CHAPTER FOUR

The next day…

Audrey's pov.

It was the morning of the paternity test and I was so stressed, I wanted to get it over with already. Asher sent me a driver that picked me up from home and conveyed me straight to the hospital.

When we got there, I spotted Asher leaning on a sleek SUV, in a tailored, Italian suit, as usual and glancing at his wrist watch. Whoever first made Italian suits definitely had Asher in mind because he looked like perfection.

As soon as the car pulled up beside him, he walked up to my door and opened it. Irritation masked his features and he looked impatient.

“You're fifteen minutes late.” He held my hand and helped me down from the car. 

“Well, excuse me for not making the traffic roll faster.” I rolled my eyes. I was not about to kiss some man-baby's ass, so if he had an attitude, he can shove it up his ass, I'm not dealing with it.

He stopped and looked at me. He seemed surprised that I retorted back at him. His eyes seemed to trace my face before his phone rang and he quickly glanced at his wrist watch again. 

I willed my stupid heart to stop the unnecessary palpitations it performed whenever I came in close proximity with Asher Lennox, before speaking.

“Someone's busy.” I pointed out.

“Yes, well, unlike you, I have other business to attend to, so I have to punctual.”

I sighed, already sick of his bullshit. “I understand that you're so big and important, but this is business too. Loose this deal, and you'll never get it back.” I threatened.

He chuckled and allowed his eyes to trace my face again. Then he took a few steps until he was a breath away from me. Then he casually leaned in, let his lips trail down to my ear, and whispered.

"Wouldn't want that to happen now, do we darling?"

My heart started doing the stupid palpitation thing again. I needed to change the ambience and get away from this man, fast.

“The doctor's waiting right?” I managed to muster a casual smirk and began walking as fast as possible to get away from him, and towards the entrance. 

I heard him chuckle again behind me, but I didn't care. He could think whatever he wants. He knows he already won this round anyways.

“Mr. Lennox and Miss Holt? Right this way please.” A nurse said to us immediately we entered the receptionist area. The smell of antiseptic hit my nose and I wanted this to be over already.

Thirty minutes later, the results came out and it was a 99.8% match. I breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, we can get this contract deal going. 

Asher suggested we sit over lunch and finalize the marriage contract, and I agreed. His driver conveyed us to one of the most expensive restaurants in the city and he immediately booked us a private table on the roof.

“So, I have asked my lawyer to draft a document for the marriage contract. It includes the longevity of the contract, do's and don'ts, and very importantly, an NDA.” He explained as he placed the documents in front of me.

I eyed it suspiciously.

“Good, I'm going to read it first.” I picked it up and began to glance through.

"Knock yourself out, love." Asher murmured as he tapped away at his phone. I ignored the endearing name and continued carefully reading through the contract.

Our names and the purpose of the contract was clearly stated. It also had the duration, which was a year, and some rules. So far, the rules were things I could tolerate. One of them was, I had to move in with him after the marriage, and that was perfect.

I stopped for a moment as I reanalyzed my decision. This wasn't what I wanted for myself, but circumstances are deliberately pushing me to lengths I never thought I would go. I mourned my happily-ever-after marriage life in my mind as I quickly signed on the dotted line. No going back now. Afterwards, I handed it back to him and he signed.

“It is done,” I gave him a tight-lipped smile. He gave me one in response. “Now, we just need to fix a date.”

“Next week is fine by me.” He shrugged nonchalantly as he sipped his wine. Good for me too, the quicker, the better.

By the weekend, wedding bells were ringing. I had already been to three fittings for my wedding dress and my father was the most excited. He had been excited ever since he found out who exactly I was marrying. In fact, he completely pushed the ‘Mason’ conversation aside, which was what I wanted.

My parents asked me how we met, and I made up a flimsy story about some elite birthday dinner I attended. They completely bought it. By the next week, my dress was ready, Asher had come over once to formally meet my parents, and everything was going better than I imagined.

The wedding was a court wedding which was very convenient, because it didn't a lot of formalities and it was straight to the point. The only difficult part was that Asher and I had to act like we were in love. And given our present situation, we were far from it. 

He hated the inconvenience I came with, and I hated his ego. A perfect match if you ask me.

Everything worked out fine though, and I moved into his house immediately.

Some weeks later…

The sunlight streaming in through the windows woke me up that morning, so after brushing my teeth and doing my early morning routine, I decided to laze around on my phone for a while. At some point, I heard voices downstairs, so I went to check what was going on.

As I walked down the stairs, I realized the two voices sounded familiar. The first, I recognized as Asher's voice, and the second, I couldn't quite place. I finally revealed myself from the bottom of the stairway and began walking to the kitchen.

I saw Asher, sipping what looked like green juice. The other person who looked to be a man, was seated with their back towards me, and that back looked familiar. Asher must have seen me, because he called out to me.

“Sweetie, you're awake. You slept well?” I figured he was feigning being sweet because of our visitor. 

As soon as Asher spoke, the visitor turned around, and I was met with Mason, my ex. What. The. Fuck. 

“What are you doing here?!” I ignored Asher and yelled out of surprise. Anger was building up in veins and I was ready to pop any second. I looked to Asher expecting him to tell me it was all a prank, but he looked just as confused as I was.

“I should be asking you the same thing.” He answered, equally surprised.

Somebody better wake me up because this better be a fucking dream. Mason was really here in my kitchen and throwing questions back at me. What universe is this again?

“This is my house. Now, I'll ask you one last fucking time, what are you doing here, Mason?”

He looked at me like I was humoring him before he turned around and looked at Asher. “That's your new wife?”

"You're asking me that question like you have a problem with it, Mason. You have a problem with her being my wife?" Asher asked calmly, with his arms folded across his chest.

From his stance, you could tell that Asher was ready to bash Mason's nose in, if need be. "How do you two know each other anyway?" He continued as he looked between Mason and I.

“That's my ex who cheated on me with my best friend.” I finally dropped the bombshell.

Asher looked at me. "This has to be some kind of sick joke right?"

I wish it was too, Asher.

“Unfortunately, it's not." I paused. "Wait, hold on, how do you two even know each other?” I questioned.

Asher looked exasperated as he ran his hand through his already messy hair. He looked at Mason.

"You want to tell her the truth Mason, or I should do it?"

Mason looked unsure of himself, and I was already fed up with the suspense. What was I missing?

Asher chuckled sardonically as he continued. "Okay, I'll tell her then." Then he turned to me. "Mason is my cousin."

I suddenly felt light-headed. With that one sentence, my whole life had come crashing down. The whole reason I was in this contract marriage of a mess, was sitting right here in my kitchen, feeling right at home. And the worst part, he was my husband's cousin?!