Chapter 5

He suddenly stilled when she looked up at him and took his hands off her like he had just realized he was holding her inappropriately. He went back to the chair he had been sitting down on and watched from a distance.

“Let’s start afresh,” he said. “I’m Xavier and I’m here to make you an offer I hope you won’t refuse. I sent my men to bring you here after I ran a background check on you and discovered you had no one. I didn’t undress you like I said before. I had a maid do it, so no, I didn’t see you naked without your consent.”

Every single word that came out of this man’s mouth was always crazy. He asked to start afresh, yet the things he had said did not calm her down, but only made her more confused.

“How did you know all those things about me?” she asked, relaxing a little now she knew he hadn’t really taken advantage of her. She sincerely hoped he was telling the truth.

“Like I said, I ran a background check on you,” he repeated, looking at her like she was the one who was crazy for going back to the things they had already settled.

“I suppose the offer you hope I won’t refuse is getting married to you,” she said, hoping if she said it out loud enough times, it would start to make sense to her.

It didn’t.

“Yes,” he said with a smile. “I’m glad you’re catching up.”

“Why would I want to marry you?” She asked. “I don’t even know you.”

“I told you my name is Xavier…”

“That doesn’t mean anything. At least not to me.”

Charlotte hated the way Xavier was watching her. It made her feel self-conscious. She hated the fact that he found her pathetic and desperate to think she would be willing to marry someone she had just met just because she had no one else now.

“You don’t have to know so much.” He shrugged.

“Why do you think I would marry you? Just because my husband rejected me in front of all those people, you think I’m now so desperate to marry you because you saved me?” She asked, getting offended.

“ I know you will marry me because you need me,” he said.

This man was just stubborn. Maybe she had fallen somewhere and hit her head and was now in a nightmare with this guy.

“I don’t know what you saw, but my husband and I have had worse fights in the past and we always return to each other. This is just one of them. I don’t “need” to marry anyone.”

She wished she could have worded her defense better but it was too late. What she had tried to avoid happened. He looked at her like he felt pity for her but the look was gone within a second.

“You’ve been too deep in that toxic marriage that you’ve had a disconnect from the real world. See, you need me, if not you’ll go back and make a fool of yourself in front of someone who clearly has no iota of respect for you.”

“I don’t know what you think you know about me or what crazy game you’re trying to play here, but it won’t work,” she snapped. “My marriage is none of your business.”

He reclined in his chair, watching her with a note of curiosity in his gaze. His silence made her tense but she tried her best to look as comfortable as possible.

“I can give you whatever you want, just you name it,” he said and she furrowed her brow in confusion. What the hell was he even talking about? “I can help you teach your husband a lesson. I can help you exert revenge on everyone who blamed you for your husband’s misfortune. I can help you get your family back together. The only thing you need to know about me is that I have more money than you can possibly imagine and I’m very generous with it.”

Since this man was determined to just say more crazy things with each sentence he spoke, then she would have to return crazy with crazy. She would have to talk like him, to understand him and know what he really wanted.

However, Something assured her this man was very sane.

“Okay. Let’s agree you have all this money you claim to have,” she said and he listened to her with apt attention, happy she was finally considering his offer. “Why on God’s green earth would you choose to spend it on me? What do you stand to gain from being married to me?”

“That’s a very legit question.” He smirked. “I need to get married to someone to clear some ugly rumors about me.”

Before Charlotte could ask him what he meant by that, Xavier’s phone began to ring. He lifted a finger to shush her as he answered the call.

When he was done, he placed the phone back into his pocket and stood up and moved toward a closet she didn’t notice before. He brought out a gown and inspected it before giving it to her.

“Dress up,” he told her. “I’ll be right in my room which is the next room after this one, dressing up as well.”

As he spoke, he walked toward the door, ready to leave her and go to this room of his.

“Wait,” she called and he stopped. “Where are we going?”

He hesitated for a while. “To City Hall.”

“What are we going to City Hall to do?” She asked. The truth was that she had no idea what City Hall was.

“City Hall is where people usually go to get married,” he said.

She squinted. “I never agreed to marry you.”

Was this guy dense or something?

Xavier sighed resignedly and returned to the seat he had vacated as if she was the one being unreasonable here.

He brought out his phone and typed in it while she watched him from a corner, wondering what any of this had to do with his absurd request.

“Come,” he told her and she did, albeit skeptically.

Since he didn’t give her the phone, she had to bend over a little over his shoulder to watch the video he wanted her to see.

Someone was being interviewed and when she looked closely, she discovered it was Jonah, her husband.

‘Everyone is talking about your engagement party,’ someone, presumably a reporter asked her husband. ‘It was the party of the week, the most exquisite. How does it feel to be married to the heiress to Jovy Group?’

Jonah shrugged, all smiles for the camera to see. He looked really happy.

‘It feels wonderful. I can’t believe I’m engaged to the love of my life,’ he said and she felt a pang in her heart.

‘People are saying you’re already married,’ the reporter asked and she saw his smile fade. ‘Is it true?’

‘Of course not. People will always make up lies to suit their agenda.’

‘So who is Charlotte Roman to you?’ The reporter prodded.

His smile disappeared when he heard her name and her heart began to pound, knowing that whatever he would say next would break her.

‘Charlotte Roman is nothing but a scheming, lying, cheating criminal, who faked our marriage and blackmailed me into it. I’m finally free to marry the love of my life and I will appreciate it if no one mentions her name again.”

Xavier turned off the video when he saw how badly she was reacting to it. He had hoped it would push her to see how helpful his offer would be, but now she was crying and looked worse than she had been unconscious.

He didn’t like the way seeing her crying made him feel.

“Please leave,” she choked out and he was more than happy to oblige her request.