Chapter 11

Karen and Benita were gone before Vienna and Alan arrived at the table for breakfast and ate together with his grandfather.

When it was time to leave, Clinton sent a lot of gifts with them and asked his butler, Mr. George, to go with them to deliver them.

Vienna tried to protest to Alan about their agreement not including her living with him, but since they already lied to the old man about having a baby first to stop the wedding from happening anytime soon, it would be weird for her not to live together with him.

The ride was so quiet that even their breathing was subtle, and Vienna fumed quietly within herself.

She wondered if she really had to share the same bed and live with Alan for three months and dreaded the thought.

The car pulled up in front of the house, and George opened the door for Alan, helping him inside.

"You should leave after taking in the gifts," Alan said, turning to instruct him.

"Grandfather asked me to stay with you for a few days and help you around the house since you don't have any servants in the house," George told him.

He had been working with the Clinton family and had become so close that Alan's grandfather regarded him as family.

Alan sighed, knowing his grandfather's trick. He usually hated the mention of having servants in the house and only hired workers who came to clean and leave immediately.

His grandfather really found a good excuse this time.

Not sure where to go, Vienna stood on her feet close to the door and clutched the bag in her hand.

"Come with me," Alan muttered to her, easily finding his way around the house, and Vienna followed, observing carefully as she went.

Almost everything in the house seemed new and built to make it easy for someone like him to live without getting hurt.

Arriving at the first door, Alan opened it and stepped in, holding the door for her. Vienna felt skeptical and reluctant to go into the same space with him and declined.

"I will just wait downstairs," she told him, and heard an annoyed sigh from him.

"I'm not going to bite you," he said.

"Fine," she mumbled, and heard the door close behind her as she stepped in.

Vienna stared around the room, surprised that his place was actually more homely than what she thought it would be, and folded her arms.

The interior and design seemed like what a man would allow because he wanted to satisfy his wife.

Ignoring that and focusing on what’s important, Vienna turned to Alan as he took a seat on a chair.

"What are you going to do now?" she questioned, and Alan raised a brow, confused.

"I never agreed to live together with you, and how could you think of using the word pregnancy to your grandfather?" she snapped, annoyed.

Alan blinked, flabbergasted, not expecting her outburst, but remained calm and unbuttoned a few buttons on his shirt.

"You agreed to do anything asked of you for the next three months," he reminded her.

"You sicko," Vienna cussed lowly, but he could still hear her.

After watching her act so quiet and calm yesterday, despite all that was said about her, Alan thought the last three years must have changed her from her old self, but it turned out he was wrong.

She was still as feisty as before.

"If you had thought of a good reason, I wouldn't have had to step in and say something," he replied.

"Then you should have thought of something better. How are we going to convince him?" Vienna asked, worried, but Alan sneered.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," he told her.

"I have no intention of sleeping with you. You only have to play your part right and follow my lead," Alan said firmly.

"I won’t even if you offer to pay me," she retorted.

"I hate the idea of sharing the same space with you, talk more of the same room and bed," she muttered in complaint, and Alan's grip on his staff tightened, angry.

"Shut your mouth," he said lowly, but still loud enough to create some fear in Vienna, and she closed her mouth immediately.

"I am going to get rid of George. Just ensure that grandfather doesn't find out anything from you," he told her, knowing how shocked and disappointed he would be if he ever found out that he was using the same trick again to deceive him.

Vienna stared at him facing her and took a long inhale before speaking.

"About Benita, did you..." she started, but Alan didn't allow her to finish before grabbing her arms and pushing her back against the wall behind her.

Vienna waited for the pain of hitting her head, but a firm hand secured her head, and Alan's breath fell upon her face without warning, giving her a clearer picture of his face that she couldn't see in the dark last night.

Vienna's heart thumped fast, and there was no telling if it was because of fear or nervousness.

The pores on his face became clearer to her, and his superior eyes stared confidently at her, despite the fact that they couldn't see.

"You are..." Vienna stopped halfway again when she heard the door open and George entered the room, his eyes shining with smiles as he saw them in that position.

He informed Alan that he had gotten all the gifts into the house.

"Where should I keep them?" he queried.

Alan slowly let go of Vienna, pretending to clear his throat.

"They are mostly for her; she will decide," he said, much to Vienna's surprise. She turned to George, clueless.

"Where should I put them, ma'am?" he said, directing the question at her.

"Anywhere is fine," Vienna answered, and George bowed and went away as quietly as he came.

Alan put further distance between them immediately after the door closed, and Vienna scoffed, amused by his actions.

But she was quite impressed that he could hear George coming from a distance and even act well.

"What were you going to say?" Alan asked, pulling off his watch and setting it on the desk.

Vienna exhaled, concluding it was not her business now. No good would come out of her asking why he and Benita broke up.

"A room will be set up for you tonight. You can use it from now," Alan said and bolted out of the room, easily finding his way in the house.

Vienna sat down on the chair he stood up from, sighing loudly, and whipped out her phone, turning it on to see missed calls from Vanessa and messages.

She dialed her number immediately, and it was picked up on the first ring.

Vanessa's curious tone rang in her ears with a series of questions.

"Hey, are you okay? Why didn’t you return as promised? Did something happen last night?"

"Nessa, calm down," Vienna said, stopping her.

She calmed down, and Nisan cut in.

"Are you doing okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine; something happened, and we had to spend the night at the Clintons’ old mansion," she explained, and heard a series of heavy sighs from them.

"When are you coming back? We can go see mom together?" they queried together, and it was Vienna's turn to sigh, although not in relief.

"I'm afraid not anytime soon," she told them, and she could hear their silent murmurs.

"I have to live with him for a few months," she said.

"I don't understand; why live with him when you are just a fake fiancée?" Vanessa asked, raising her voice.

"Because of grandfather..."

"Grandfather?" Vanessa cut her short impatiently.

"You spent a day with them, and you are already referring to his family so closely," she said with sarcasm.

"Vanessa," Vienna cautioned and exhaled, knowing her reaction would be even worse if she told her about the pregnancy.

"I just don't want you to get hurt," Vanessa muttered.

"That is never going to happen," Vienna assured her, remembering clearly Alan's words a few minutes ago.

He disliked her so much, so much that he would ruin her just to make her break up with him and date her best friend.

"When is your exam?" Vienna asked, changing the topic.

"Next week," Vanessa answered.

"I applied to the same school as Nisan since he is also planning to return to college. We could go together every day."

As Vanessa said the words, she felt a bit guilty that Vienna had to sacrifice herself because of them and pursed her lips.

"Let me speak with Nisan," Vienna cut through her thoughts, and she spoke with him for a few minutes more before ending the call.

Vienna made her way out, carefully tracing her way to the living room downstairs, and saw no one.

Then she sat down on the couch and fell asleep.