The Billionaire's Pretend Wife (Isabella)

The next day, despite finally receiving her first salary at work, Isabelle still felt low because the amount was just a tiny fraction of the surgery fee.

It was quickly dawning on her that she needed to look for other sources of income.

If she didn't hurry up with the payment, Ruth might end up losing her chance for the transplantation. If she had to wait again to find another kidney that was a match, it might be too late.

At the moment, she didn't know what to do, and it frustrated her to no end. A thought crossed her mind that maybe she should ask Jacob for help, but she pushed it aside. She knew that Jacob would be willing to help her, but she couldn't risk him finding out the truth about Ruth and her family.

Also, it would be incredibly selfish of her to ask his help when she was lying to him about her identity.

She had to forge ahead alone, and this time, she would be more careful compared to when she had wanted to take part in the drug trial.

She was about to leave the office when her phone rang. Checking the caller ID, she saw that it was Seth calling her. She received the call and after the greetings, Seth asked,

"Do you have time tonight?"

When he asked that, Isabelle knew that he was hoping to hang out together. It dawned on her that since she joined the company, she had never really taken time to thank him for his help during the interview. She felt that this was a good time to repay his kindness.

"I am," she replied, "would you like to have dinner together?"

"Oh, sure? Yes, I would be glad to," he replied cheerily.

They agreed to meet at the front of the building, and after that, they went to a restaurant not far from the company.

"Who was the man that came to pick you up the other day?" Seth suddenly asked after the hostess had shown them to a table and handed them menus.

"What?" she asked.

"That day I came to your office after work to ask if we could hang out. You received a call and left, and a man picked you up."

"Oh," she muttered, now remembering what day he was talking about. That time Jacob had come to take her to see their new apartment. She had no idea that Seth had seen him.

She didn't know what to tell him. If she told him that it had been her husband, what if he started asking questions about how and when they had met? Given their friendship, it was obvious that Seth would be curious about that.

Fortunately, her phone rang, interrupting the moment. She checked the phone and saw that it was Jacob calling. Excusing herself, she left the table and walked a little ways away to receive the call.

"Hello?" she answered the call.

"Hello, are you still at work?" he asked.

"No, I already left," she told him, wondering why he was calling to ask her that. They didn't have any plans for the evening together.

"When will you get home? I'm waiting for you to have dinner together. I'm hungry," he told her, his voice dropping to a fake-whiny tone.

She found it sweet, and it made her smile, but she bit down on her lip when her situation registered. Jacob wanted to have dinner together at home, but she was already at a restaurant with Seth, about to dine together.

"Actually, I'm having dinner elsewhere," she told him, casting a short glance at Seth. She had no idea how Jacob would react when she told him who it was she was dining with, but she figured he would understand when she told him why.

"You are?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm buying dinner for a colleague of mine. Do you remember the guy I told you about? My college senior. I thought I should buy him dinner to thank him for helping me with the interview." Jacob's snort that came through the line was quite loud. "I sure remember the guy," he replied.

Well, given the argument that had occurred when Jacob had seen her leave work with Seth, she figured he would remember him.

"Yeah, well, I never thanked him for his help. That's why I'm buying him dinner tonight."

"Have you confirmed that he is the one who helped you with the interview?" Jacob asked. "No, but I'm sure it's him," she replied.

"So you want to pay him back even without confirming that he is the one who helped you?"

"Who else could have helped me? He is the only one in the company who knows about my history in college. He is also the only one here who knows me personally, and like I told you, he has a high position, so he is influential."

"You would find out if you just asked him," Jacob supplied. "Unless you just want any excuse to have dinner with him."

"What?" she asked, a scowl coming onto her face. "Of course, that's not it." She huffed. "You are the one who clearly doesn't want me to have dinner with him. Is it so bad that I want to be grateful? In case he isn't the one who helped me with the interview, which I highly doubt, he still came to my rescue a few days ago when another one of my co-workers started rumours about me. He also introduced me around the workplace when I was new. Are those good enough reasons in your book to want to buy him dinner?"

Jacob sighed on his side. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

Her eyebrows rose at his apology. This wasn't like the other time they had argued about Seth. She had expected him to make further accusations.

"Oh, okay."

"I'm joining you for dinner, though."

Her brow rose again. "What?"

"I don't want to have dinner alone, so why don't I join you two? I can thank him for helping my wife," he said.

"Uh, that's not necessary."

"We'll just have dinner, then," he said. "What's the restaurant you are at?"

She should have known that he wasn't going to hear that she was having dinner with another man and just let it be. But it was fine. Come to think of it, it might be a good thing. She could introduce Jacob to Seth as her husband and straighten things out once and for all.

"Okay, I'll send you the address. It's not far from the company."

After hanging up, she went back to the table and rejoined Seth. They ordered drinks and talked while waiting for their food to be ready. Seth asked about how work was going, and most of their conversation revolved around work.

And then, when Isabelle knew that she couldn't put it off any longer, she told him that there was another person joining them for dinner.

He looked stunned at the information, and she couldn't blame him. This was supposed to be a dinner for two. "Oh? A man, or a woman?" he asked.

"Uh..." Isabelle trailed off when out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Jacob walking into the restaurant. She lifted a hand and waved him over. "There he is," she said.

"He?" Seth muttered, turning to look.

The first man that Seth saw heading their way was a tall, well-dressed man who was quite good looking. He looked towards the entrance, but there was nobody else making his way over. He frowned. Was that the man who was joining them? Who was he to Isabelle?

Seth noticed how all the women stared with obvious admiration as he walked through the restaurant. He turned back to Isabelle, only to find all of her attention trained on the man too. There was something in her gaze that he didn't like.

The man finally got to their table and stood next to Isabelle's chair, looking down at Seth. He gave him a grim look, as if he didn't like seeing him sitting there with Isabelle.

Isabelle looked from the man to him. "Seth, this is my husband, Jacob. Jacob, this is Seth. We work together."