Longing For The Beach Billionaire Daddy
Chapter 11

Shelby

“Todd, I am so glad we finally get to spend some time together. It seems like I barely get to see you anymore. I’m so sorry I have been so busy,” I said, smiling at my fantastic boyfriend. I really missed him, but with graduation so close, I had to put all of my efforts into studying.

“I’m glad you finally found some time for me,” Todd said in a flat tone. I guessed I deserved that, but the comment still stung.

“Where do you want to go eat? I heard there is a great new sushi place just a few blocks over,” I said, trying to switch the mood to a more positive one.

“Yeah, that works,” Todd muttered as he pulled out his phone to send a text.

We started walking over, and I couldn’t help but feel like something was off, but I relaxed as Todd’s fingers locked with mine.

“So, how is work going?” I asked. Todd had graduated with his Bachelor’s degree the year before and started working for his dad’s financial firm after that.

“It has been great. You would not believe some of the people I help with their investments. Every single one of them was a millionaire before they were thirty. That is going to be me; just you wait, Shelby.”

“I know you will be, Todd,” I said as the hostess showed us to our table. “If anyone can make it happen, you will.”

“It won’t hurt to have a rich wife. Then, we’d become millionaires together,” Todd said and smiled at me. He had always been so proud of the fact that I was working towards being a lawyer. I was so relieved that he recognized my time studying was for our future together.

The waiter walked over to our table and asked if we were ready to order. Todd ordered multiple plates of sushi, and then the waiter turned to me.

“I’ll have an order of the California rolls and a water,” I handed the menu back to the waiter and looked up to see Todd with a strange expression on his face.

“California rolls?” Todd asked as the waiter walked away.

“It’s the best deal on the menu. I’m saving for my books. I don’t know if I will be able to qualify for another loan,” I said, slightly defensive. I knew Todd hated how cheap I was, but I had to be if I was going to be able to afford to put myself through school.

I knew he didn’t understand; his dad paid for his education.

Todd pulled out his phone again and sent another text. I tried not to let it bother me; it was probably something for work.

We spent the rest of dinner talking about the different investments Todd was making on others’ behalf and how one of his clients had just purchased their first private island.

“I’m going to run to the restroom before we head out,” Todd said and got up, not realizing he had left his phone sitting face up on the table.

As soon as he walked away, his screen lit up with a text message. All I could see from where I sat was the contact name, ‘Her.” My heart sank.

The screen went black, and I took a deep breath. Todd walked back from the restroom, smiling at me.

“You ready to go?” he asked me as he made it to our table.

“Absolutely.”

“Why don’t we catch a movie?” Todd asked, grabbing my hand again as we walked out of the restaurant.

“Sure. What do you want to go see?”

I slammed the door of my stateroom and rested my back against it. I had to get away from whoever was following me out of the restaurant. I couldn’t face anyone after witnessing Todd’s engagement to someone else.

I took a few minutes to catch my breath, and when a soft knock on the door vibrated my back, I ignored it.

The person didn’t knock again.

My dress clung to my sweaty body, and I wanted nothing more than to take it off. I slipped off the midnight blue silk gown and draped it over the chair in front of the vanity.

I noticed the pink garment bags already hung neatly in my closet. Standing there in only my underwear, I secretly wished that I fit in this world, this world of money. I knew deep down that I did not.

I walked past all of the new clothes, and threw back on my usual attire of shorts and a T-shirt; I couldn’t get comfortable in the fancy clothes. I made my way over to my bed and threw myself on the comforter. Burying my face in the pillow, I let the tears come.

I cried until my eyes burned; I sat up in bed and wondered where everything went wrong with Todd and me. I had truly been in love with him. We had planned a future together, and even though he never spoke directly of marrying me, I always assumed it would happen one day.

So when the waiter placed his engagement ring in front of me perched on a pillow of whipped cream, it hurt even more.

My roommate Aubrey had been suspicious of Todd cheating on me for months before I read that text. I went on pretending our relationship was stable, even though deep down, I suspected him, too, especially after the incident at the sushi restaurant.

