Married To The Billionaire Alpha King-Chapter 58 - you’re in love

58

~Elara’s POV

I settled back against Darlon, listening to his slow, steady breathing behind me. His thumb rubbed the side of my arm without him even noticing. Little absent touches that made my heart flutter more than I cared to admit.

"Just make sure you use protection," I repeated in a mock whisper.

"ELARA!" Janae shrieked again.

And somehow, that made the moment perfect.

We ended up trying another game after all. I don’t even know who suggested it first. Maybe Janae. Maybe me. Maybe we were both just high on laughter. But somehow we found ourselves standing in front of one of those VR stations where you put on a headset and swing at glowing targets in the air.

"I look stupid, don’t I?" I asked, adjusting the headset.

"Yes," Darlon said immediately.

I smacked his arm. "You didn’t even pause."

"Because it’s true," he replied, smiling.

David snorted. "I’m sorry to say this, your majesty, you look like a confused duck."

Janae elbowed him. "Be nice."

"You’re just saying that because you’ll look the same in two minutes," he shot back.

She hissed under her breath, but she still stepped into her own VR booth anyway.

When the game started, everything went chaotic fast.

I kept swinging at the wrong targets. Janae kept screaming when something moved too close. David was weirdly good at it, slicing through everything like he was born for VR combat. And Darlon... well, he avoided getting hit like he was dodging real threats.

At one point, I bumped into Darlon and nearly fell.

He caught my waist instantly. "Careful."

"I can’t see!" I complained.

"That’s the point," he laughed.

We played for almost thirty minutes, sweating, stumbling, crashing into each other, shouting instructions that made no sense.

"Hit the blue one!"

"That one is red!"

"I’m colour blind in VR!"

"Move left!"

"This is left!"

"No, that’s a wall!"

Eventually, the game ended, and all four of us pulled off our headsets, panting and laughing so hard my stomach hurt.

Janae clutched her knees. "I think... I almost died."

David patted her back. "Define ’almost’."

She smacked him again. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Darlon looked at me, still slightly breathless. "You did well."

"I almost fell like five times."

"And I caught you five times," he said softly.

My heart did that tiny flip again.

Before I could say anything back, he turned toward David, expression shifting slightly. Something more serious. Something work-like.

"David," he said quietly.

"Yeah."

Darlon turned to Janae and me. "We need to attend to something. It won’t take long."

His tone told me it wasn’t optional. Or casual. It was Alpha business, and no one questioned Alpha business.

I nodded immediately. "Okay. Go."

Janae bowed a little, suddenly respectful. "Yes, Alpha."

David gave us a small smile before following Darlon out of the arcade.

The moment they disappeared around the corner, Janae straightened and exhaled loudly.

"So," she said, turning to me with big eyes, "what game next?"

I laughed. "You’re unstoppable."

"It’s a coping mechanism," she said, already dragging me to another machine. "Now come on. Let’s destroy each other in air hockey."

And just like that, the two of us continued playing, our laughter echoing through the arcade as we waited for them to return.

We kept playing, game after game, like two kids that had been released into a candy shop with no adult supervision.

Air hockey was the first mistake of the evening.

Janae cheated so boldly, I honestly wondered if she thought I was blind. She’d hit the puck before I even said "ready," use her sleeve to block goals, and once... once she even used her hand to flick it back at me like it was nothing.

I stared at her. "You know I saw that, right?"

She grinned proudly. "Saw what?"

I let it go, mostly because watching her celebrate after every stolen point was funnier than trying to win. She’d throw her hands in the air, jump like she won an Olympic medal, and shout, "Champion!" even though I was pretty sure champions weren’t allowed to cheat every ten seconds.

After that, we dragged ourselves to the dance machine.

And honestly... that thing tried to kill me.

The first beat dropped, the arrows started blinking everywhere, and I stepped completely in the wrong direction. Twice. I nearly twisted my ankle. Janae was beside me, moving like someone’s auntie at a weekend party. Hands on her waist, small steps, laughing too hard to keep up with the screen.

We were a disaster, a very sweaty, very loud disaster. But goodness, it felt good to laugh like that.

At some point, we ended up back on the couch, breathless again, our hair sticking to our faces. Janae threw her head back dramatically.

"If I die here, bury me with these arcade tokens," she groaned.

I laughed. "You’re being dramatic."

" I’m allowed."

We caught our breath for a minute. The place was quiet aside from the hum of the AC and faint game sounds in the corner. I leaned back and stared at the ceiling for a while, feeling... full. Warm. A strange kind of happy I wasn’t used to.

Maybe that’s why the words came out before I could overthink them.

"Janae," I said softly.

"Yeah?"

I hesitated, then spoke quietly. "I think... I think I’ve fallen in love with him. Fully."

She froze, then slowly turned her head to me like she needed to confirm she heard me correctly.

"You what?"

I covered my face with both hands. "Don’t make me repeat it."

"Oh my goodness," she squealed, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me lightly. "Elara! You’re in love with Alpha Darlon?!"

I groaned into my palms. "Stop shouting."

"I cannot stop shouting," she insisted. "You love him?! Like genuinely?"

I peeked at her through my fingers. "I think so. No... I’m sure. Everything he does just..." I trailed off, trying to find the right word. "It feels safe. And overwhelming. And right."

Janae let out a dramatic gasp. "Safe? Overwhelming? Right? Oh, you’re finished. This is real love."

I nudged her shoulder. "You’re not helping."

"Helping was never my calling," she sniffed proudly. "But oh my goodness, I’m so happy for you."

I felt my cheeks warming. "Really?"

"Yes, really. You deserve this. You deserve someone who looks at you like you hung the moon."

She paused, narrowing her eyes playfully. "And he does. The man practically melts whenever you breathe near him."

I laughed, embarrassed and strangely comforted.

She nudged me again. "And honestly? With everything he’s done for you? Girl... if you didn’t fall in love, I’d be worried."

I smiled slowly. "He also helped me get into the designing part of Blueberries Company."

She sat up straighter. "Wait, he did?"

I nodded. "Yes. He supported me fully. He believed in me when even I wasn’t sure of myself. He told them I had something unique. That I could be an asset."

Janae’s eyes went wide with excitement. "So you’re telling me... our very own Elara is now a designer and a future investor?"

I felt heat rise to my cheeks. "Maybe."

"No. Not maybe," she said, lifting my chin like an overdramatic aunt. "It’s happening. You’ll be an investor soon. You’ll be a boss. You’ll own half that company one day."

I snorted. "Half is too much."

"Fine," she muttered. "Forty-nine percent."

We both burst out laughing.

She grabbed my hand suddenly. "I’m proud of you, Elara. Like genuinely proud. You’ve grown so much."

My chest tightened with emotion. "Thank you."

"And you’re in love," she teased again.

I groaned into my hands. "Janae..."

"You’re in love," she repeated louder, poking me.

I shoved her gently. "You’re impossible."

"And you’re in love."

I fell back on the couch, laughing helplessly.