The Billion Dollar Contract novel Chapter 23

It was time for dinner so they all went to the dinning room. On the dinning table were grilled chicken, seasonal veggies, chicken caeser salad and chocolate filled banana cake for dessert.

Nicole couldn't help but feel hungry on seeing the different dishes on the table. They sat down and ate quietly

"So..When are you two getting married so you can start making babies?" Helen suddenly asked making Nicole choke on her salad

"I know that reaction" she continued

"Weren't you guys planning on getting married?" She asked staring from Gabriel to Nicole, Nicole gulped down a glass of water

"Mom, we haven't talked about that yet" Gabriel replied

"You two are never going to talk about it if it's left in your hands Gabriel but don't worry, I'll take care of it... I have no idea why I still have to do things for you" Halen said murmuring the last part more to herself

She called for a maid and asked her to get her phone, Nicole wondered what Helen was about to do, she turned to Gabriel and stared at him in confusion, it hasn't been up to twenty four hours and there is already a mix up

"Say something" Nicole mouthed to Gabriel

"Um mom, I don't think..."

"Oh no honey, you don't have to say anything and Nicole don't pay any attention to him. Jacob almost played the same trick on me that was why we only had Gabriel because he was always busy" Helen said preventing Gabriel from saying anything

"Honey, can you just let them be?" Jacob, Gabriel's dad said to his wife after noticing how uncomfortable Nicole and Gabriel were about the subject

"Oh no no no Jacob. I know our son better than you do" she replied collecting her phone from the maid and dialled a number

"Hello Angela, I think I'll be needing your services" Helen began

The air suddenly became suffocating for Nicole, she was no longer paying attention to what Helen was saying anymore, and everything and everyone around her became silenced. How did they get here? She wondered

"It's done. You both are getting married in a month" Helen said with a bright smile on her face after the call.

Nicole suddenly lost her appetite, this wasn't the plan. How was she going to get out of this now? Gabriel was going to hate her right now but why wasn't he saying anything to stop his mom? She wondered. Dinner was over in no time, all Nicole wanted to do was go straight to bed because she was literally numb

"Mom, I need to talk to you" Gabriel said to his mom as soon as they were out of the dinning room

"Oh baby, I'm so tired. Can we talk some other time, maybe tomorrow?" She replied already going upstairs

Gabriel went into his study, he immediately turned some whiskey into a glass and gulped it down his throat, completely emptying the glass. He was in shock, he couldn't understand what exactly happened during dinner, his mom just arranged a wedding between him and Nicole right in his presence, she didn't even let him speak, how was he going to clean up this mess now?

His mom wasn't one to take excuses, so how was he going to get out of this? Asking Nicole to pretend to be his fiancee was more than enough for him, he didn't want to force her into anything more than that. She shouldn't be pleasing him or his family, she had her own life to live and he, he was no good for anyone to be with. He deserved to be alone, that should be his punishment for his previous negligence. After that thought, Gabriel decided to go to his bedroom, he hoped to get some sleep after tonight's event but he doubted if that would be possible.

Nicole was asleep in her bedroom when she felt someone's hands gently stroking her hand to get her to wake up, she woke up and was surprised to see Helen, she couldn't help but look at the clock and saw that it was midnight, she wondered what Helen wanted at that hour

"Is everything okay?" She groggily asked. Helen took a seat by Nicole's side on her bed

"I know you two aren't talking to each other" Helen said making Nicole stare at her with wide eyes. How did she find out?

"Yeah. I could tell from both your body language. I'm not a kid you know" she continued

"I um...we..."

"You don't have to explain anything, couples fight. It's normal" she said cutting Nicole off