LOGINTiana's POV
I wasn't able to sleep that night. The effect of Maddie's accident was heavy in my heart, making me cry almost throughout the night. The next morning, I tried to ignore the knot of guilt I was feeling in my stomach. It felt as if I was stealing something that belonged to my sister. I knew she must have been dying to tell me why she was getting married so soon but she must have signed some NDA with Seth. I tried to convince myself that I was doing the right thing by not only saving Seth's ass, I was saving all the employees at Berkley Empire who would lose their jobs if Seth lost his inheritance. I packed a few of Maddie's clothes that she had initially picked out for her honeymoon. Even though we wore the same sizes, our dressing style was different. I loved simple and modest dresses while Maddie loved flashy, short and slutty dresses. I was forced to pack some of my clothes too just in case. After checking on Maddie at the hospital, I informed the doctor that I wouldn't be visiting for a while. I went back to our apartment to get dressed and waited for Seth's driver to pick me up. I was wearing one of Madison’s red silk slip dresses, the sparkling engagement ring Seth had given me was heavy on my left hand. Seth's driver came and he drove me straight to the hangar. Seth was waiting by a sleek, black private jet, flanked by a single pilot and an intimidating security guard. He looked really handsome in his grey trousers and navy jacket. His face was utterly unreadable as I approached him. It made me remember that this man was the same untouchable CEO I saw at work almost everyday. "You came." He said in a flat tone, his eyes traveling down my body, his jaw tightened. "You left me with almost no choice, Seth. So, I’m here.” I responded, shifting from one foot to the other under his stare. Now I was thinking if wearing Maddie's dress was a bad idea. He didn't acknowledge my words, he just led me up the stairs into a cabin that was more like a flying luxury apartment. It had plush cream seats, dark mahogany panels, and a full-service bar. The flight attendant smiled professionally before discreetly vanishing into the cockpit area, leaving us alone. "The flight is gonna take about eleven hours, that gives us enough time to do what we need to do before we land." He settled into a seat opposite, gesturing for me to sit in front of him. He placed a tablet between us. It was open to a bullet-pointed document. "What is this?" I asked, eyeing the tab curiously. "You need to read and sign this." He said as he pushed it forward, the seriousness in his looks tightening the air around us. I picked up the tab and read the document. It was a contract stating that I wasn't allowed to mention this arrangement to anyone and there should be no reason for physical contact unless completely necessary. I was okay with that, I knew Seth and I would have to touch each other. It was unavoidable if we wanted people to believe we were married, but it would only be in the presence of other people. There were other rules but they weren't really complicated. I read them all over again, making sure there was no line that stated that I would have to pay any certain amount if I breached the contract. He even offered to give me a promotion at work after this was done since I clearly stated yesterday that I didn't want his money. "Done!" I said as I signed and handed the tablet back to him. He leaned closer to take the tablet from me, his cologne drifting between, it smelled clean, sharp and expensive. It wasn't fair that someone this cold could smell that good. "There are a few things you need to know if we want to make this work. This..." He gestured to the both of us, "is make believe. There is a possibility that my parents will be visiting, we have to pretend like we are madly in love with each other in front of them." My stomach made a funny movement at the mention that we had to pretend to be in love. The problem was, I wasn't good at pretending like Madison but I didn't mention this to Seth, he would probably just say that I just had to try. It was too late to back out of this deal now. "My parents met Madison once and they don't know that she has a twin. I'm sure they'll barely remember what she's like, so you don't have to pretend to be Madison in front of them." "Okay, I think I can do this." I breathe out, leaning back into my seat and trying to imagine what meeting his parents would be like. "See, this is easy. Remember to introduce yourself as Madison Berkley, act like you love me and that's all." He made it sound really easy but seriously, how hard could it be to pretend to love someone? It wasn't like I had never been in love before. "So, what is going to happen after the honeymoon?" I asked him. "I get my inheritance, you don't lose your job and even get a promotion, everybody wins." "No, I mean if Maddie isn't awake by the time we come back, am I going to keep pretending?" It wasn't as if I didn't want my sister to wake up, I really hoped she would so that I wouldn't have to keep pretending. Seth shook his head before adjusting himself in his seat, "no, I don't want things to get uncomfortable for you at work so you don't have to pretend when we are back. The deal will be off after two weeks, even if Madison doesn't wake up." "What if your parents find out that you lied to them?" "They won't, they will be traveling out of the country after I claim my inheritance, so you have nothing to worry about." I smiled and nodded while he gave me a curt nod. As if sensing that we were done with our conversation, the flight attendant showed up and asked if we wanted anything. I ordered a glass of wine while Seth ordered whiskey. I tried my best to stay awake after another glass of wine but my sleepless night eventually caught up on me. When I woke up, I