Chapter Five

Bruce turned slowly toward the television.

Jace’s inauguration speech was being broadcast live

“That’s who?” Bruce asked.

“The guy from last night.”

Bruce stared at her and looked at the TV, then back at her.

“You slept with him?” he asked.

She didn’t answer.

Bruce's expression changed. He looked at the television once again, this time closely paying attention to the billionaires on screen who rule the city.

“Norman,” he repeated.

“I didn’t know who he was,” she whispered.

Bruce’s eyes met hers.

“How much did he give you?”

Her expression changed.

“What?”

“Don’t lie to me,” he said.

“Nothing, we just talked.” She said as her mind flashed back to her making a ten-thousand-dollar deposit into the bank.

“What do you take me for Charlotte? Men like that don't just talk.”

“You’re telling me you spent the night with a billionaire heir… and came home empty?”

“Oh, Charlotte,” he said. “You really don’t think.”

She stood up quickly. “Don’t start.”

“Start?” he smirked. “You just handed us a goldmine.”

“Us?”

He stepped closer to whisper.

“You think a man like that wants headlines about some bartender he slept with?”

“I didn’t sleep with him.” She followed up.

“And you are not saying anything.”

“Oh, I’m saying everything.”

Charlotte shook her head. “No.”

“You think he wants the public knowing he picked up some broke girl at a bar the night before an inauguration?”

Bruce grabbed her bag suddenly.

She gasped. “What are you doing?”

He opened it.

And found the bank receipt of the deposit she made.

His eyes widened.

“Oh,” he whispered. This must be from Mr Norman.”

“Ten thousand?”

She nodded.

“You’re going back,” he said.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I’m not.”

He grabbed her face again.

“You’re going back,” he repeated. “And this time, you would come back with more than ten thousand dollars.”

“Are you seriously asking me to steal?” She asked.

“Yes, that's exactly what I am asking you to do.”

“Well, I won’t.” She shot back.

“You don’t get to decide. Now quit being useless and go prepare something for me to eat,” Bruce said as he sat back on the couch, already calculating how to capitalise on this situation.

He would pick up his phone and send an anonymous message to The Norman Enterprise.

To Mr Edward Norman.

Your son wasn’t alone the night he arrived in the city.

Room 55. The Royal Crest Hotel.

He spent the night with a bartender.

I have proof.

If you want this buried before the press gets it, contact me.

Mr Norman was in his office when his phone vibrated.

He opened the message and immediately his expression changed.

“Wtf, a bartender,” he muttered.

“Find out everything about my son’s movements the night he returned,” he said to his head of security. “Every transaction.

All camera footage. Every person he was with.”

Within an hour, the confirmation came.

Jace had checked into the Royal Crest Hotel.

Room fifty-five.

And there was footage of a woman entering his room late that night.

Edward stared at the image of Charlotte on the security monitor. Her simple dress and cheap heels.

Edward leaned back in his leather chair.

“If the public wants responsibility,” he muttered, “I will give them responsibility.”

Jace was halfway through a glass of whiskey when his father walked into his penthouse without knocking.

“I’m not in the mood for another lecture,” Jace said, not turning around.

“This isn’t a lecture,” Edward replied. “It’s a solution.”

Jace glanced at him over his shoulder. “To what? My college mistakes? Or the board being on your neck?”

“To everything.”

Edward tossed a file onto the glass table in front of him.

Jace opened it.

Inside was a printed image from hotel surveillance.

Charlotte Walking into Room 55.

He was shocked.

“Where did you get this?” He asked.

“You’re not as careful as you think,” Edward said. “And unfortunately for you, someone else noticed.”

Jace slammed the file on the table. “What do you mean?”

Edward walked closer.

“I received a message this evening, from an anonymous person threatening to expose your… activities.”

Jace stood.

“So pay them off.”

“It won’t stop there. Whoever it was would surely come back.”

Edward’s voice lowered.

“You are getting married.”

