Chereads / THE BILLIONARE'S CONTRACT FIANCE / Chapter 19 - NINETEEN

Chapter 19 - NINETEEN

Lucas stood tall on the balcony of his spacious apartment, his brown eyes glued to the majestic night view of New York City. The glittering lights of the tall buildings created an exquisite panorama. His face, which resembles Jaden Smith's, is filled with an expression of awe and love for this beautiful night.

  In his heart, Lucas mused about Selena, the girl who had stolen his heart. Selena, with her cute face, had become the center of his attention. He remembered their time together, when Selena tried to eat caviar for the first time. Selena's sweet smile that shone so brightly in the crowded New York City became an unforgettable memory for him.

Lucas was mesmerized by Selena's strong personality. As an orphan, Selena is a true example of a hardworking woman who has overcome many obstacles in her life. Seeing her struggle in solitude made him fall even more in love with Selena.

  

  "Am I in love with Selena?" asked Lucas in the quiet of the night. His palms clutched his chest. He was sure that the feeling inside him was a deep affection for Selena.

  "For some reason, my heart can't turn away from Selena. I really want to be around her," he said with conviction.

A few seconds later, black clouds appeared in the sky. Lucas's brow furrowed for a moment and then it started raining in New York City, the atmosphere changed drastically. Raindrops fell gently downwards, echoing throughout the city. Lucas, who was still standing on the balcony of his apartment, felt the cold touch of the raindrops on his face. The dim light of the street lamps created an atmosphere filled with nostalgia.

  Suddenly, however, the smile on Lucas' face faded, and his eyes felt teary. His memories of that beautiful night with Selena were replaced by a deep fear. His illness, schizophrenia, was like a ghost that always haunted his mind. Strange voices and unreal images began to haunt him, making his heart feel broken.

  Lucas tried hard to control his emotions, but schizophrenia was always there, haunting his every happy moment. The falling rain became a backdrop of mixed feelings, as he felt detached from reality, as if trapped in a dark and uncontrollable world.

  

   "I don't know why I'm so scared of this feeling. The feeling of love for Selena. Why am I scared? Well, because I have a mental illness. I'm really embarrassed if Selena suddenly has to know about my mental illness," Lucas said with a sad face.

 That night there were many question marks in Lucas' head. About a girl who occupied his mind. Selena really managed to make Lucas seem to be in love. But Selena has also made Lucas torn apart in his own mind.

Selena's room was a mess with delicious food scattered around. Selena sat on the bed with a happy face, enjoying the delicious food she was holding.

  "Mmm, this ice cream is so good, honey. Do you want some?" Selena said with a smile.

  "Selena, why are you sitting here eating and the room is a mess? Our wedding is only a week away, and I have so much to do!" snapped an angry-faced Cristian

  "I know, honey, but you're too stressed. We need to take a break and enjoy this meal together. Everything will be fine," Selena replied as she chewed casually.

  "I know, but there are so many details to organize. I'm afraid everything will go wrong if we don't focus," Christian said in an angry tone.

  Selena stood up and approached Christian.

  "I understand, Christian. I promise, after this I will help you with all the wedding preparations. Now, sit down and have an ice cream with me. We can handle everything together," Selena said with a big smile.

  Christian replied by looking away.

  "One more thing! Don't call me sweetheart!" Christian said with a sharp glare.

  "Hahah geez, I'm just kidding Christian. I even find it weird to call you sweetheart in a spoiled way. That would only be done if we were in front of a lot of people, right? I still remember we are pretend lovers," said Selena casually sitting on the bed again.

  Christian just glanced annoyed. He now felt that having a pretend lover was very uncomfortable. But he had hired Selena. So inevitably he still had to marry Selena.

  "In an hour you have to help me help decorate the house. Remember that! Because I'm going out today to attend an important meeting," said crhistian firmly.

  "Okay okay well I promise I'll help with everything to make our wedding go smoothly," Selena said confidently.

  "Alright, I'm leaving now," Christian said and turned around.

Selena just stared annoyed at the back in the black suit who began to move away. Her eyes looked again at the snack in front of her and began to eat voraciously.