found myself in a moving car. At first, I panicked. I jerked up in my seat and looked around me, that was when I saw Seth sitting beside me with his tab in his hands, looking unbothered by my behaviour. "You are awake," he said, not looking up from his tab, "you slept all through the flight, I tried to wake you but you didn't answer. I almost thought you were dead." I blinked and adjusted myself in my seat, he must have carried me into the car. I let out an awkward laugh as I fixed my hair, "I'm a heavy sleeper." I told him. I quickly checked my face to make sure there was no drool. He didn't respond, just continued with whatever he was doing. I was reminded that this man was a machine and he was always working, even on his honeymoon... fake honeymoon. I sighed and looked out the window, the sky was clear and bright making a smile appear on my face. I kept gawking at the beautiful buildings that we passed by on our way to the resort. This city was beautiful. It almost made me forget what I came here for. Soon, we got to the resort. I climbed out of the black SUV with Seth while the driver helped with our load. The air was warm, heavy with plumeria and salt. It was the smell of paradise. Seth stood beside me, his hand robotically moved to my waist, holding me firmly. I swallowed, ignoring the way his palm burned through the fabric of my cloth and into my skin. That was when it dawned on me, this was really happening. I had no choice now, there was nowhere to run to. I had to be Madison Berkley to survive the next two weeks. "Are you ready?" Seth asked calmly. "Yes." I answered as I nodded stiffly. We started to walk towards the entrance of the resort. A man in a white linen suit, who I guessed was the manager, welcomed us and ushered us in. The resort was painted in all white and was sparkling clean, I had never seen anything so bright in my life. I tried my best to maintain my composure as I stayed close to Seth, whose body was rigid as hell. "Mr. And Mrs. Berkley, welcome to the Honeymoon Serenity Suite." He beamed at us, "Let's get you signed in before I lead you to your lodge." He led us towards the receptionist who was also smiling brightly at us. I wonder how much these people were paid to smile at their customers like there were friends with them. "Can I have your name, ma'am?" The lady spoke as she typed on the computer steadily. "Tiana pa-" Seth drew me closer to his body, clearing his throat loudly to block out my voice. I gasped and looked up at him to see him forcing a smile at me with his brows raised. I immediately understood what he meant, it hadn't been up to five minutes into the pretense and I was already screwing up. Lord, help me. "Madison Berkley." I smiled at the receptionist who was patiently waiting, "You know, I'm not used to the name yet. It still feels strange that I'm a married woman now." I laughed awkwardly. Oh my God, Tiana, shut up! This was one of the things I was afraid of, I always rambled off whenever I told a lie because of how nervous I got. Seth forced out a laugh as his hand tightened on my waist like a sort of warning, "you don't have to tell them that, baby. You will get used to it soon." He then leaned down and kissed my cheek before whispering into my ear, "no more talking." My face burned bright red from the contact while I bit my lips to stop myself from blurting out more nonsense. The lady must have thought we were flirting with each other, she smiled at us and then continued typing, she handed me a book and told us to have a nice stay. "I will lead you to your suite." The manager who had been waiting for us said. He continued to blab about some things as we got into an elevator and pressed the fifth floor. Seth answered him while I tuned out of their conversation when I saw two couples coming out of a room before the doors closed, they both looked flushed. There was a large sign on top of the door with 'NO SEX!' boldly written there. It didn't take rocket science to tell what they had done in that room. As the door slid open, the manager swiped his key card to open the door of the first room, which I guessed was where we would be staying. "Your personal butler awaits to help you with whatever you need. There are lots of activities you can do while you are here in this book, you just have to register for whichever one you are interested in the morning." As soon as the manager was gone and we were inside the house, Seth's hand was off my body. "You have to be careful next time, you almost fucked us up back there." He said in a calm tone as he surveyed the room. I was surprised at his reaction, I had half expected him to yell at me or scold me for not being able to tell a simple lie. The way he used the word 'us' and not 'me' made me realise even more how I was also going to be affected if I failed at this, Seth was obviously good at pretending, I needed to be good too. "I'm not really good at lying and pretending. But, I'll do better next time." "If those staff notice anything strange between us, they won't waste a second to call my father and inform him." I nodded at him as he walked away into the suite. It was then that I noticed how breathtaking the suite was. Floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a view of the ocean that wasn't far from here. There was a sitting area, a massive private balcony, and a large bedroom. I walked into the bedroom and saw a single, enormous king sized bed, layered with white linens and lots of pillows. I looked around for a couch, futon perhaps, or any other piece of furniture but there was none. That was when it dawned on me that my boss and I would be sharing the same bed... for two weeks!!Tiana’s POVI cleaned up Leo as soon as he woke up and got him ready to meet Seth. I kept trying to tell him that someone was coming to see him but he didn't even pay much attention to me. He just kept playing with his new toys. Caleb stayed for a while longer and I could tell he didn't feel comfortable with the way he looked over to Seth's house whenever he heard the movers' voices. He eventually had to leave for work but he promised to be back in the evening. He kissed my forehead firmly, his eyes locked with mine as he caressed my cheeks gently. "I don't trust that man. If he tries anything stupid with you, don't hesitate to chase him out of your house, Ana."I nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. Deep down, I was also a bit nervous that Seth was coming over to my home. I was scared of the way Leo would react to him and I was scared of what might happen between us, not that I wanted anything to happen. I tidied up the living room and fretted about while waiting for him to kno