I didn’t confront him about the text until weeks later. He denied everything at first, saying it was his father’s receptionist. She was a bitter older woman who was not the kind of woman you wanted to cross. He put the receptionist in his phone as ‘her’ as a joke.

I knew he was lying, but I was okay to keep on pretending. That was until I caught him texting ‘her’ again, right in front of me. Then, I exploded, and we got into our worst fight. He finally came clean that it was a woman he met at my twenty-fourth birthday party.

He swore he wasn’t cheating and that she was just a friend. I promised that we would work it out even if he were cheating on me, but he was not interested in that. He was no longer interested in me. He broke up with me the very next day.

With the memories replaying in my mind, I jumped out of bed and ran to the balcony. I breathed in quick gasps of the cold sea air. I had just realized that I had invited Lauren to my birthday party. Todd had met her there, and they had been in contact ever since.

Lauren told me that she’d been dating Todd for four months, but my birthday party was eight months ago. So Todd had been pursuing Lauren for eight months while he was still pretending to be faithful to me.

‘It won’t hurt to have a rich wife; then we’d become millionaires together.’ Todd’s words rang through my memories. He hadn’t been talking about me becoming a lawyer and the two of us becoming wealthy together.

He had been talking about marrying Lauren, an heiress. This had been his plan all along.

This night of realization had my head hammering, and I needed to calm down. So I walked back into my room, slipped on my shoes, and walked out my door.

I was going to go out to the bar on the deck and make myself a drink. The lights on the deck were already out, but I quickly realized I was not there alone.”

“Oh, Todd!” Lauren m****d.

“You are so damn sexy!”

Two shadowy figures were pressed together in the pool, waves rippling around them, and I quickly realized I had just interrupted Lauren and Todd’s after-engagement celebration. I immediately froze on the spot.

Their m***s grew louder, and I tried to retreat before either of them saw me. Unfortunately, I did not notice the lounge chair behind me in the dark and toppled over it in my rush to get away. I landed flat on my back, and all the air was knocked out of my lungs.

“What the hell? Who’s there?” Todd’s voice yelled behind me.

I prayed it was too dark for them to see or recognize me. Then, I started crawling back towards the door, and as soon as I thought I was out of sight, I stood up quickly and ran. Once I got through the door, I kept running down the hall, the tears stinging my eyes.

I was humiliated, heartbroken, and defeated.

I got to a set of stairs and immediately started climbing as many floors as I could. I had to get as far away from the pool as possible. It was bad enough knowing Todd was sleeping with Lauren, possibly for eight months, but to see it firsthand was too much.

I ended up in front of an elevator, and just as I stopped to catch my breath, the doors slid open.

“Shelby? Are you okay?”

It was Michael. All I wanted to do was to run into his arms and feel his warmth surround me. But instead, I simply nodded and turned to walk away.

How could I possibly explain what I had just witnessed? Lauren was still his daughter.

“I don’t believe you. Something is wrong. I came to check on you earlier.”

Michael handed me a glass of red wine, and I followed him out onto his private deck. The elevator had led up to his stateroom, and Michael, seeing the state I was in, invited me up.

I leaned over the railing and swirled the wine in the glass.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Michael asked with a note of concern in his voice.

“Nothing happened; I was just tired.”

“You were so tired that you ran all the way back to the yacht?” Michael asked clearly not believing me.

I didn’t say anything and took a small sip of my wine.

“And in the hallway just now? You seemed pretty upset.”

“I promise, I’m fine, but thank you,” I said, trying to muster up a small smile.

Michael did not look convinced, but he let the topic go. We stood looking over the ocean for a long time in complete silence. The yacht had left the small island, and so the wake was bubbling lazily behind the propellers.

“When do we make port again?” I asked, finally breaking the silence.

“Tomorrow.”

“I am going to miss you, Michael,” I said quietly.

“What are you talking about, Shelby?” Michael said as his eyebrows knit together in concern.

“I’m going to catch a flight back to New York tomorrow.”