CHAPTER 9

WHEN THE STORM HITS

James sat down in his sleek, and very spacious office where you could see all the buildings of the city through his window. He typed away on his keyboard, finalizing a deal with one of their many investors. His office was somewhere he had always felt carefree and calm, devoid of any personal crisis.

The soft hum of the television place in the very end of the room was not much of a distraction to James. The daily updates of the world's problem had always been background noise to him but not today. The anchor's voice broke him out of his concentration.

“Breaking News: Was the Knight and Chen wedding a hoax? We're believed to assume the joining of the Knight and Chen children in matrimony had been a strategy to merge both companies together because of financial issues. Anonymous sources provide comprehensive information on this but it won't be shared to the public for now. So really, do you think this union is a hoax?”

James' body stilled, his hands hovering above the keyboard. The picture of him and Emily in their wedding attire flashed across the screen with bold letters captioned “HOAX??”

He reached for the remote, turned up the volume while putting on his suit jacket. The anchor continued. “Insiders claim that the Chen family have been going through financial struggles for a while now. Could this abrupt union be about saving themselves or about true love?”

“Hey James, do you mind helping me with this client?” Brad walked into his office as James brushed past him.

“Sorry Brad, maybe some other time. There's something really important I must attend to.” He snatched his phone from his desk, called his driver.

“Bring the car around now.” He didn't even wait for the response. He ended the call, heading out to the parking lot.

“Well, that just happened….” Brad looked at the door James just went through with so much confusion written on his face before he finally turned to the television playing in the background.

“Oh no…”

**********

The drive back to the house gave James time to think. He knew this mess wasn't Emily's fault and her father was the one that proposed the idea of merging companies through marriage because of their struggles but that did not mean they deserved whatever it is that was coming to them. it currently painted Emily as the enemy and he was not going to stand back and watch her suffer everything alone.

When he entered the house, he noticed Emily standing by the window with folded hands, he could see the faint signs that she had been crying and his heart broke for her.

“You saw it.” It wasn't a question, it was more like he was telling himself, his voice more quiet than he intended.

“Of course I saw it.” She said sharply, her hand reaching out to wipe the remaining tears from her eyes. “My father won't stop calling, it's everywhere.”

James paused, taking a few steps closer to her. “We can fix this.”

Emily turned to him, eye watering yet again and anger at the top of her voice. “Fix it? How do we do that James?! The story's out already!! Everyone knows the truth.”

“You think they're stupid? You think they can't tell the difference between real and fake?! When you can't even look me in the eye half the fucking time.”

“Don't say that, that's not fair.” James frowned, clenching his hand.

“Fair? You're talking about fair?” She pointed at him. “You shut me out whenever you feel we're opening up to each other….or when we're close to trusting ourselves. And now you want me to stand beside you as the perfect wife while the world laughs at us?”

“It's not our fault, Emily. There's only one thing left to do. He walked to her and stood in front of her.

Emily threw her head back in laughter but it was dry. “So you're saying we keep on faking it? I can't believe this ”

“No, I'm not saying that. No more faking. We give them something real.”

“What are you trying to say?” Emily asked as she played the words over again in her head.

“We give them no room to question our marriage, we make them change their minds.”

Emily finally understood what he was suggesting. “Are you saying….we kiss, publicly?”

“Precisely. That's the only way to fix this once and for all.” He said all in one breath. “That's only if you're comfortable with it.”

Emily looked at him, the mere thought his lips touching hers drove her mad, she couldn't help but agree with him. It was outrageous for her but it could work. And what choice does she have anyway?

“Alright, let's do it.”

**********

The following day, they arrived at a fundraiser. Which was carefully picked out because of the number of people that would be attending. The place was so big it made Emily dizzy. She sat in the car with James as they looked out, Emily carefully counted the number of reporters and cameras that appeared to be covering the event.

“Are you ready?” With a nod of head and one final breath.

“Let's do this.”

Eyes from every corner immediately turned as they both stepped down from the car. Emily's palms were so sweaty but James grabbed hold of it regardless. Emily wondered if he was doing this for the cameras or if it was genuine. She could never tell what was going on in that big head of his, James was a puzzle that she had no idea how to solve.

Emily felt James intertwined their hands and a wave of emotions hit her, almost knocking her off her balance that she was barely maintaining. “Stop the jitters. We've got this.”

Emily smiles, but it was more of a grimace. How was James able to keep his cool through all this? She couldn't stop the feeling that this wasn't going to end well.

James led both of them through the large doors. Chatters from guests surrounded them and Emily felt like she was drowning. As they moved through the crowd, James found the perfect spot, stopping there, he turned her around and whispered into her ear. “Ready to do this?”

Emily couldn't form any words but she nodded, giving James the go ahead. It was like something out of a movie scene. The music stopped, all eyes glued to the couple. James leaned in and captured Emily's lips in a soft kiss.

The kiss started off slowly. Everything stopped for Emily and she could hear her heart thumping against her chest, James deepened the kiss, his hand softly caressing every inch in her body. It made her weak. Her initial nervousness vanished immediately as she leaned into the kiss, responding by putting her hands around his neck. Deepening the kiss more.

The sound of clapping pulled Emily from the trance that was James's lips. Her cheeks so flushed she was sure the person standing 4 feet from them could notice it.

“That should do it.” James said but his hand lingered far too long on Emily's waist than she wanted.

As the night continued, Emily found herself replaying the kiss more than a hundred times in her head. She knew perfectly that this was supposed to be for show. So why did it make her feel the opposite way?