Tiana’s POVThe rest of the birthday party was a blur of forced smiles and cold sweat sticking behind my back. When I went back to the picnic table, I tried to blend back into the celebration. Caleb kept looking at me, I could tell he had like a thousand questions burning in his mind, but thankfully he didn't ask me anything at the party.Elina, however, didn't let it go that easily. She came to my side as we got to the table, pulling me to one side. "Is that... Seth?" She asked, her eyes searching mine curiously. I nodded in response, unable to form the right words as an answer. Her eyes grew wide as she stared back at where Seth was still standing, he was still there, looking at us with a dark look on his face. I couldn't help but worry about what he was thinking. "We will have to talk about this later." The moment the party was over and we had returned home, she was at my house with a glass of wine in her hand."He found me, Elina. I don't even know how he did." I said, biting
Tiana’s POVMy legs felt heavy with each step I took as I walked toward the back of the old rollercoaster. I could feel Seth’s presence behind me, reminding me how the past I had managed to hide from had eventually found me. When we were far enough from the music and everyone at the party, I stopped and sat on a nearby bench, keeping my arms wrapped around myself as if physically trying to keep my heart from falling out of my chest.I finally looked up at Seth as he stood a few feet away. He looked really handsome but there were faint lines in his eyes that hadn't been there before. He looked like he hadn't had a proper sleep in weeks. He just stared at me for a long time, his chest rising and falling heavily before he finally sat beside me. "How have you been?" He asked, his voice coming out low and deep. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, I didn't realise how much I missed his voice until now. Hearing him again made me want to fall into his body and melt into him. "I've been
Seth’s POVI sat by the window side in my hotel suite, the blue light of my laptop reflecting in my glass of scotch. Jamie wasn't bluffing about finding out the owner of the private jet. It belonged to the daughter of a really big business tycoon, Elina McRae. At first the name didn't ring a bell, not until I saw the social media photo Jamie had somehow pulled from a private account. Then I realized it was the woman Tiana and I had met on our 'fake' honeymoon. The woman who had treated Tiana with such sisterly affection.I leaned back, my grip tightening on the glass. How did I not even think about her? How did I not think that she could be the one helping Tiana? I thought they stopped talking when we left Maui. I called Jamie back immediately, putting the phone on speaker. "Find out her address, I want to know where she's living. She's the only one who can tell us where Tiana is.""I already did that, sir. She's in Oakville." Jamie answered, keeping his voice calm. "She's in the sa
Tiana’s POVI wiped my hands on my apron, frowning as I walked out of the store room to meet Asher toward the front of the shop. "Why do you keep yelling my name?" I asked her, placing my hands on my hip. She laughed as she wrote something on a card and placed it on a bouquet of flowers she had already prepared. "Don't worry, I already got it under control." I rolled my eyes at her and looked towards the counter, Caleb was standing there but he was staring outside the glass window and there was a bit of a frown on his face. I turned to see what he was staring at and saw the back view of a tall man in black suit stepping into a sleek, black SUV.My heart skipped a beat as I watched him reach out to close the door. I rushed toward the window to get a closer look at him but the engine roared to life and the car sped off. I didn't see the man's face or even get a good look at his side profile, but something felt oddly familiar about him. I walked back to the counter where Caleb was n
Seth’s POVThe engines of the private jet hummed softly as we began our descent into Toronto. My assistant, Nikki, was already knee deep in her briefing, her tablet glowing in the dim cabin light."Our schedule is tight, Mr. Berkley." She said, not looking up from her tab. "Once we land, we’re heading straight to Oakville. I already rented a car and booked a hotel for us. The meeting with the owners of the park is set for tomorrow morning. They’re eager to sell the park to us knowing how big the Berkley Empire is."I leaned my head back against the leather headrest, closing my eyes. "That's good, Nikki. Make sure the contracts are ready." I wanted to sign the contracts and leave this place as soon as possible so I could continue my search for Tiana. Expanding the Berkley Empire to Canada would be a good thing for our business, I was taking it to the next level. I had left Nikki in charge of the location and she impressed me again. An hour later, we were driving down one of Oakville’







