The Billionaire’s Pretend Fiancée

Sofie’s POV

I woke up with a start and a choked gasp.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Clasping my hand over my chest, I looked down at my hand, and saw that my wrist was cannulated with a pack of saline solution embedded into the cannula.

I fixated my gaze on the window for some minutes, trying to recall what must have happened, for me to have ended up in an hospital.

I squinted when the illuminating rays of sunlight seeped through the window blinds and struck my eyes.

“Thank goodness you are finally awake, Sofie. I was so worried.” I was startled when a familiar, feminine voice from beside me spoke.

I looked in the direction of the voice and a shocked gasp escaped my throat as tears pooled in my eyes.

It was Amy, my best friend who I had last seen six months ago, and she was here with me in the hospital room with a tired smile curving her lips.

As I wordlessly gaped at her, the gory memories of everything that happened before I fainted suddenly descended on me with force, and I burst into bitter tears.

I had watched Roman die right in front of me.

She got up with a sigh and made her way over to pull me into a warm hug.

“Babe, don’t cry, hmm? Everything will be fine. I just want you to know that it was never your fault, okay?” She said, softly carding her fingers through my hair.

I cried harder as I violently shook my head. “N-No, Amy. Y-You don’t understand. If only I had never angered Lana, then he’d still be alive. I killed him, Amy. I’m just as guilty as she is.”

Amy gently withdrew herself from the hug to dart me a confused look. “Who is dead?”

“Roman. I watched him die right in front of me. I watched as they pulled the cloth over his body. I couldn’t even do anything to save him yet he got killed because of me.” I wept bitterly.

“Babe, who told you that? President Giovanni is not dead.” She revealed, and instantly I stopped weeping, and just stared at her.

“No. You’re only saying this to make me feel better, you know you don’t have to lie to me because I’d eventually know the truth.” I said.

Her frown deepened as she replied. “Of course not. I’m not lying to you, Sofie. Wait, the doctor will come over soon, and she will explain everything to you.”

“So you’re not lying? My Roman is truly not dead?” Tears welled up my eyes as I asked her.

Amy nodded as she beamed at me. “I’m positive.”

I released the breath I wasn’t even aware I was holding as my shoulders unclenched, and my chest felt lighter.

It felt as if I had been carrying the burden of the whole world on my shoulders before.

“When can I see him? Which room is he in? Can the doctor hurry up?” I babbled, excitedly.

“The doctor will tell you everything you need to know. You should be able to see him soon.” Amy replied.

A thought suddenly occurred to me as I stared at my best friend’s smiley face.

“By the way, how did you even get here? How do you know Roman?” I rambled out, to which she huffed.

“I took a flight here as soon when I watched the news three days ago. I’ve known President Giovanni for about a month now, he reached out to me and told me he was your boyfriend. He told me that he just wanted to know you had someone other than himself to rely on if something happened.” Amy explained, and I felt hot tears burn my vision.

“It’s almost like he knew this would happen.” I whispered, and Amy gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

“Yeah.” She agreed.

“Shouldn’t you be on a work trip?” I asked.

“Fuck my job. You are way more important.” She huffed, which made me smile.

“So Roman didn’t tell you anything other than that, right?” I inquired from her, to make sure she didn’t know about the true contractual relationship that Roman and I had from the start.

“Yes, he didn’t.” She confirmed. “Wait, should he have told me something else?”

“No, what else would he tell you?” I laughed but the sound lacked humor.

Amy just stared pointedly at me with her hands akimbo. “So there really is something else. I knew something was up when the youngest billionaire in the whole of the United States sent me an email introducing himself as my best friend’s man.”

“What do you mean? Are you trying to insinuate that I can’t snag a billionaire?” I tried to divert her attention from the topic by feigning annoyance.

Amy scoffed. “Don’t try to change the topic, Sof. We both know that you can snag any man on earth. Have you seen how gorgeous you are? Now, start telling me everything before I force it out of you.”

As I opened my mouth to fib again, someone knocked on the door.

Amy and I exchanged glances before she said, “That must be the doctor.”

“Oh.” I muttered.

“Come in.” She said, covering me properly with the blanket.

The doctor, a petite woman who I presumed was in her early thirties walked in, holding a notepad with a smile arching her lips.

“It’s good to have you back, Miss Diaz.” She said, going over to check my cannulated hand.

“How long was I gone?” I asked.

“Three days.” She replied, and I gasped as I looked from the doctor to Amy.

“No way.” I said.

“Yes way.” Amy said, in a sing-song tone.

“What matters now is that the coast is clear. You and your baby are doing great.” The doctor informed, and I heaved a sigh of relief as I clutched my abdomen, ignoring Amy’s inquisitive gaze.

“That’s good. So when can I see Roman? Has he been transferred to his own room?” I asked, and both Amy and the doctor shared a look.

I immediately knew something bad was up.

“The thing is we also don’t know when you can see him, Miss Diaz.” The doctor responded.

“Why? What is going on?” I asked impatiently.

“I’m sorry to break it to you, Miss Diaz but I have no options but to anyway. President Giovanni is in a coma, and we don’t know when or if he’s ever going to wake up.” She said, and although I was sitting on the bed, I felt my feet grow limp.

“No, t-this can’t be.” I stuttered, fervently shaking my head as tears rolled down my cheeks.

“I’m really sorry, Miss Diaz. I wish I had better news.” She said with an underlying tone of sympathy.

“I’m sorry, babe.” Amy whispered, taking me into her arms.

“So I can’t even get a glimpse of him from afar.” I sobbed, fisting at my best friend’s shirt.

“We will see how things go but right now, you can’t.” The doctor answered.

“I have to be on my way now, excuse me.” She said, and exited the room.

“What am I going to do now, Amy? Where do I go from here? What if he never wakes up?” I wept bitterly.

Amy continued patting my back in consolation as she spoke. “Don’t think negatively, Sof. He’ll come around sooner than expected, and I’ll always be here for you whenever you need me. Don’t worry too much, everything will be fine very soon.”

“But how soon? Just how soon would everything become fine?” I sobbed.

“I don’t know either, babe. But I know it’ll eventually happen.” She replied.

For the rest of that day, I cried my eyes out and when my eyes couldn’t produce tears again, I just stared blankly into space, with one prominent thought weighing down my mind.

What if soon never came?