr. Francois?"

"I'll sleep where you sleep."

Alvera gritted her teeth. "Roland, don't you feel tired? Is Andrina not enough for you?"

"This is my own business. Aren't you going to take a bath?"

She glared at him angrily, not moving.

"Why, do you want to take a bath with me?"

She turned around and went upstairs in frustration.

She locked the door to the bathroom and was halfway through her shower when her phone rang.

She glanced at her phone and picked up when she saw that it was Owen. "Mr. Perez, are you done with your meeting?"

...

"Yes, it was just a quick emergency meeting. I take it you've arrived home safely?"

"Yees, I have."

"Why do I hear water?"

"Oh... I am taking a shower."

Owen laughed. "Looks like I called at the wrong time."

"No, it's fine, I'm almost done anyway."

"Continue, then. This is my private number, so you can call me anytime you need me."

"Okay, then... Mr. Perez, goodbye."

"Good night."

Hanging up the phone, she dried her hands and saved his number into her contacts.

She wiped herself down with a towel, put on her pajamas, and went out.

Roland was already in the room.

He was also drying his hair.

Alvera glanced at him but said nothing. She went straight to the vanity and began putting on some cream on her face.

"Who called you just now?" Roland asked.

Alvera looked at him through the mirror. "A friend."

"A man?"

"Yeah."

"You're honest."

"I'm not going to get pregnant from a phone call, why won't I be honest?"

She got up while patting her cheeks, sat on the bed, grabbed a book and began reading.

"Do you really like reading?"

Roland also came to the bed and sat next to her.

"Am I not allowed to like reading?"

She looked at him expectantly, as if he was going to strip her of her right to read.

"Why do you have to be so prickly when you talk to me?"

"I don't think I'm prickly, I'm just being careful."

"Don't be," he said, irritated. "I'm just asking a simple question."

She turned her eyes back to the book and said, "My mother once said that reading is better than travelling, so she always buys me books to read. She thinks that reading books can change lives. I don't like reading, I'm just used to reading."

"Your mother takes your education very seriously."

She tightened her grip on the book and said, "Mr Francois, I'm reading now. Please don't distract me."

"I'm going on a business trip aboard for a few days. You should come with me."

"Abroad?" She was a little surprised. "I don't have a passport."

"Then get one."

"I've been to prison, it's not as easy for me to get a passport."

He looked at her. "If I say you can, then you can."

The corner of her mouth twitched slightly. "Aren't you powerful, Mr. Francois."

He frowned. There was the tone again.

He turned off the bedside lamp on his side irritably, and lay down, closing his eyes.

He could hear Alvera flipping the pages of her book from time to time, but he didn't find it annoying.

Alvera waited until she could feel that he was asleep before putting down the book and laying down herself.

Alvera as soon as she lay down, his hands wrapped around her waist, and forcibly pulled her closer to him.

Her body stiffened with nervousness. "I thought you were asleep."

"You make too much noise flipping the pages."

"Then why didn't you stop me?"

"Reading is a good habit," he said in a low voice. "Turn off the lights."

Alvera leaned forward and turned off the bedside lamp.

She wanted to break free from his arms, he stopped her in a low tone, "You can either sleep in my arms, or we can sleep in separate beds after sex. Your choice."

...

Alvera frowned, but she knew that he was completely serious, so she remained silent and let him hold her tightly in his arms.

...

"Antoine told me yesterday that he wanted to work in the company too," he said, "What do you think?"

Alvera frowned. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because I'm curious about your reaction."

Alvera was silent for a moment. "You seem to hate him."

"I do hate him."

"He's your own brother. Even if you have different mothers, you're still related by blood."

"So what? This won't change my hatred for him."

She clenched her fists and thought about Andrina, who also hated her to the point of murder.

She had fallen for Antoine in the past because they had shared the same fate.

She laughed at herself and said, "Mr. Francois, you don't have to ask me. Whether or not Antoine will work in the company has nothing to do with me. I just want to do my own job. I don't want anything else."

"I see you've learned how to speak diplomatically from the Earhart family."

Alvera rolled her eyes, "I have learned a lot with them, not just diplomacy. Burning bridges, betrayal, ungratefulness, just to name a few. The Earhart family is a great school." 

"What you said was ungrateful."

Alvera laughed. "Mr. Francois, do you always take things out of context like this?"

"Looks like you did learn from reading, then, since you can use such big words. Unfortunately, you're just making a joke out of yourself if you use the wrong words."

Alvera smiled in the darkness and did not reply.

With Roland around, Alvera was unable to sleep well.

She kept her body uncomfortably stiff throughout the night.

In the morning, when she opened her eyes dazedly, she found him sitting beside her and reading the book she was reading the night before.

She yawned and sat up, rubbing her cheeks. "Good morning."

"When is your housekeeper coming?"

"She's took leave."

"You just let your housekeeper do whatever she wants, huh? What do you want for breakfast, I'll get someone to send it over."

Alvera glanced at Roland, thinking of Owen who had cooked for her last night. 

There was really no comparison between the two.

"Whatever." She got out of bed, and went into the bathroom to wash up and change her clothes.

Roland's servants brought them some breakfast.

After he finished eating, Roland left.

Although it was Saturday, he still had to go to the company to work.

At about 10 o'clock in the morning, Andrina called him. 

"Roland, do you have time at night?"

"What's the matter?"

"Tomorrow is my mom's birthday, I was thinking you could come shopping with me to get a gift for her."

"I can't go tonight. I still have something to do, but I'll get something and let Terry send it over."

Actually, he was free, but he did not want to listen to Andrina's whining. 

"But... you always went shopping with me."

"There's always an exception." 

"Roland, why are you so cold to me recently? Is it because of Alvera?"

"You're overthinking again. Do you remember what the doctor told you last time?"

"I don't want to overthink this either, but you're acting strange lately. Roland, we've been together for so long. You won't betray me, will you?"

Roland frowned and said, "As I said, I will get Terry to send your mother a gift. I'm busy, and it's not a good time to talk about this right now. Go and calm yourself down."

He hung up the phone and called for Terry. "It's Mrs. Earhart's birthday tomorrow. Go and get a nice necklace for her and send it over to the Earhart family. If Andrina asks, tell her I'm away for business."

...

"All right."

"You can leave now."

"Mr. Francois, there is one thing that I have to report to you. You asked me to look into Ms Alvera's time in prison, so I did. The prison officials said that Ms Alvera had been a model prisoner over the years and was not abused."

Roland frowned. "Then where did her scars come from?" he wondered.