DEAL OR NO DEAL ?

Bianca's POV

I stared at the picture, my face bleaching of color and my mind reeled in horror, trying to make sense of it all but there was no denying the gravity of the situation going on. The picture– intimate, raw and exposing– was everywhere, spreading like wildfire.

I had no idea it was Hayes Caldwell when I met him. I just wanted to take my mind off my burden and now I have bought myself a way bigger problem with someone influential and powerful, someone who had so much to lose. And to make things worse, our kissing pictures were all over the country.

It would be really difficult now to take them down even if he wanted to since each had millions of views already. And judging by the look of fury in his eyes, I could tell he wasn't taking this lightly. He stared at me with suspicion and it made my heart shrink.

“I didn't do this,” I said, my voice trembling. “I don't know how this got out.”

Hayes narrowed his eyes, pacing back and forth at the foot of the bed. His jaw was clenched so tight, I could see the muscles working under his skin. He looked like he was barely holding it together.

“How convenient,” he said, sarcasm dripping heavily in his tone. “I'm sure it's a coincidence that the night I decide to let my guard down, someone takes a picture of me in bed, with a stranger.”

My stomach twisted at the word “stranger”. I might not have recognized him because I've barely seen him before, but I hadn't planned any of this. I wasn't one of those people out to ruin anyone’s reputation. This was just a terrible mistake– a one time, reckless decision which was fueled by my shattered heart and drunkenness.

“You really think I planned this?” I asked, forcing myself to sit up, the sheets pooling around my waist. I hurriedly covered up as I was still naked before going on. “Do you think I wanted this to happen? I lost my job! I was…”

“I don't care about your sob story,” he cut me off sharply, not able to hide his frustration anymore, his tone cold. “This isn't about you at all. Do you have any idea what this would do to my company's reputation?”

“We can just find a way to fix this–”

“Fix it?” He scoffed, running a hand through his hair. “How can you casually throw THIS under the bus? If I could ‘fix it’ do you think I wouldn't have? Do you know who I am?”

I was silent. My mind, filled with thoughts. My anger towards my ex-boss faded, replaced by a bigger problem that needed FIXING."

“Shit!” He cursed under his breath, shooting a dagger stare at me like I was the source of all his problems, like I wasn’t a victim too. “I am Hayes Caldwell, CEO of Caldwell Enterprises. You should have seen it there! You think I can just do magic to an already trendy news that’s all over all over the media?”

As he spoke, his phone buzzed endlessly, must be his business associates, or family calling. Caldwell Enterprises was one of the largest multinational corporation in the country– tech, real estate, you name it.

From that alone, I could understand why he was making a very huge deal out of this scandal. A man like Hayes Caldwell couldn't afford a media storm over something as tawdry as a one night stand.

“This… this can't be happening.” I whimpered, my mind racing. The last thing I wanted to get into was a mess involving these rich people. Last night, all I wanted to do was drown my sorrows and worry about my life. But now I'm awake to being on the verge of a global scandal. This is just ridiculous.

“Believe me,” Hayes said, his voice cutting through my thoughts. “I wish it wasn't.”

I felt my throat tighten. If something wasn't done about this it might go farther than I could imagine. “There has to be something we can do to make this go away.”

“There is,” Hayes replied, his voice suddenly calm– too calm. He stopped pacing around to face me at that moment, his dark eyes studied me. “But you're not going to like it.”

A shiver ran down my spine. If I wasn't gonna like it, I wasn't gonna like it for real. “What are you talking about?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You want to fix this?” I nodded and he took a step closer to the bed. “You need to help me salvage my reputation. All we have to do is just play along you know. We make the public believe that this wasn't just a drunken fling and it is something real. A real relationship.”

My heart dropped into my stomach with a frown. That was simply absurd. When he said I wasn't going to like it, I wondered what it was, now he said it and I truly didn't like the stupid idea. “You want me to lie then jump into some crazy fake relationship with you? You forget I’m also a victim here right?”

“Fuck it! I want us to protect the little dignity we have left and that’s if you have any,” he snapped. “If the media thinks I'm committed to a relationship, they'll back off. They'll stop looking for dirt on me and we can be free from This shenanigans.”

“Do not insult me Mr… Stranger.” I blurted, calling him “stranger” just like he did to me earlier… tit for tat you know.

“I see it as you just trying to protect yourself and your reputation and that’s cool but how about another plan, a decent one.” I tutted and he turned to me angrily .

“A decent plan? Hold up Miss, I have no intention of courting you, I just want our names cleared to protect my reputation,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “And I'm sure you want to protect yours too. I'm not going to let some photos ruin everything I've built up to this very moment.”

I shook my head, feeling overwhelmed. This wasn't what I signed up for. I didn’t ask that anyone be dragged into this mess and now I have to lie to the entire world also? If the truth comes out, I'll be as good as over. “I can't do that. I'm not an actress and I am not even interested.”

“I don't think you get the picture here,” he took out his phone, waving it before me with the same article displayed. “If you don't play along, this will follow you for the rest of your life and no man will settle for a call girl.”

My stomach was in knots as Hayes's words hit home. He was right - my reputation would be damaged, and my future right now was uncertain. I plan on going hub haunting and this would be a huge stumbling block. I don’t even have any guarantee that if I walk out of this hotel, I won’t be tailed by bullies.

I heaved in frustration.

“Why will anyone believe we're in a relationship?” I raised a brow and his lips curled up in a thin smile.

“I'll announce our engagement today. But before that, we'll sign a contract. It'll outline everything. How long we have to stay ‘engaged’, how we behave in public, and how we can end this cleanly once it's all over.” Hayes said, his voice hardening. I'll provide you with anything you need during this time and you have to move in with me. After all this is over, we can walk away with our lives intact. No one hurt, no one damaged.”

“Move in with you? I need to get a job as soon as possible, I have bills to pay me Billionaire” I shot at him.

“I’ll have that all covered,” he said with a straight face. “I’ll send you 50,000 dollars after the contract is signed. No strings attached!” He added coldly, walked towards me and asked.

“Deal or no deal?”

A sigh escaped my lips and I just nodded gently. “Deal.”