Chapter 7

Katherine's POV

It was all just like a dream. I could remember getting divorced a week ago and all of a sudden I was in a hotel pretending to be another man's girlfriend, walking hand in hand with him on the stairs as we approached the paparazzi outside the hotel.

I clung to my leather jacket, glaring at the crowd outside.“Tell me you have your securities around here.”

“Paparazzis don't bite. They just ask questions.” Ryan said in a way that made me feel dumb.

I was looking at him now, pissed. “I know that. We need securities for whatever fangirls you got in that crowd.”

He was wealthy, an arrogant playboy. I couldn't be wrong about him having some girls amidst the crowd, ready to rush at him and harm me in the process.

He glared at me, a smirk followed. “Oh, so now you show your side of weakness.”he mocked. “A while back, you were all bold and a strong willed woman. Weren't you?”

I ignored him. We were close to the entrance door and the paparazzi with their cameras could already see us coming forward, holding hands.

They took a lot of shots, including the guests roaming around inside the hotel. I got goosebumps just by staring at their curious faces.

Ryan swirled his head towards me, he flattered a cute smile at me. “Once we're out there, you act like my girlfriend and nothing else than that.” He instructed.

I faked a smile too. “Honey, I'm not dumb, okay?”

“Good. Don't even think of messing this up for me.” He said, rubbing my cheek like there was a stain on it and I forced a smile at him.

We stepped outside, ready for a ruse. The paparazzi jumped at us with their cell phones and cameras. And Ryan actually had securities, they instantly created a gap between us and the insistent paparazzi. .

“Ryan DeVille. Who is this lady to you?”one of the journalists referred to me, trying to get a clean video with his phone towards my face.

My hands were a bit shaky, and my heart couldn't stop beating so fast to hear Ryan DeVille's response. What if things get out of hand? I'd blame myself for the rest of my life for accepting to fake this whole thing.

An unexpectedly Ryan grabbed my waist. I wished this wasn't all a ruse at that moment. I would have punched him on the face right here.

I tried to smile, staring at him as he did the same before he looked back at the crowd.

“This lady standing here by my side is my girlfriend and my fiance.” Ryan smiled down at me again. He was a pretty good actor. Only if his attitude were good too.

They all gasped, taking more photos of us. My grip tightened around my phone. What the hell was he doing? We only agreed on the term “girlfriend” not his soon to be fiancee.

“Miss, would you like to introduce yourself to us?” Another journalist asked.

Ryan kept mute, that meant I could handle answering the question on my own. I braced myself. “I'm Katherine Willows.” I said with a grin. I saw the look on the journalists' faces and Ryan's face too, for a second, his facial expression seemed sort of surprised.

I might have forgotten to introduce myself to him.

“Katherine Willows?” “She sounds familiar.” I heard them murmur amidst the crowd.

“Aren't you married to a Reynold Manchester?” a lady in the crowd questioned, she pointed the little microphone thing to my lips.

“Not anymore.” I managed to say without looking so embarrassed.

“Why? Are you both divorced?” Another question erupted from the crowd but Ryan stopped me from answering. He held his hands in the air.

“That's all for today. No more questions.”Ryan still held my waist as he led me into the waiting black SUV ride on the road.

We entered the back seat and I sat there for a while. None of us said anything and I felt so embarrassed.

Ryan breaks the silence, “Seems like you're not a nobody afterall, Katherine Willows.” The way he says my name sounds like he has known me for years and not just last night.

“At least I thought I was, until now.” my voice is barely audible. I thought no one knew me after I was disowned by my parents or after I gave Reynold everything that I had to my name and turned from a company's CEO to a housewife. I thought I was cleared out of the internet for good.

“I'm sure you want to know more. Don't you?”I asked Ryan who had his attention outside the windows. The car had started moving.

“Definitely not.” he replied, glaring at me with an uninterested look. My brows creased. I had expected a different answer.

“Okay.”I muttered. Why was he acting all strange all of a sudden? Did I end up ruining his reputation because of my own already ruined image? But what do I care, I knew this was never going to work in the first place.

“Can you please drop me at the nearest bus station?” I said to the driver.

Suddenly Ryan ordered the driver to stop the car and step out. The driver did as told and we were alone now. Ryan in his modest form laid comfortably on his seat, his neck turned to me. I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at the way he glared at me. His stubbles were more visible now that he was close enough to me.

“What now?”

“You can't go anywhere just yet, because I've got a deal for you, Katherine Willow.”

Gosh, I hated the way my name sounded so natural in his mouth.

“And what makes you think I want to hear another deal of yours or accept it in anyways. Wasn't agreeing to be your girlfriend enough? And you even went outside of the whole plan. Calling me your soon to be fiancee. Who do you think you are, really?”

He brought his head closer. I could feel his hot breath on my nose. “I’m Ryan DeVille. And I want you to marry me.” he pulled back, still looking at me.

I sat there, stunned, staring into his blue eyes. “Are you crazy?” I asked, chuckling at his words which was nothing but a joke.

“No, I'm far from crazy.” He replied. “I happen to know Willow's company, you know. And I also know that company is going down the drain every single day.”

I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. I laid back, “I’m not surprised.” “So what does my company's loopholes have to do with this idea of yours?”

He sighed. “As much as I hate to say this. It's the only way to get my grandfather's full approval of taking over his company.” He paused.

“I will help your company rise again if you agree to marry me, Katherine Willows.”

The butterflies in my stomach seem to have spread out, flying around, not because he said my name in a particular way that pleased and annoyed me at the same time but because the sincerity in his eyes and in his words screamed louder than all the other attitudes he'd shown towards me since we met.

On a second thought, I couldn't trust him.

“People like you think it'd be so easy to take advantage of everyone and everything below their status.” I paused and he looked at me rigidly.

I continued, “I’m most capable of getting my company back on track, Ryan DeVille. I don't need your help.”

“Your eyes tell me otherwise.”

I was mute, trying to look away from his intense gaze but I couldn't. My eyes were stuck to his face.

“I would advise you keep your pride aside for now because you'd benefit from this deal.”

“You think it's all about the benefits?”I retorted

“Sweetheart, everyone has a price.”

I scoffed. I couldn't say it. I couldn't possibly share my feelings with a stranger.

“I want to go home.” I turned away, changing the subject.

“I need an answer.” He insisted, his tone cold.

I turned to face him again. “I'll think about it.”

“I need an answer, now.”he insisted, his face neutral.

“What don't you understand by ‘I'll give it a thought'?”

He sighed, rubbing his temples. He was clearly frustrated and so was i. “We don't have all the time, okay? You need your company not to go totally bankrupt and I need a wife as insurance to secure my inheritance, including my grandfather's company. So stop thinking about yourself and think about your company.”

I side eyed him. He was being really greedy but somehow he was right. The company was important too. I could barely forget my parents faces when they pleaded to me to find a way to restore the company's image.

I gave them my word even without a full proof plan on how to restore the company back. And here was my chance, a billionaire offering help with an impossible condition.

And just maybe, this was not all about me.

Ryan looked away, adjusting his suit, “I'll pick you up tomorrow morning.”

“What for?”

“I'm sure my grandfather heard about the news and he would certainly want to meet you.”