The Billionaire's Unauthentic Daughter

C H A P T E R 5 9

?Friends can break your heart too. ?

I smiled at Ethan who was right next to me. I reached over and brushed some hair out of his face and let my fingers trail over his face. I traced the outlines of his cheeks, his perfect nose and soft lips that I wanted to kiss so I reached over and pressed my lips to his for a second.

I continued to watch him as he slept deeply and peacefully. The sheets were tangled up between us, his naked chest half on display and half hidden behind it.

I extended my hand towards his face again and placed my palm against his cheek.

"I'm sorry I'm hurting you. But I seem to have no choice.

" I whispered to him, knowing he won't be able to hear me.

"Will you forgive me?" I caressed his cheek, feeling the prickles on my palm where his beard rubbed against my skin.

"I wish we were normal people and I could've met you under different circumstances when things weren't so hard. I want to like you freely."

I closed my eyes feeling sleep taking over me but willed my eyes to open because it's not everyday I get to see a shirtless Ethan in bed with me.

I wanted to commit this image in my memory and wanted to memorize the fragrance of the sheets in the morning when we had shared a bed together last night and wanted to remember how it felt to touch him and kiss him, even if it wasn't much of a kiss.

When I managed to open my eyes, I saw him staring straight at me. My hand was still on his cheek in a gentle caress and I moved to quickly retract my hand back but he was faster and he grabbed my hand and pulled me closer.

"What did you say?"

I quickly sat up, snatching my hand back.

"Its so late. You should get up and go back to your room."

He sat up too. "You told me you liked me, didn't you?"

"What gibberish talk is that? Get out and don't come knocking on my door again while you're pissed drunk."

"Where's my shirt?"

"There," I said pointing to the nightstand. "You said you were a little hot so you took it off and threw it away."

"Oh, sorry. I don't remember anything." He held his head in his hands.

"Go take some aspirin."

He nodded. "Sorry for intruding like this again."

In my mind I told him that I didn't mind at all and that he could come whenever he wanted to but of course I didn't say it.

It was a day after the party. Last night Ethan had come knocking on my door again and he was as drunk as he was last time.

But this time I didn't search for a key or take him to the guestroom, I led him straight to my bed and tucked him in.

And then I had occupied the other end of the bed and spent some of my time staring at him, as creepy as it sounded.

I didn't get to see him as much as I wanted to and this was a way of looking at him to my heart's content without having to hurt him.

He left soon after and I was left alone in my room and all that I had that reassured me it wasn't a dream were the sheets that still smelled of him.

I was going to give a little more attention to what was going on between Heather and Olivia. They had been acting weird for the longest time and I knew that if I had to know then I couldn't directly approach them about it. And so the only possibility of getting any information was from Amelia.

I had invited her over to watch some movies with me but in reality I just wanted to broach the subject that had been gnawing at me.

"Hey," she hugged me once she arrived. "Are you okay? Where did Ethan take you at the party?"

"It was nothing. He was hurt as usual and I had to act like a bitch about it...as usual."

"Aw you poor thing. I'm so sorry you two have to go through this even when you like each other. I just hope things work out and you two move on or get back together. Either way is okay."

"Thanks. Let's go to my room and watch some movies."

We made our way up to my room.

"So how are things for Juliet? Is she ever going to return?" I asked casually. I was a little curious about how the real daughter was living her life and where she was.

"She's fine. She's loving it there and she told us how much she has discovered herself and that she met someone there and she thinks she loves him. We're not surprised because it doesn't take long for that girl to fall in love. Her heart is a little whore."

I chuckled. "She sounds like she's happy. I'm glad. It makes it a little easy for me to live here."

"I'm sorry it's being a little hard for you right now."

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Its fine. Its not your fault. And besides I'm used to my life being hard so this is actually not that bad although I do prefer my previous hardships over my current ones."

"You're so strong, Julie. I can never imagine how it must be like to worry over financial issues and if you can afford something or not. I really respect you for how strong you are to be dealing with issues that I don't have any experience in."

