Who Is She?

POV: Edmond

“I’m so sorry, Eddie. I messed up last night. I couldn’t get the surrogate to come. She suddenly changed her mind and called off the deal.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? Who canceled what deal?

Are you drunk, Chris? Is it not too early to be drunk?” I asked him, almost laughing at him for not realizing that he failed me last night.

“Come on, man, don’t be like that. I couldn’t find a replacement that fast. But I’m working on it as we speak, and by the end of the week, I would find a girl that is willing to bear your heir and pretend to be in love with you. Trust me, you won’t lose the company, I promise,” he told me, hanging up before I could tell him that the surrogate showed up last night and I had the best time of my life.

For the first time in my life, I made love to a woman, and I loved it. All my life, I’ve had a phobia of girls because of the death of my parents. Dad was reckless with women; he made my mother cry always, and he eventually sent her to her death. They both died in an accident after Mom received a call from one of his numerous lovers.

The car was tampered with, and when Mom received that call from the lady, she was told that this is what she deserves for refusing to leave Dad after so many death threats. The caller told her the car had no brakes and dared her to jump out of the car to save her life. No one knows why my father decided to follow her to the movie premiere this time. They never thought he would be in that car, and they never planned for his death.

The driver abandoned the car and jumped. My parents could not jump in time, and their car crashed into a speeding van that came out of nowhere. Their bodies were unrecognizable when the emergency team arrived. Mom’s phone was recovered, and the driver's stories checked out. It was discovered that my father’s philandering lifestyle was the cause of their death.

The killer was never found, and my childhood was ruined. That incident messed me up big time. It made me the man I am today and made me realize that women are nothing but gold-diggers and fucking hoes. I learned at an early age that all women are only after one thing: my money and fame.

I decided to stay away from women, and that is why I am still a virgin. No, scratch that; I’m no longer a virgin. I lost it to a stranger just last night. We made passionate love all night long, and now I can’t wait to have her back in my bed. I’ve been starved for so long; I just want to unleash my passion and satisfy my sexual fantasies with her before our contract expires.

Yeah, you heard me right; it’s a fucking deal. I need her to pose as my girlfriend so my grandfather doesn’t force me to marry a stranger I have never seen in my whole life. I heard he is coming to my party because he hopes to meet the girl and her parents at the party too. He hopes to get us engaged and married before my next birthday.

Who would blame the old man?

He is just looking out for his grandson and trying to protect his empire. You see, my parents died when I was twelve years old. Gramps noticed my hatred for all women at such a tender age. He decided to pick a bride for me. He chose a friend of my mom’s who was also a friend of the family. She is a legendary beauty; at least that’s what he told me.

She was there to take care of me after my parents died, and when she got married and had to leave, she took her time to train my nannies to treat me right and protect me from those that killed my parents. Gramps confided in her about his fears for my future, and they both came to the conclusion that she would keep her first daughter for me as a wife.

This arrangement was made even before the child in question was conceived. I was just 13 years old when Dad showed me our family heirloom. It’s a rare necklace that has an array of colored pear-shaped diamonds. It has a ring with a huge diamond on it, a bracelet arrayed with pear-shaped diamonds, and a pair of earrings made with diamonds and shaped like pears.

I remember that day vividly as if it were just yesterday. Gramps called me into his study and gave me the diamond ring, telling me to keep it safe because I would use it to propose to my wife when she brought back the family heirloom. Right there in my presence, he handed the necklace to Aunt Eunice with a satisfied smile plastered on his face.

“This heirloom will be returned when my daughter-in-law is 18 years old. My grandson will marry your daughter or no one else. It’s a promise, Eunice, and he will wait for her,” he promised her, melting her heart with praises and accolades.

I can’t be tied to a woman because of a promise my grandfather made at his most vulnerable moment. I have thought of ways to evade this death sentence, and I arrived at this one: getting a girl pregnant and giving him a grandchild will change his mind and get him off my case for good. It’s a simple surrogacy deal with a little extra that I’m paying for.

I have thought it through, and I know it would work if only Chris doesn’t ruin it for me. Gramps made sure I have a good reason to follow his instructions. He stated in his will that I won’t receive his billions in the bank, his estates, and the fucking company until I get married and have a child. Even now, he has refused to step down completely and let me run the company.

I’m just the CEO; Gramps is still the chairman of the board of directors. A few years ago, he lost contact with Aunt Eunice, and I couldn’t be happier. He’s been pulling his weight around the city, contacting everyone he knows to help search for her. But it’s been to no avail; it seems she disappeared with the family heirloom or something.

Gramps has not given up his search for her; he uses his contacts to search for her nonstop, paying private investigators to look for her last known address. So far, his search for her has been fruitless. What is left now is for the old man to decide to make this more dramatic and embarrassing for me. He could wake up and decide to make it a spectacle by putting an ad in the paper and holding a public contest for my future partner.

Crazy, right?

Well, that’s how far he is willing to go. As I got dressed to leave the hotel room, I kept getting calls from Chris telling me that he found me a surrogate. As I thought of the best way to inform him that the first surrogate had been here last night, Alvin came hurrying into the suite, looking worried.

“Boss, there are reporters out there, and they know you spent the night with a woman. You have to leave now before they...”

“I’m not scared of the reporters today, Al. At least they’ll see that I’m not gay or impotent. And maybe Gramps will back off if he sees this news about me and other girls,” I let out coyly, thinking of the beauty I’d spent the night with. She did not sign the contract in my room before she left, but that’s okay; she signed the contract with Chris, so I’m sure I have nothing to worry about.

“Send the surrogacy contract to my email; I need her contact and address,” I texted Chris, too eager to find her and make her understand that she already signed the first contract, so I practically owned her now.

“Forget about the documents, Eddie. I just spotted your five half-brothers having breakfast together in a private restaurant owned by one of your father’s mistresses,” he told me, sending me a video of my half-brothers eating together in a restaurant. I guess Gramps was serious when he said he would let one of my father’s bastards get my inheritance if I don’t follow his instructions and marry the girl he chose for me.

I thought he was only using that to threaten me; I didn’t know that he meant it. I thought he hated these people as much as I do. One of them murdered my parents, and up till now, the murderer has not been found because they used a burner to call my mom. And when the cops found the burner phone, they couldn’t get fingerprints on it because it was scrubbed clean.

One of those women killed my parents, and I intend to find out who did it. My half-brothers think it’s not fair that I got everything. They would do everything they can to make sure I don’t get everything from my grandfather. I’m pretty sure they are plotting against me as they have breakfast in the restaurant my father bought for his mistress, Camilla.

She is the worst of them all, and her son Zach has made it his life’s mission to monitor my life and pester me for his share of the family assets. I’m sure he’s the one behind the reporters waiting to take pictures of me with a strange woman. I have to protect her from them; I have to make sure she doesn’t get hurt.

“I need the file now; I have to find the surrogate before my brothers do. Can you at least send me her number so I can call her and warn her about my brothers?” I asked Chris.

“What the fuck are you talking about?

I thought I told you that she changed her mind last minute. I was with her all night, Eddie; she doesn’t wish to be a surrogate anymore, so the deal was canceled,” he told me, repeating that same rubbish he had said earlier.

“Don’t fuck with me, Chris!

This is not the time to play games with me. Don’t fucking test my patience. If she suddenly changed her mind, then who the fuck had I been with last night?” I yelled in confusion.

Did my brothers set me up again?

Who is she?