Chapter Four

Simone

The first thing I look for as I enter my room is my phone. It was still on the vanity table.

13 missed calls from dad and a text from an unknown number.

“Don’t be stupid” this time, from the real Zion.

I immediately start gathering my things. My life has taken a dangerous turn in the last few hours, I am just on autopilot. The look on father’s face when he saw Nate, (oh, I found out his name from father’s lips) was of pure fear.

So, he was right. We were in a lot of soup.

Who was this man?

I picked up my phone and searched for Nate Scot. His name and face popped up, but Zion was also in the picture. There were so many headlines.

“Nate Scot dead?”

“Who is to takeover Scot Holdings?”

“Zion Scot takes over Scot Holdings twenty four hours after his brother’s death”

“Nate Scot back from the dead” I clicked on that.

Two years ago, Nate Scot who had been announced dead showed up, and his company, became rival to none. “Rumored to have business in the underworld”, read a particular piece.

“What is this?” I threw my phone on the bed and sobbed. At this point, I think I might be running out of bodily fluid.

“What have you done?” Father demanded, coming into my room.

“You tell me” I challenged back. I didn’t know where this new morale was coming from, I’m guessing it’s from the adrenaline of today’s events, and being tossed around like a football by everybody.

“What were you thinking? Doing business with a man who is rumored to be criminal?” I asked

“I had no idea it was him, until it all came crashing down” Father sighed. “And we don’t know it’s a criminal. It’s just a rumor” he murmured.

“He is going to ruin us. His plan is to take Zion down, and everything else. He won’t spare us” Father noted

I shrugged and continued packing. “We didn’t do anything to him”

“We cannot take any chances” he muttered. Why was he whispering? He always spoke as if the world listened to his every word.

“You should have stood your ground” he stated flatly.

“And we’d all be on the streets by now. You, in jail” I remarked dryly.

I felt fear from the tone of Father’s voice. The power and prestige of old money had always given him boldness, but now, he was scared. Who was Nate? And what exactly had he gotten himself into?

“Listen to me, dear girl” he said, holding my shoulders so I look up at him.

“Your duty is to your family, always. If I go down, we all go down. Your mother, your sister and you”

Now, I was scared.

“You need to play your role well. Win his love, win his confidence, play a good wife. And then, when he is most vulnerable, we strike.”

“How do you expect him to trust me?”

“Not now, but eventually. You must be a good pretend wife to him. You and I, we are on Zion’s team.”

“This is dangerous” I sobbed.

“Then you better be smart.” Father straightened himself and put back his facade of control.

“Hurry now, Nate will not be kept waiting”.

I couldn’t sleep. How could I? All I could think of was father and Nate and Zion. Was I really on Zion’s team? Can I really trust him?

Nate seemed like the kind of man not to mess around.

How do I win his trust?

I stepped out of the bed and strolled in the hallway. Everything was elegant, and simple, like my style. Is this who he is? A simple man but hard and complicated to the world?

The door was slightly open. I could see him staring at the moon from his window, smiling a cigarette. I knocked once.

“What?” He looked at me, irritated.

What was I doing? Why am I here? How am I supposed to win the favour of a man who is disgusted by the very sight of me?

I cleared my throat and stepped inside. I can do this. I’ve always played pretend my entire life, this isn’t different.

“I wanted to know if you need me”

“For what?” He asked again, irritation rising in his voice.

“To consummate our marriage” I almost puked.