(Not) The Billionaire’s Replacement Bride

They had just arrived at the restaurant when Gerald’s phone suddenly rang. Gerald glanced at the flat object and saw his friend’s name displayed there. “Hello?”

“How are you?” the man on the other side asked, clearly curious.

“Estoy bien,” Gerald replied, making Ariana furrow her brows. “He’s my friend from Spain,” he whispered to his wife. Ariana just nodded and continued walking inside the restaurant. “Have you returned to Spain?” Gerald inquired.

“Not yet. We are still in Indonesia. Gina keeps urging me to remind you of your promise,” the man answered. “She still wants to meet you and your wife. It’s as if she hasn’t met you yet.” Maximilan said with a chuckle.

“Meet? Who? Gina and Ariana?” Gerald asked, confused.

“Who else do you think?” Max snorted rudely. “You know, her spy instincts kicked in at that moment. She deliberately made me go to your wife’s restaurant, and suddenly she pretended to be sick, forcing us to borrow your wife’s private room then.” He explained with a smirk.

“So, what does Gina think?” Gerald wanted to know. He glanced inside the restaurant, where the door was closed, and saw Ariana talking to a girl who was attending the guests’ table.

“She is sure that your wife is pregnant, just like my suspicion that you are experiencing morning sickness like I did when Gina was pregnant with Kenzo some time ago,” the man replied enthusiastically. “I wanted to contact you back then and tell you directly, but then my never-ending work made me forget until Gina reminded me of her request.” He sighed.

“Gracias, Max,” Gerald said, making his friend on the other side confused. “Because of your visit to the office that day, I suddenly wanted to meet Ariana. And eventually, I found out everything. Gina was right; Ariana is indeed pregnant. I was just too foolish to believe that my wife had aborted our baby.” Gerald said, sounding defeated.

“But why don’t you sound happy?” Max asked, puzzled. “Because of various reasons,” Gerald replied ambiguously.

“You can tell me all about it. Can we have dinner together? Because I don’t want Gina to be furious if I don’t fulfill her request.” Max pleaded. “Love slave,” Gerald teased.

“Como no lo hiciste,” Max sneered in disgust. (As if you didn’t) Gerald laughed at his friend’s mockery. “So, what about dinner?”

“Come to the restaurant tonight. Ariana and I will be at Leonida’s. But tell Gina that this is not a formal dinner, so she should wear something casual. So that my wife won’t feel out of place,” Gerald instructed.

“Bien,” Max replied eagerly. (Alright). And after that, Max ended the call.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Gerald walked into the restaurant. His wife had already gone upstairs, and when he entered their room, Ariana was sitting in a chair facing the lower floor of the restaurant. Gerald approached and then hugged his wife from behind, resting his chin on her petite shoulder. He breathed in the scent of her perfume that he loved so much, mixed with the fresh scent of her shampoo. A scent intoxicating to him. “My friend wants to meet you; he and his wife want to have dinner together. I invited them to come tonight, do you mind?” he asked his wife.

Ariana glanced at her husband briefly. Or it’s more appropriate to say she glared. “You’ve already invited them here, why do you need my permission again?” she mocked, which Gerald answered with a chuckle.

“I can cancel it if you don’t want to meet them,” Gerald said then.

“No need,” Ariana asserted. “What do they know about me? I mean, maybe they know that you were supposed to marry Karenina?” she asked, not intending to mock at all.

Gerald shook his head. “Max knows that my wife’s name is Ariana, not Karenina,” he said firmly.

Ariana nodded again. “So, what should I wear tonight?” she asked, turning around and hugging her husband’s neck.

Gerald frowned as if thinking. His eyes looked up and down, carefully observing his wife’s appearance. “This outfit makes you look beautiful, Mrs. Aarzu,” he said sincerely. “Besides, I also asked them to dress casually. We don’t need a formal dinner. I don’t intend to change my clothes either,” he said. Gerald was now wearing a dark gray polo shirt with black stretch fit jeans. He looked like he was in his twenties. Younger than his actual age. Even if he went to a campus, Ariana was sure he would still be mistaken for a student rather than a lecturer. While she was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt covered with comfortable black baby terry overalls. She also looked like a teenager with her hair tied in a ponytail.

“Alright, if you think this outfit looks good and decent,” she said then. Gerald nodded, then kissed his wife’s forehead. “What about Axel? Is he having dinner here?”

Gerald frowned. He forgot about Axel. He also forgot to tell his son’s nanny to bring Axel to the restaurant. Ariana seemed to realize it because she then looked at her husband with narrowed eyes. “I’ll call them right away,” she said, reaching into her pocket and taking out her phone.

Ariana was quite surprised when evening came, and the guests Gerald mentioned turned out to be a woman who had a son who had vomited a while ago. She glanced accusingly at Gerald. Suspecting that Gina had come to the restaurant earlier on his orders. But both Gina, Max, and Gerald denied Ariana’s accusations. Gina openly stated that her presence earlier was purely out of curiosity about who Gerald’s wife was because her husband and Gerald were very difficult to introduce her to Ariana.

The atmosphere that night was clearly comfortable and friendly. Axel even seemed delighted, watching the baby lying in the stroller and playing with her until the baby fell asleep on her own. “Axel will have a sibling soon,” the boy said in fluent English. Of course, Axel grew up with his mother’s family and also attended an international school. So he certainly understood the foreign language.

“According to Axel, is his sibling a boy or a girl?” Gina wanted to know. The woman then looked at Ariana. “Supposedly, children’s guesses about babies in the womb are always accurate. More accurate than obstetricians.” She said with a smile on her face. Ariana just smiled hearing the Japanese woman’s belief.

“Axel’s sibling is a girl,” she said confidently. “She will be as beautiful as Mommy,” she continued.

“Of course, she will be as beautiful as Mommy. There’s no way she’ll be as beautiful as Shelma,” Gina replied softly at the end of the sentence.

Gerald and Maximilian looked at Gina with different expressions. But Ariana just laughed. She really liked Gina and her straightforward attitude.

They parted ways when the clock showed ten at night. Axel was already sleeping in his room unaccompanied, while his parents chatted. “Next time, take a vacation to Spain. I’ll take you around there. The food there is just as delicious as the food in your restaurant.” Gina invited sincerely. She often praised the dishes served to them as dinner.

Ariana nodded. She couldn’t fully commit to her husband’s friend because she herself didn’t know what would happen to her in the future. But Gerald said otherwise. “Certainly, we will go there. Because Ariana and I haven’t had our honeymoon yet. So, yes. Spain seems like a beautiful honeymoon destination.” He said. “Who knows, we might have the chance to see a bullfight.”

“Let alone a bullfight, you could be chased by a bull,” Gina laughed. “Where do you want to go? Beach, hills, or just enjoy the restaurants and architecture there? I’ll accompany you.” She promised.

“Thank you,” Ariana said for the woman’s offer. They escorted the married couple to the parking lot. During that time, Gerald never let go of his arm around Ariana’s waist.