Taming A Billionaire

The third point of view:

"Hey, look over here! No, there! Turn your face! To the left. This angle. Isabella, don't move! Anabelle, stop eating!" the two brides to be received non-stop orders as to how to behave as the make-up artist and her team worked on them.

Isabella was vexed beyond her limit and it only took Anabelle's charming and easy-going nature to get her to calm down and not murder the crew for doing their job. Anabelle was there to erase the furrows on Isabella's face with jokes and conversations about their future.

Isabella felt like a freshly plucked chicken. This was not the first time she had makeup applied on her face but today's treatment was on another level and it was all thanks to her mother.

According to Reina, today was her special day, and had to look the part. There wasn't going to be a single flaw on her body and as she quotes, "You would be the epitome of perfection!"

Ever since the day everyone knew she was pregnant - thanks to Anabelle's wide mouth - they treated her as if she was fragile and would break upon impact especially Cecile. But Isabella viewed Cecil's past action as hypocritical, choosing to be cold to her because she refused to give her a grandchild and being warm to her because she finally got what she wanted.

Pedro might be her son, but he's her husband now and they choose how to plan their family without her interruption. She - Isabella - choosing not to have a child, that doesn't make her less of a woman.

However, Isabella was beginning to understand Cecil a little each day the baby grew in her stomach. The love she had for her unborn child each time she stroked her belly was unexplainable. All she understood was that she and Pedro had created a child, that would be theirs. Perhaps, that was the same thing Cecil wanted - to see the world they created.

"I'm so envious of you," Isabella suddenly said, drawing Isabella's mind to the present. She was rubbing her baby bump that was now visible and that was what Anabelle was staring at.

"Jealous of what?" Isabella asked nonchalantly and was grateful for the fact that the make-up artist was finally done with her.

"Your baby bump," she looked down, "Mine is not visible yet," Anabelle complained, rubbing her hand on her still flat stomach.

Isabella sighed, leave it up to her cousin to make a big deal out of the most trivial things.

"You think I like the fact that I look like a floated balloon on my wedding day?"

"You look actually like a sexy mom, I'm jealous. When your child grows up, you could actually tell him or her - wait a minute, do you know the baby's sex?" Anabelle finally realized she hadn't asked that.

"It's a girl,"

"Christ Jesus, it's like you're giving birth to your incarnation. I'm so scared now for my son," Anabelle's hands went protectively to her stomach.

Isabella glared at her.

But Anabelle pointed out, "What if your daughter bullies my son in the future?"

"Are you calling my unborn child a gangster?" Isabella increased the intensity of her glare. How dare she accuse her unborn child of a crime she hadn't even committed?

"No," Anabelle said, "I'm just saying the apple doesn't fall far from the far," She hinted that Isabella's child would be just like her.

Just like that the both of them began to quibble on the issue just as Niklaus entered the dressing room.

"Isn't it too early to quarrel on your wedding day?" Niklaus made his appearance known to the two ladies who didn't notice him.

"Uncle!" Anabelle said, resuming her good-girl image.

"Anabelle, you look wonderful," Niklaus complimented her.

"Thank you," Anabelle stood and embraced him in a hug, placing pecks on both sides of his cheeks.

As soon as Niklaus pulled away, he turned to his daughter and was stunned.

"Wow," He breathed, "You look so beautiful I can't describe it,"

"Thank you, father," Isabella said, an embarrassed blush creeping up her face. This was the first time her father ever complimented her so deeply she felt it.

"Anabelle, can you give us some privacy?" Niklaus said, turning to her.

"Sure," Anabelle didn't waste time to enter the adjoining room, giving them enough privacy to hold their conversation.

Even after Anabelle left, Niklaus didn't say anything and just kept staring at Isabella who was uncomfortable with the scrutiny that she stared the other way until she couldn't take it anymore.

"If you want to say something, just say it and stop staring at me that way. It's creepy," she complained.

Niklaus laughed, covering his face with his palm as he choked out happiness-filled laughter or so Isabella thought because when her father moved his palms, there were traces of tears around his face.

"Oh," was all Isabella could mutter.

"You were this small when your mother and I had you," Niklaus gestured to Isabella with his hand, "I could remember clearly how scared I was of you. I was just a young boy but I knew that tiny little being could ruin me in more ways than I can imagine," He laughed at his silly past.

"When your grandmother put you in my arms, you were so fragile and light that I thought I would crush you if I made a move and all I could think about was how your sleeping mother would skin me alive if anything happened to happen to you. So I held you tight and then you peered up at me through your half-lidded eyes and I knew I was in trouble. I loved you from the beginning, Isabella,"

"Isabella, the circumstances regarding your childhood might not have been the best but I could never give up on you and I'm sure your mother up there is proud of the woman you've become. And to think that you would birth a life soon," Niklaus was so emotional that he pulled Isabella up to her feet and hugged her tight.

Surprisingly, Niklaus who gave the pep speech was the one who ended up crying while Isabella, the listener, consoled him.

"Come on, old man, stop crying else people might begin to think that we're having a burial instead of a wedding," Isabella told Niklaus, causing him to chuckle.

And that was the scene Reina walked into when she came to check up on Isabella. With a smile on her face, she walked over and engulfed the both of them in a wide embrace.. It felt good.