Chapter 6

Xavier groaned in frustration when he entered his room, angry at himself for messing things up.

He wrongly assumed that once he threw the fact that he had more money than she could ever spend, she would happily oblige him and get married to him, but that had ended up getting her angry instead.

What had he been thinking? He had basically kidnapped her and no matter what he explained, she would never see past that fact. His chance to finally mend his bad reputation had slipped out from his hands.

Maybe it was for the best though. It was crazy to want to marry his nephew’s ex-wife. Sighing, he lifted his phone to call his assistant to take her back to her home, hoping she wouldn’t reveal any of this to the reporters who worked tirelessly to smear his name.

There came a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” He asked, as he dialed his assistant’s number.

“It’s me, Charlotte,” came the faint reply from the door.

He dropped the phone and breathed in. He would have to send her away himself.

“Come in.”

To his shock, she came in wearing the dress he had picked out for her to go to city hall, her wedding dress. She was facing the ground with an uncertain expression on her face.

“I thought you said you were getting dressed,” she muttered, looking up at him when he didn’t say anything. “I’m ready.”

He cleared his throat, surprised at how distracted he had momentarily been by how the material of the dress perfectly outlined her curves and how the bright color of the dress illuminated her eyes. She didn’t have any makeup on and her hair looked like it had been put together in a hurry, yet she looked breathtaking.

“I didn’t think you wanted to go through with it.” He said, watching her to see what she would say.

She shrugged. “Well you convinced me. I have nowhere else to go and my husband wants nothing to do with me. This is the next best option. You were right. I’m used to convenience. This is better than nothing.”

He pressed his lips together as she spoke. There were obviously no feelings between them, yet hearing her speak about their marriage like it was some punishment she had to endure made him uncomfortable.

However, he knew that if he said the wrong thing, she would easily change her mind. He needed this.

“Alright, I’ll get dressed.” He turned to bring a suit out of his closet but realized she was still in the room. When he turned to face her, he noticed her eyes were fixed on his back like she was lost.

“Do you want to watch me change?” He said in a deep tone and she jumped.

“Uh…uhm. I’ll…I’ll leave,” she fumbled with the words before finally leaving.

He let out a chuckle as he put on the suit.

In a few minutes, he would be a legally married man.

***

Charlotte tried not to overthink it as she sat beside Xavier, while the driver drove them to city hall. She knew if she kept reminding herself of the fact that she was willingly getting married to a stranger, then she would push the car door open and run away, or worse she would have an asthma attack.

She would have at least run a background check on him, at least a g****e search to see exactly who he was. What if he wasn’t as wealthy as he claimed to be but was using someone else’s wealth to entice her. At that moment, she realized she didn’t really care whether he was rich or not. He seemed nice enough and she was desperate.

If the man had not been lying about his wealth, then he had to be the wealthiest man she had ever come in contact with. The house they had come out from was the biggest house she had ever seen and now she was in a car whose name she did not know, but exuded nothing but class and wealth.

She couldn’t even search him online if she wanted to. Jonah forbade her from using the internet, so there was no way for her to obtain information about anyone from her phone.

Besides, what would she even search for? Rich man named Xavier with a big house and car? She didn’t even know his last name!

Thoughts occupied her mind. He said he needed to get married to her in order to clear his reputation. What if his reputation was something messed up like murder, or something worse? How would getting married to her even fix anything?

She shut her eyes and tried to keep her breath steady.

“Are you okay?” Xavier asked her and lightly touched her palm to comfort her.

She let out a breath which was surprisingly from the contact of his hand and not as a result of what she had been feeling prior.

What was that burst of electricity that still sizzled in her after he touched her? Feeling a blush coming to her cheek, she turned away so he wouldn’t get the wrong impression.

“I am,” she said, keeping her hands together on her thighs.

No matter how much of a bad idea this appeared to be, it was still better than going back to the man who didn’t even want her.

Jonah had not only dumped her, but humiliated her in front of everyone. The sadness and pain she felt toward him began to dissolve, and a strong feeling of anger overtook her.

That bastard was going to pay!

The car came to a halt and Xavier turned to her.

“We’re here,” he said and she nodded, although she didn’t move from her position. It was still difficult to convince herself that she was not making a mistake.

“You can stay here for as long as you want before you make up your mind,” he said. “I know this is a serious decision for you to make and I’m sorry for springing it up on you in one day. The marriage will only last for a year and six months and we won’t have to live together.”

That was another problem. She already had a failed marriage with Jonah which everyone blamed her for. What would people think of her when the next one ended after only a year and a half?

Her eyes caught with those of the driver from the rear view mirror, who was staring at her with a mix of curiosity and judgment. He reminded her of those people at the party who had judged her without knowing her, just because of the lies Jonah had said about her. They had judged her without knowing her or caring to know her story and they would continue to judge her.

Suddenly, something snapped inside her. No matter what she did, people were still going to judge her. She owed no one anything and had gotten in this position because of how afraid of everyone she always was.

“I’m ready,” she said, turning to Xavier and smiling sweetly. He looked surprised at her sudden change of attitude but did not remark on it. “Let’s go get married.”