Chapter Three

Astrid stared at the dangerously ethereal man sitting in front of her in horror. He had made her more speechless in just mere minutes than anyone else in her entire life.

“What is it?” Darius asked, his patience starting to wane. He didn’t like it when people stared at him like he had done something abominable. He hadn’t done something to her to warrant the look, in his opinion.

“Y-you want to use me?” Her voice came out as a squeak as she bent over to pick up the spoon that had fallen out of her hand.

"Yes." Darius answered simply, without an attempt at rephrasing his words. “You see, lots of people have their opinions about me. I wouldn’t say they’re all good, especially regarding my encounter with my female workers—”

“Excuse me.” Astrid had had enough. She didn’t like where the discussion was headed. In fact, she had been there to show her mother that Darius was not as bad as people said he was. She was wrong. Even on her first day in his house, he was bringing up something like that. She stood up immediately and rushed up the stairs.

Darius watched in surprise as she left. He knew he wasn’t good with people, but surely he wasn’t that bad. He didn’t even know what he had said to get that reaction out of her. He had to focus on his purpose for bringing her to his house. She couldn’t leave him in his own dining hall and expect him to not finish his sentence.

He walked up the stairs and stood in front of her room. He didn’t know if he was supposed to knock or not, as he never did. He decided to try it out, so he did knock.

The door opened slowly. Astrid frowned as she saw him. She had taken off her sweater and Darius saw how red her cheeks were turning. “Are you alright?” He asked, thinking she wasn’t feeling too well. She nodded, but he still looked at her in suspicion.

“I was talking to you.” He said, letting his annoyance show. She took a deep breath and sighed.

“I’m sorry for running away, sir. I just wasn’t ready to hear what you had to say, at that time.” She admitted.

Darius frowned even more, knowing that even she had those kind of thoughts about him. “Look, I wasn’t going to tell you to do whatever it is you were thinking. I want you to help me win someone back.” He rubbed his neck, embarrassed.

Taken aback, Astrid sighed in relief that she had been wrong. “Who, if I may ask?” She questioned.

“My mother.” He answered with a whisper, looking at her with a pained expression. Astrid started to feel bad for him.

“She left you?” Her eyebrows raised at that.

“Those rumours about me using my workers for sex are true. I'm not going to deny it. She left me because of that and moved out. I want you to help me prove to her that I’m a changed man." He threw caution to the wind and poured his heart out to a woman he didn't know that well.

“Are you? And how, even?” Astrid asked, hope blazing in her eyes. One thing she loved was helping people. What was better than helping Darius Titan in his time of need?

“We’ll be engaged.”

Astrid stopped breathing for some seconds, staring at the man in front of her. He wanted them to be engaged? Was it a dream? She secretly pinched herself, but the pain was there. It was not a dream.

“We? Like, me and you?” She asked, just to be sure.

“Yes, but we won’t be attached or anything of that sort. We’ll do it for the publicity. When my mother comes back to me, we’ll break it off. It’s really that simple.” He explained.

Astrid considered her parents’ reaction to such news. They wouldn’t be too happy about it, but she’d break it down to them. After all, they were the ones who always encouraged her to help people in need.

“You won’t do it for free. You’ll leave with fifty million pounds.” Darius told her, waiting for her reaction. He really needed his mother–his happiness–back with him.

“I’ll do it.” Astrid finally agreed after a moment of hesitation. The relief on Darius’s face brought a smile to Astrid’s.

“Tomorrow evening, we’ll be out on a pretend date. That’s when I’ll propose to you.” He told her.

“But what if your mother gets suspicious?” She asked curiously.

“Leave that to me to handle.” He told her and walked away from her room immediately. She had expected him to wish her a good night, but she just nodded and closed the door.

Astrid reached for her phone and called her mother. “Astrid, thank goodness. Are you okay?!” Rose yelled out as she picked up the phone immediately.

“Yes, mum. I’m fine. How’s dad?” Astrid asked.

“He’s out for a game at the bar. What’s going on? Are you okay? Did you meet Darius already? Did anything happen?” The worry seeping out of Rose's voice was too much to ignore.

“I want to tell you something important. First, don’t freak out on me.” Astrid started.

“I’m calm, I’m listening.” Rose replied. Astrid knew her mother was nowhere near calm at that moment, but she decided to break the news to her, regardless.

“I’ll be engaged to Darius for a while.” She announced in a rushed sentence. There was thick silence on the other end of the phone.

“Astrid, what are you saying right now?” Her mother finally said something. Her voice was holding an aggressive tone now. Astrid explained everything she knew to her mother in the calmest and most amicable way she could.

“Are you out of your mind?! Wasn’t it a job you applied for? Why this? Why didn’t he tell you that before? Most importantly, what did you agree to it for?” Rose made a much expected outburst.

“Mum, I said don’t freak out. Just... It’ll be for a short while.” Astrid reminded her.

“And what’s going to happen to you when the whole thing gets out? You’ll have a very bad reputation, don’t you see that? You'll be followed around by people who want to harass you!” Rose whispered aggressively.

“Nothing bad is going to happen. I’m doing all this for you. Be happy for me, please! Make dad understand. I love you. Bye.” Before Rose could say more, Astrid hung up and went to bed, the next day's proposal on her mind.