In Love With Mr. Billionaire

CHAPTER 38- I USED TO LIKE YOU

**** Aaron's POV ****

The highway was deserted as my car zoomed past the endless trails of trees on either side of the road. There was not a living being in sight. The darkness at the ostensible end of the road merged with the black sky at the horizon. I had driven too far away.

Driving helped me calm myself down. It helped me collect my thoughts. After a whole day of business meetings and stressful negotiations, driving back home helped me process the entire day, produce new ideas and find ways to put them to action. It was like therapy. So was Caroline. The smiling face and loving hug with which she always welcomed me home was enough to squeeze away whatever stress was still left behind.

Though neither of them was helping tonight.

The more I drove in the dark, the more I was thinking about the things I was trying to get away from. The image of Caroline's bruised face was a constant. I could not get it out of my mind. Whenever my mind tried to deviate from the events of the day, it would flash before my eyes, filling me with murderous rage.

I had to admit I was angry when Carter informed me about the transaction. I was angry at Caroline for falling into that trap. I wanted a confrontation. I wanted an explanation. Yet when she did come back to me, all I could do was stare back. Her bruised face was my undoing.

It was never about money. I've been trying to convince her to spend it without hesitation for so long, that it wouldn't have even mattered. Hell, I would have been happy that she was finally using it. But the transaction leading that sum of money to that asshole's account was something I was not going to accept.

He had played her into this trap and in turn, he had involved me in it too. This could have ended with me getting my money back from him, but after everything that Caroline told me about her childhood after everything she had endured living with her said 'father', James was in it for a big surprise.

He did not deserve a daughter like Caroline. She was too good for him. How she had managed to still keep the kindness in her even after everything that had happened to her was a mystery. All I knew was she deserved a better life. She deserved all the happiness that she was deprived of.

I was going to keep her safe, away from that asshole and close to me. I was going to give her that happiness, but is that what I had done today? The hurt in her eyes on knowing the truth was no better than the bruises on her face—if not worse.

My only solace was that she got to know the truth from me. If it was anyone else, it would have shattered her heart.

The contract was a thing of the past, it had stopped mattering to me the moment Caroline had said yes. It was not the reason why I was with her. It was so insignificant to me that I had almost dismissed how she was going to feel when she found out. But the moment she told me about her past, I knew I had to confess it to her. James had been manipulating and lying to her all her life, I could not bear doing the same to her.

I pulled into the nearby gas station and filled the tank to the full. I had a long way to go back.

Driving wasn't working and I doubt it was going to. I needed to talk to Caroline. I needed to see her. That was the only way I could give my mind some peace. She might hate me for not telling her sooner. She might not forgive me for doing that to her. But I needed to see her and make sure she was okay. I needed to know she was still at home.

It was around 1 in the morning by the time I reached home. Caroline was sleeping on the couch, at the same spot where I had left her earlier. After all the chaos of the day, she looked at peace in her sleep. I could recognize the remnants of dried tears on her face. I had caused that. And I would fix that.