  "I'm actually very lazy to help decorate this house. I'd rather just eat delicious food in this house. Enjoying my rich life like this. Yes, but that's just an act. But if I don't help decorate this house. Cristian will be very angry with me, heh shit," Selena said with an annoyed face.

  

  ***

 Inside the luxurious house that was being decorated for the wedding of a rich man's son with a white rose theme, the atmosphere was very beautiful. The entrance was decorated with a large white rose archway, welcoming guests grandly. Around the garden, there was a beautiful path of white roses.

  

  "Do your best for Mr. Christian's wedding," said a woman who was. The boss of the wedding organizer.

  "Yes ma'am," said a male employee in a neat uniform.

  The inside of the house was decorated with delicate white roses, including the dining table, which was covered with an elegant white cloth. The ceiling was decorated with thousands of white roses, creating a mesmerizing atmosphere.

The girl with a small body came out of the room. Her head looked up to see the beautiful scenery outside the room. Her long black hair was flowing beautifully.

  "My God, this is so nice. This house is really like a royal palace that is going to have a big party," Selena said shaking her head.

  The swimming pool was surrounded by white roses. Selena felt like throwing herself in the pool with the beautiful flowers.

  "Hey Selena!" Called Lucas who suddenly arrived. The black man's sweet smile was so obvious.

  Selena turned around in surprise.

  "Lucas, what did you come here for?" Selena asked worriedly. Because she didn't want Lucas to tell Christian about the events of the night in the city park.

  Lucas approached Selena with casual steps.

  "Hey, what's with your face Selena? It looks like you're really scared," said Lucas, folding his arms across his chest.

  "Don't speak out loud," said Selena looking right and left while putting her index finger to her lips.

  "You're so scared of getting your secret out, hahaha," Lucas whispered. Laughing until his dimples were visible.

  "Please don't tell anyone about Sarah and lili," Selena said with a pleading face with her palms together.

  "Yes, well, I promise not to tell anyone about your secret. Yes, it's because I'm a good sister-in-law," said Lucas proudly.

  "Well then I will help the people here who are busy. You should help too," said Selena with a sarcastic face.

  "Oh yes, of course I will help. Because my purpose in coming to this house is to help my brother Christian get married," Lucas said confidently.

   Now the two of them began to help the wedding organizer. Selena was full of joy and enthusiasm. Selena, the cheerful bride-to-be, is busy setting up the tables and chairs that will be used for her wedding.

  While next to her, Lucas was also busy hanging fresh flowers around the room. Lucas' heart was pounding as he was afraid of heights. But he tried hard to hang the beautiful flowers.

  "Damn, I shouldn't be panicking like this. I can definitely do it. If I fall I'll be so embarrassed for Selena. I have to look professional in front of Selena," Lucas said to himself.

Every movement of her hands was careful, and her face was full of concentration. In her heart, she felt very happy to be able to help Selena, her beautiful and kind sister-in-law.

  However, his foot stepped wrong on the stairs. Lucas lost his balance and fell with the flowers in his hands. As he fell, his heart raced and he panicked.

  Selena who was nearby quickly ran over, her face twisted into a panicked expression. She attentively helped Lucas to get up, making sure that her brother-in-law was not seriously injured. Lucas was relieved to see Selena's caring face.

  "I'm fine, Selena," Lucas said with a slight shudder.

  "I just lost my balance earlier."

  Selena hugged Lucas tightly, feeling very worried. "I'm so worried, Lucas. You have to be more careful. Christian and I's wedding is getting closer, and I don't want you to get hurt. You won't be able to help me and Christian with the wedding," said Luna, who was now frowning in front of Lucas' face.

  "Damn, yeah that's true," said Lucas with an annoyed face.

  "Hahaha you idiot, you should have been more careful," said Selena and now walked away from Lucas. It turns out that Selena headed to the kitchen and gave Lucas a drink.

  "Drink," said Selena, giving Lucas a cold coffee-flavored drink.

