Page 42 of The Billionaire's Timed Wife

“She has breast cancer,” I say bluntly. There’s no good way to soften that kind of news. “But it’s in the early stages. There’s nothing indicating her life is in danger. She just wasn’t treated properly. I spoke via video call with the doctor who’ll be overseeing her care from now on. He said she’ll need several tests, but there’s hope for a full recovery.”

Her hand, resting on the table, tightens, and she stares at her plate. “How long has my mother been sick?”

“She found out a few months ago but couldn’t afford treatment. I’m sorry to tell you, but Daisy was living in absolute poverty. Apparently, she worked cleaning houses before she got sick. When she discovered the tumor, she had to rely on government assistance, which, as you know, is far from enough in cases like this.”

I hesitate, unsure whether to tell her the rest. Maybe it’s better to deal one blow at a time. But she decides for me with her next question.

“But I don’t understand. When she married my father, my mother was a famous model. Faiza met her when she arrived in Rheadur and said Mom showed her several magazines where she’d been on the cover.”

“My assistant only managed a preliminary investigation, but from what we’ve gathered, she lived off her savings from before the marriage for many years until nothing was left.”

“Why didn’t she start modeling again? She was still young and beautiful when she left.”

“Your father.”

“What?”

“He made sure no one would hire her. Not just as a model—for any job she tried to get. It seems he kept watchingher from afar, controlling her life and preventing her from rebuilding it.”

“How could he? It wasn’t enough to take me from her—he had to destroy her too?”

I have no answer to that. Or rather, I do, but I doubt she’d want to hear what I really think of Arif.

“Forgive me. I’m being ungrateful, Kaled, too focused on my father’s cruelty and forgetting your kindness in helping her. But I have to ask...why are you being so good to me and my mother?”

“Have you finished eating?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’d like us to leave. We still have much to discuss. This night isn’t over.”

Top of the Arc de Triomphe

An hour later

“Are you cold?”

“No. I’m too moved to feel cold,” she says. “The view is breathtaking. We thought about going up the Eiffel Tower to see the city from there. Jazmina said she’s been to Paris many times but never to its most famous landmark. But the bodyguardsdidn’t like the idea. They said it would be impossible to keep us safe among all those tourists.”

“They’re right.”

I thought I’d be calm. I convinced myself all day that this would be a business discussion. But as I watch her delicate profile, so heartbreakingly beautiful, I find myself wondering, for the first time, if there’s any real chance she’ll accept my proposal.

Since she arrived, Adeela has been opening herself up to life, as if all the repression her father forced on her is slowly melting away, her true colors finally emerging.

And she’s beautiful. Not just in the physical sense. She’s the whole package.

Every minute we spend together, I’m more drawn to her. The desire to possess her has become a need that has nothing to do with my position or my future as Rheadur’s ruler.

“I have a proposal for you,” I begin, forcing myself to focus on the practical aspects of the situation.

“A proposal?”

“Yes. I want you to become my wife.”

Chapter 21

“I don’t think I heard you right. Would you mind repeating what you just said?” I turn to face him, absolutely certain I’ve lost my mind.