The Billionaire's Pretend Wife (Isabella)
Chapter 88 Eighty Eight

Jacob spent the next two days in the hospital and left on Monday. They were the longest two days of his life, and only Jason giving him multiple updates per day about Isabelle's whereabouts kept him from saying damn it all and leaving against the doctor's advice.

He left the hospital in Jason's company, with Kevin driving them. It was only a few minutes' ride to the company, but he felt like it was taking forever.

Jacob looked at his watch. It was twenty minutes to nine o'clock. He knew for a fact that Isabelle was already at work because Jason had her department director report to him the moment she showed up. He exhaled heavily. He couldn't wait to see her face...hear her voice...hold her...

If she would let him.

He tapped his fingers on his thigh rapidly. The memory of that day at the hospital flashed through his mind. How she had run away from him, and the accusations her sister had made.

The fingers on his lap curled into a fist. He refused to believe it. His sweet Isabelle would never... He exhaled heavily. Even if it was true that she had lied to him, he believed she would have a good reason. He had misjudged her several times before, but he now knew one thing for sure. She would never lie to him out of malicious intent.

Her sister said she was adopted. He knew first-hand how cruelly some families could treat step children, leave alone adopted ones. He had been even worse than a step-child. He had been the illegitimate step-child.

His mother, Magdalene, had started off as his father's assistant as he ran the Garcia family business. Then they got into a romantic relationship. His father, Arturo Garcia, started involving her deeply in the business. Eventually, she became such an integral part of the business that she could as well as have been part of the family.

At one time, the business got into a financial crisis, and they would have lost their generations-worth of wealth if Magdalene had not negotiated for a financial boost from the Cruz family.

That was when the marriage pact happened. The pact was the Cruzes' condition, seeking an opportunity to mix bloodlines with an old money family. His mother had agreed, seeing as Garcia's entire wealth was at stake if they didn't get a boost soon.

With the Cruzes' help, the Garcia's business survived their rough patch. The ending wasn't as happy for Magdalene. Shortly after that, she became pregnant with Jacob. She and Arturo hadn't gotten married yet, so they started planning their wedding.

And then overnight, everything changed. Arturo broke the news that he couldn't marry her, as his family didn't approve of her background. His family matched him with a similarly wealthy heiress, and he went along with their wishes.

That was how Jacob ended up as the illegitimate eldest son of the Garcia family, betrothed before birth to the eldest daughter of the Cruzes.

Even after Arturo's betrayal, Magdalene never forgot that the Cruzes came to their help at a desperate time. When she fell ill, she talked to him about the pact between the two families, and said it would be important to her that they showed their gratitude by sticking to their promise.

Jacob was a hotheaded teenager then, and he didn't like it. If it was anyone but his beloved mother asking, he never would have agreed.

He asked whether they couldn't just repay the Cruzes in money, but she explained it was the marriage connection that was important to them. He promised her he would not break her promise to them. When the time got nearer for the marriage arrangement to be fulfilled, Jacob gathered information about the Cruzes' eldest daughter. Who knew, maybe he would end up liking her.

But the reports he got back left him with a bad taste in his mouth. And that was when he figured while he wasn't going to dishonour his mother's memory by breaking her promise, whether the woman stayed married to him was another matter entirely.

Back when his mother passed away, he had to live with his father's family and his stepmother. It was no secret that he was not welcome. And not just in the family, but also in the family business. The Garcias sidelining him helped with his efforts to make himself seem like the worst husband candidate ever to his arranged bride.

Everybody who knew anything about the eldest son of the Garcia family knew he wasn't promising.

He didn't have any sway in the corporate world. He was lazy and reckless and lived on his father's wealth.

Wealth that would one day trickle to his younger Half-siblings, the Garcias' legitimate children. Even if he got some inheritance-and his stepmother would do everything she could to lock him out-he would end up blowing it all on alcohol and

women.

Definitely not the ideal groom to look for if you wanted to join a wealthy family. His father hadn't even listed him in the Garcias' family registry.

Knowing what he knew about Naomi's character-now he could finally attribute everything he had heard to the right woman-he knew she wouldn't want to go ahead with the marriage.

For some reason he couldn't

fathom, the Cruzes never cancelled

the pact even when he proved to be a useless future son-in-law. Who knew maybe the fact that he was, after all, a biological son of the Garcia family was enough to them.

Also, the Cruzes' businesses weren't as robust as they used to be. A connection with the Garcia family, even through their illegitimate son, would surely help.

He had himself witnessed Isabelle's adoptive mother and sister throwing her out of the house. He wouldn't put it past them to have exploited her into the marriage.

That way, they could kill two birds with one stone-save their precious daughter from a marriage to a useless man, but also have one foot into the Garcia family through their adopted daughter. And then there was that woman who had passed away that day. She was obviously very important to Isabelle.

Naomi had claimed her parents couldn't afford to foot her medical bill, so Isabelle came after him for money. Sure, the Cruzes' business wasn't what it used to be, but he doubted they were that badly-off. The sooner he solved the entire puzzle, the sooner he could sort things out with Isabelle. Content

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"Jason?" he called just as Kevin pulled up to the front of the Larson Group Building.

"Yes?"

"I want you to look into the Cruz family businesses. I want to know everything about how each one of them is doing."

"You got it."

Kevin came around to open his door, and he stepped out. Jason joined him from the other side.

Side by side, they walked into the building. They were crossing the lobby to the elevator when someone grabbed Jacob's shoulder and tugged forcefully.

Jacob turned around to find himself face to face with that college senior of Isabelle's. He was glaring at him with pure anger in his eyes.

"It's really you! What are you doing here?" the man demanded.

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