  "Thank you very much sister-in-law," said Lucas smiling sweetly and he began to open the canned drink and sip it. His eyes now looked at Selena who was arranging the flowers on the visitor's seat. Selena looked very familiar with some of the wedding organizer's work. Selena's smile looked so sweet while chatting with several wedding organizers.

  "Selena is really making me float right now. I really love her," Lucas said, smacking his lips for a moment and then smiling sweetly.

  Now Lucas is helping Selena and the wedding organizers again. The wedding organizer that Selena and Lucas helped is very grateful for their help. Because Selena and Lucas have a special artistic touch, and brilliant ideas for decorating the wedding room. Selena and Lucas are back to laughing and talking enthusiastically, making sure every detail looks perfect.

 Selena excitedly hangs beautiful lanterns, while Lucas carefully sets the dining table with beautiful floral decorations. They both gave each other encouragement and laughed as they chased the approaching deadline.

  The atmosphere in the house is warm and loving, reflecting the happiness they will feel on their wedding day.

  But it turns out that someone has now spotted Selena and Lucas' closeness. The man with hazel eyes narrowed his eyes.

"Am I feeling the pain of seeing them?" crhistian said to herself. her little heart of jealousy swirled around her like the wind rustling in the dark night. When he saw Selena, his bride-to-be, and Lucas, his brother.

  Even Selena and Lucas were holding hands with happy smiles. Pretending to be a couple, the jealousy deepened. The two of them looked very close.

  "What's wrong with my heart? Why should I be jealous? Isn't Selena just my hired lover?" asked Christian in his heart in confusion.

  "I'm not going to fall in love with Selena," Christian said confidently in his heart.

  But his heart somehow still felt jealous. His footsteps were now steadily approaching Selena and Lucas.

  "Have you finished decorating?" asked Christian firmly.

  Lucas and Selena turned around. They were a little surprised by Christian's arrival.

  "Hey, are you home yet? I thought you were going to take so long to attend an important meeting,"

  "So you'd prefer if I wasn't in the house for a long time?" asked Christian with emphasis.

  "Oh no, not really Christian. I would have been very happy if you had stayed in the house for the whole day. Enjoying my company," Selena said pretentiously.

  "When you're done. You'd better get me a canned drink and some snacks. Because I want to relax on the balcony of my room," Christian said firmly. His eyes looked into Lucas' face for a moment. As if it was a sentence that signaled that Selena was really a submissive wife-to-be with Christian and Lucas would not be able to avoid that.

  "Ok fine baby," said Selena smiling sweetly. Once again she was just pretending.

  Selena now walked quickly to the kitchen.

  "So when have you been here?" asked Christian in a tone that Lucas did not like to hear.

  "Yes, since this morning. I just wanted to help my sister get married. I'm really happy," Lucas said with a big smile. Although he wasn't really being honest. Because he only came here to meet Selena.

  "Well then, it's over. I hope you'll just leave here. Because I don't want someone with a mental illness like yours to be in this house too often. Maybe it will endanger the people around this house," Christian said firmly. There was an arrogant look on his face.

  Lucas gave his brother a vengeful look. Lucas' hands were clenched into fists. He wanted to punch his brother in the face.

  "You'll regret saying that to me, Christian," Lucas whispered firmly near his brother's ear.

  Now Lucas left Christian's presence with quick steps. Lucas passed a long blonde woman in the living room. Lucas knew that she must be the woman Christian had been playing with.

  "You are so arrogant Christian. I know you have a lot of mistresses. You even date a lot of women. You're also very rich with your company. In fact, soon you'll have everything Dad has. But unfortunately you have no heart Lucas. You never even considered me. You even bullied me. I'm a very lowly little brother in your eyes. But one day you'll appreciate my presence. Remember that Christian," said Lucas who had now reached the front of his car. He immediately got in and drove off quickly.

  Meanwhile, in the living room, a beautiful woman with bold make-up is now clearly visible. Her appearance is so glamorous.

  The woman looks at the room full of flowers. While behind her, Christian's eyes widened. He didn't expect her to be in his house right now.

  "Kitty?"