"Uh...thanks. But we're all fighting our own different battles and I think we're all strong in different ways."

"Well said. I'm glad that I know you. Hey, I want you to know that even if things end, no matter if they end on bad terms or on good terms, just know that I'll still be your friend and you can call me anytime you want and if you need help, I'll be there for you."

My heart swelled with happiness for the first time in a while. "Thanks, Amelia. I'm glad I know you too." And it was true. Amelia was my favorite and I really considered her a true friend.

She smiled at me genuinely and my heart warmed. I wasn't alone. I at least had one friend I could rely on and confide in. I wasn't sure about Olivia.

"So...do you know what's going on between Olivia and Heather? They seem to be a little secretive lately."

Amelia was browsing through the movies and I saw her finger momentarily stop over one of the movies before she relaxed and continued to search. "I don't know. I didn't notice they were being secretive."

"Do you have any idea why they're like this? Did Heather tell you something?"

She shrugged. "She hasn't told me anything. Hey, don't overthink. Its probably nothing."

"I can trust you with anything, right?"

She turned to face me and nodded. "Of course."

"I don't think it's nothing. The two have gotten a lot closer to each other and it seems like Olivia trusts her more than she trusts me.

She avoids talking to me and I feel like she's sick.

She looks so weak and tired all the time and I don't know what to do about it because she always pushes me away. " I confided.

She walked towards me with a movie and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "She just might not have been in the mood to talk. I'm sure if it was a big issue she'd let you know. Don't worry."

"But I've tried talking to her a few times and every single time she has pushed me away.

I feel like we aren't even friends anymore.

And I thought you might know something about it.

Do you know what Heather and Olivia did when they didn't show up to hang out with us that day?

I think Olivia started looking sick sometime after that day. "

"Okay, I'll be honest with you. Heather told me to keep you engaged into various things and to take your mind off of them on that day.

I don't know what she asked me that for but she told me it was important and she can't tell me about it because it wasn't her place to tell and I'm still confused about it till this day.

She didn't give me any reason and I sensed that it was something really important and so I agreed to keep you busy and it worked.

I didn't get to talk to her about it after that. It completely slipped my mind."

So something did happen on that day that Heather didn't want me to know and it involved Olivia.

"Are you sure you aren't keeping anything else from me?"

"I swear that's all I know."

"Okay, thanks. So what did you choose to watch?"

We watched a few movies after which I told her to stay for lunch and she agreed. We spent the afternoon in my bed just talking about our lives and cracking a few jokes until we ran out of topics to talk about at which time she decided she should get home.

So I didn't get much out of Amelia as she was as clueless about what the matter was with Olivia and Heather as I was.

I didn't want to talk to Heather about this or about anything else really.

So I had to confront Olivia again. I was starting to get tired of this secrecy between the two girls and I was determined to know what it was about.

So as soon as I figured out that it was safe to approach Olivia in the evening, a little before dinnertime, I took the opportunity of having no one around to disturb us and asked her about it.

I knocked on her door. It was like she had made a permanent place in the guestroom because I rarely saw her outside apart from the time when we all had to gather to eat.

"Come in." Her voice was nearly inaudible to me and I wouldn't have heard if I hadn't been paying attention to her reaction.

I opened the door and gently closed it behind me. She was bent over a laptop, rapidly typing away on it.

"What're you doing?" I asked as I took a seat in front of her on the bed.

She looked up and her face dropped and she seemed like she wanted me to get out. I didn't understand her problem but I decided to remain calm and slowly work my way into what I was really here for.

"Just completing programming assignments."

I nodded. "How's college?"

"It's good." She said, still not looking at me.

"When are your university exams."

"In a few weeks."

I nodded again. "Vince's party was really fun right? It was all mysterious and exciting with the masquerade theme and masks."

"Yeah."

I exhaled noisily, annoyed at her vague and short answers.

"Are you not feeling well?"

"I'm fine. Why would you think I'm not? I'm healthy and I have no problems." Once again she answered without looking up from her laptop.