“I am already aware of that,” Jace said.

“No you are not, “You’re getting married tomorrow. Noon. My office.”

“You’ve lost your mind.”

“You have already lost control of your image,” Edward snapped. “You will not lose control of this company.”

Jace stepped closer to him. “And who exactly am I supposed to marry? Some socialite you picked from a catalogue?”

“No.”

He tapped the file.

“Her.”

Jace stared at Charlotte’s picture again.

“The bartender?” he scoffed. “You want me to marry a stranger from a bar?”

“I want you to marry the only person who can destroy you right now.”

“You don’t even know her.”

“I know enough,” Edward replied. “Poor background, no influence or power and more importantly easy to control.”

“You’re turning this into a business deal,” Jace responded to his father.

“That’s exactly what it is.”

Edward adjusted his cuffs.

“You will marry her. The press will frame it as a pre-marriage romance.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then I release the information myself before your blackmailer does. And you can watch the empire slip slowly away from your hands because of your pride.”

Jace exhaled slowly.

“You’re ruthless.”

“I am prepared,” Edward replied as he walked away.

THE Day OF THE M A R R I A G E

Charlotte was sitting in Mr Norman's private office, when Jace walked in.

” He said quietly. “You’re the girl from Room 55.”

“And you’re the man who didn’t even say goodbye.”

“This isn’t about personal feelings.” Edward interrupted.

Charlotte looked at him.

“You want me to marry your son.”

“You will be compensated generously. Housing. Security. Financial stability for life.”

Charlotte almost laughed.

“You think this is about money?”

“Then what is it about?” Jace shot back.

She looked at him properly now.

“You left me without a word. And now you’re sitting here like this is a board meeting.”

“You think I asked for this?” Jace said.

“Then why agree to it?”

“Because I have no choice.” He said.

“And what happens after we sign this contract?”

Edward answered, “You will play the role of devoted wife. Public appearances. Charity events. No scandals.”

“How long?”

“One year,” Edward replied. “With the possibility of extension if necessary.”

“And if I say no?”

Jace leaned closer, lowering his voice so only she could hear.

“Then whoever’s threatening my father releases what they have. And you become the woman who slept with the scandal-ridden heir the night he arrived.”

“So this is blackmail.”

“No,” he said.

“It’s survival.”

“You want me to risk my life, my name, everything… to protect yours?”

Edward slid an envelope towards her, inside was her mother's nursing home bills and her sister’s tuition fees both fully paid.

“Now are you going to do as we say?” He asked.

“Yes.”

The Norman family lawyer walked into the office with the contract details at hand, alongside the company's COO.

When the lawyer brought out the marriage documents, the COO noticed Charlotte rubbing her stomach looking dizzy, so he said.

“You look pale and stressed.”

Charlotte immediately removed her hands from her stomach.

“I'm fine.” She said,

“You’re pale. And you’re shaking,” the COO said.

“My wife looked like that before we found out she was pregnant.”

“I just need rest, that's all.”

Jace signed first.

And as Charlotte was about to sign the documents, she kept shaking and the pen slipped from her fingers.

Both Charlotte and Jace bent down to pick up the pen, Jace held her hand and whispered.

“You are shaking.”

“I'm fine.”

Jace released her hand.

“If there’s anything you’re hiding,” he murmured, “I always find out.”

Charlotte signed the document and she looked up at him.

“So now what?”

Jace’s eyes darkened.

“You haven’t seen what marriage to me looks like.”

Charlotte wrapped her hand around her stomach again.

“You should get a pregnancy test.” the COO said,

The entire office became curious as they looked closely at Charlotte.

“I said I am fine, it's probably just food poisoning.”

“Yeah that's true, just get yourself checked up,” Edward said as he dismissed the office.

Jace stood.

“And understand something, Charlotte…”

His voice lowered.

“If you think this is the worst part of your life—”

He leaned closer.

“From today, your life is no longer yours.”