4

Mr. Desmond’s voice cut the silence like a blade.

“Victor, excuse us.”

Victor looked like he wanted to argue, but one glare from Nathan and he scurried out like a scolded puppy.

The door clicked shut. The air thickened.

Then, without a hint of hesitation or emotion, Nathan turned to me and said, “I’ll marry you.”

Arrogantly and Coldly. Like he was discussing the weather.

I blinked. Once. Twice. “What?”

He shrugged. “Simple. We’ll get married.”

I stared at him, stunned. How can someone say something so...absurd with a straight face?

“No,” I snapped. “I’m not marrying you.”

Nathan didn’t flinch. “Oh, you will.”

He took a step closer, towering, menacing.

“Or is there another way to pay for what you’ve done?”

“I didn’t do anything!” I fired back, heart pounding. “You think I planned this? You think I wanted my life reduced to a headline?!”

Nathan just stared.

I took a breath, chest tight. “You’re not the only one affected, Nathan. Yes, you might lose contracts, but you have money,power to clean this up. Me?” My voice cracked. “I’ll have to live with this shame forever. I’ll never get another job. My family will never recover.”

Mr. Desmond sighed, as though I was being unreasonable.

“Miss Carter,” he said with unnerving calm, “if you don’t accept Mr. Blake’s solution... you will be arrested.”

My heart stopped.

“For what?”

“For trespassing, defamation, damage to public image of the Arterian Group, and more if we dig deep enough. And when that happens, the media won’t just speculate. They’ll destroy you. And your family.”

His words landed like daggers.

My lips trembled. My legs could barely hold me up.

“I'll pay you!" Nathan said looking at me.

He was used to this. Using people. Making decisions that shaped lives like they were chess pieces.

I was no match for any of them.

“I... fine,” I whispered, choking on my pride. “I’ll marry you.”

Nathan straightened, like he’d won a game.

“But,” he said coolly, “there are terms and conditions.”

Of course there were.

“One,” he began, voice like steel. “The marriage is for a year and a half only. After that, we’ll go our separate ways. Clean, mutual exit.”

I nodded numbly.

“Two: we don’t interfere in each other’s personal lives.”

My brow twitched. Convenient.

“Three: when I say we make a public appearance together, we do it. No arguments, no excuses.”

He looked at me like a CEO laying out a contract to a rookie intern.

“And lastly,” he said, pausing for effect. “We don’t fall for each other.”

My stomach twisted.

Nathan added, “This is a business arrangement. Not a fairytale. If you fall for me, that’s your problem. Keep your emotions out of it.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and gave a faint, shaky nod.

Desmond slid a document across the table. The contract.

Nathan was already signing his side.

I stared at the neatly typed clauses. My life, now reduced to bullet points.

I lifted the pen, hand trembling.

But then, I stopped.

“One thing,” I said, lifting my head. My voice was soft, but it held something stronger this time. Steel.

“If we’re doing this—fake or not—you’re coming to meet my parents. You’ll introduce yourself properly to my mother and father.”

Nathan narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Because they raised me. And even if this is fake, they deserve respect. Or at least the illusion of it.”

The room was silent.

Then, Nathan leaned back with a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Fine.”

I signed.

And just like that, Ivy Carter became Mrs. Nathan Blake on paper.

Nathan’s eyes flicked toward Desmond. “She can go home now. Drop your number with him. I’ll get back to you.”

His tone was casual,cold, like this wasn’t my life spiraling into something I couldn’t recognize.

I stood up slowly, but I didn’t move to leave.

Instead, I looked him in the eye.

“Remember the part of the deal about meeting my parents?” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “Yeah… that has to happen. Tonight.”

Desmond lifted a brow. “Miss Carter, it’s already past 5. We could...”

“It’s fine,” Nathan cut in, already rising to his feet. “We’ll go.”

Just like that.

No argument. No hesitation.

If he was irritated, he didn’t show it.

Desmond blinked like Nathan had grown a second head. I think I did too.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

Nathan shrugged, grabbing his coat. “You want respect. Fine. You’ll get it.”

But as I followed Desmond to drop my number and confirm my address, one thing echoed loudly in my mind:

I can’t go home just like this.

Not after what had happened. Not after the headlines.

Not with Dad waiting.

My father was old-school. Proud. Strict.

He still believed girls didn’t sleep over at parties, let alone end up half-naked in a billionaire’s hotel suite.

Even if I told him I didn’t sleep with Nathan, even if I screamed my truth till I was blue in the face,it wouldn’t matter.

In his eyes, the damage had already been done.

*******

“Explain. Now.”

Nathan Blake was sitting in my father’s living room like he owned it.

Calm. Straight-backed. Eyes sharp.

Meanwhile, I sat beside him wishing the ground would swallow me whole.

My father leaned back, lips tight. “How long have you two been… seeing each other?”

Nathan didn’t blink. “Three months, sir.”

Three months?

My eyes nearly popped out of my head.

Daddy raised an eyebrow. “Three months?”

“Yes,” Nathan replied smoothly. “We decided to keep things quiet. I respect her privacy.”

Respect her privacy? Oh this man was dangerous.

“And how exactly,” Dad asked, voice sharp, “did you meet my daughter?”

Nathan glanced briefly at me, then faced him again. “At Brian's meet and greet event.”

I stiffened.

“I asked her a question,” he said, “and she gave me an answer no one else had the guts to say. She didn’t try to impress me. She didn’t even care who I was.”

My dad squinted. “So she was rude?”

Nathan smiled faintly. “No, sir. She was honest. And that’s rare.”

I felt my heart stutter. I should’ve been mad at how well he was lying, but instead, I kept sneaking glances at him.

This couldn’t be the same arrogant billionaire who barked at me like I was gum on his shoe.

He was respectful and Confident.

Even my mum tilted her head, watching him now with less suspicion and more… curiosity.

She finally stepped forward. “Mr. Blake.”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“What exactly do you like about our daughter?”

The air thinned.

Nathan didn’t rush. He paused, breathed in and out."Her smile. One smile from her lights up my day.”

I blinked.

My parents were quiet. Too quiet.

And I?

I was busy falling in love with the wrong man at the wrong time.

Because as I sat there, stealing glances at him while he convinced my parents I was worth loving…

All I could think was:

Maybe I misjudged him.

He’s actually really, really hot.

“Sir,Can she move in with me tomorrow?“

I looked at him with my eyes wide opened, because that was definitely not part of the plan.