"Oh, it's just that you don't look too well. That night, at the party. You looked seriously ill. I accidentally overheard your conversation with Tristan."

She didn't look angry at me but she looked irritated by it. "Then you must have also overheard that I told him that it was just period pain. You know how bad it gets in the first two days. So why are you making a fuss about it? I told you it's nothing, I'm fine so just drop it."

"Then I should also let you know that I overheard you asking for Heather...and not me. Should I tell you how betrayed I felt when the first person you thought of when in a situation like that was Heather, despite me being your best friend for longer?"

"Are you seriously here to whine about that just because you're a little jealous?"

"I'm not jealous. I just feel that you and Heather are hiding something big and serious from me and I need to know. I deserve to know what's going on."

"How many times are we going to go over this? I told you there's nothing for you to know so just leave me the fuck alone." She spat.

I wasn't even shocked anymore.

"Is it something about Tristan?" I asked calmly.

"What? No."

"Then why are you avoiding him as if something happened between you two."

"If I remember correctly, you wanted me to stop hanging out with him so what do you want now?"

"I know I said that but this time it just feels different. Did something else happen between you two?"

"No! We just kissed once and since then things are awkward between us. Since then I had been avoiding him just like you ordered me to."

I scoffed at her words. "I didn't order you. I just told you that it was best if you did."

"So that's what I was doing and still am doing. What more do you want from me? If you haven't noticed, I have a lot of things remaining to do and I'd appreciate it if you go away."

"Why is it that every time I try to talk to you, it always ends up in a fight? Can't we ever have a normal conversation where we aren't taunting or yelling at each other or keeping secrets and not trusting each other?" I snapped.

Olivia groaned and moved her head from side to side as if my words were giving her a pain in the neck.

"Please leave."

Knowing talking to her any further would turn out to be futile, I just stood up and without a word started for the door.

"You can't hide it forever, Olivia. One day I will find out." And with that I shut her door with a bang.

I was worried about her. She was clearly in some sort of a problem but she didn't want to tell me. I didn't know when or how we reached this point in our friendship. Before all of this started, we were basically family we were together in any situation and fought as one.

Just as I closed the door, I saw Heather coming my way, most probably headed to meet up with Olivia.

I was going to pretend I didn't notice her but she made her presence known by speaking up. "What were you doing in there?" She looked curious but I could see that she was alarmed and guarded when asking the question.

"I don't think I need to tell you. Olivia will fill you up on everything anyway because you two are best friends of course."

"I don't know what you're talking about. We aren't best friends."

I scoffed. "I was worried if I'd look like a gold digger if all I want is to like Ethan back but I didn't expect you to steal something that was mine. Olivia was all I had outside of this world and you've taken her away from me. What else do you want from me?"

"Are you drunk? Are you not in your senses? Do you know what you're talking about?" She raised an eyebrow.

I didn't answer her and instead shook my head at her and moved towards my room.

"It seems like you're a little weak now.

I'm not sure how long you'll be able to hold back from Ethan but try hard.

If not...well, let's just say that I did everything I could to prevent a disaster.

I know I'm putting a lot of pressure on you right now but honey, you two aren't right for each other, just like how it's not right for me to be here among these people I call family for which I did nothing to deserve. " She called out behind me.

I didn't even know what the hell that last part meant. All I could focus on was, you two aren't right for each other.

Ethan and I weren't right for each other.

I was starting to hate Heather for what she was doing to me. Was she even helping me anymore? Why was she being so harsh on me?

Why did the world use materialistic things, such meaningless and petty belongings as a measure of someone's worth to love someone else? What power did that person have to set such a foolish parameter?

Once I was under the covers a little earlier than usual after dinner, I only hoped for Ethan to be near me.

I hoped he would come lay next to me and for my bed to smell of his familiar scent and give me the happiness I got every time he showed up and crawled into my bed as if he rightfully belonged next to me.

Perhaps it might be true in a world where wealth and background were unimportant.

A too good to be true world.

A world of my dreams.