Lily clicked the send button. It really was like any other afternoon. Her students were busy working on a class assignment and she had decided to pass the time by scrolling through the Weber app. What other way to stalk her old classmates than on one of the world's biggest social media platforms. She had to know if they were doing better than her.
Martha was now a fashion designer, Kelsey was a stay at home mom with three children. Lily's mom never let her hear the end of it. 'You should have your own children soon.' She would cry.
The only different thing about today was how while scrolling through her feed, the most random thing had popped up.
'Click here to apply to be Roman Dalmain's wife.'
"What?" She had chuckled.
Roman Dalmain was one of four Dalmain children. Everyone knew who the Dalmains were. They owned multi millionaire brands and one of the world's largest retail websites, shopdalmain- where one could literally buy everything. [Lily indeed ordered a frog hat there; so, everything!]
They had a share in a car making company. Their only daughter was part of a reality show with millions of followers and their oldest son was in fact the developer of the Weber platform so it was no doubt Lily was surprised to see an ad asking people to apply to be Roman's wife.
She did so anyway. Not because she thought she would be selected out of millions of girls, but because her students were still working on their assignments and she had extra time.
They had requested the most basic information. Just names, age, and one picture for which she selected an old image where she had lipstick on. Every other picture of her was boring and basic.
After clicking send, she looked up from her phone and saw her students passing notes to one another.
She banged her desk, a frown appeared on her face, "are you finished with your assignments?"
"Yes miss Johnson." They chorused.
"Fine, submit them."
*
Kim Wilson knew too well that she did not have to send an application. The person reviewing the applications was none other than Mark Powell, her friend she'd met during one of her modeling shoots two years ago, and luckily, he was working for the Dalmains.
After an hour discussion on how she would pay him a hundred thousand dollars monthly if he ensured she was selected, he had naturally agreed.
But Kim was applying regardless. That shoot for a brand with less than five hundred followers was all the motivation she had needed.
These were the only types of deals her management; star models, were getting for her. What an irony for 'star'. But that would all change because soon, she would be Roman Dalmain's wife and she'd get to work with multimillionaire brands.
"You ready?" James Bags brought her out of her thoughts.
"Hm?" She snapped back into reality and then shook her head positively, "yeah sure."
James had come to pick her up and drive her back home. He was a nice boyfriend, she thought. But nice was the last thing she needed at the moment.
*
Mark Powell sipped from his coffee and placed it back on his desk. He was looking through the numerous applications from women and men too. IThere were a total of six million plus applications before he had closed the form.
He couldn't believe he had been given such an important job. Working with the Dalmains was something he never thought would exist but then, here he was.
He wasn't going to accept any of these applications anyway, he just wanted to see if he could find a partner for himself.
Good thing Kim was beautiful, that was what his boss had specified.
The monitor stopped on a woman called Lily Johnson and he couldn't help but laugh. "What do these people even take the Dalmains for?" He shook his head and attempted to keep scrolling but that was halted when he knocked his coffee over with his elbow.
"Shit." He cussed and bent over to retrieve the cup. What Mark did not know was that the coffee spill on the laptop's mouse had caused the sensitive pad to malfunction and send the automated email to Lily Johnson with a click of the 'application approved' button on the screen.
He pulled his phone out and emailed Kim, telling her when she was supposed to show up.
Closing his laptop, he went to get a mop to clean the mess he had made. If only spilling the coffee was the only mess he made.
Lily placed her hand bag on her dressing table. Her cats were waiting by the door, as always. "Hi Sammie, Catrina." She greeted them and they followed her into her bedroom.She lived in a small apartment, in a block with five other tenants and no one got in one another's business.Her job as a middle school teacher was suitable for her. She couldn't be more-happier; that was a lie, she could.Making herself a meal of toast and eggs, she ran through her emails, waiting for her toast to be ready."When the first two were reminders of the teachers' meeting, she thought the third unread message was spam and was about to move it to the bin when the subject of the email caught her attention.'Congratulations, your application was approved.""But I didn't even apply for a job." She said to herself. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped after she read the body text. She had been selected as Roman's wife. She laughed in a shaky voice and shook h
Friday was finally here. It had been the longest three days for Lily.She was ready.No she wasn't.But she didn't put too much thought into it. Another lie, she completely did.She had taken a local bus, that was how much she could afford and while in the bus, someone had smeared her white gown with orange soda and that was when regretting her actions began.She had chosen the white shirt gown with the floral waist belt because it made her look 'rich.' It was expensive. 'Who sells clothes for a hundred dollars?' Mama Johnson had wondered.But here she was anyway.There was so much to do, and know. What type of questions would they ask her? She wondered as she stared at the building across from her.Her thoughts were disrupted when a splash from a puddle stained her dress.She shrieked in horror. The driver of the black range rover parked in front of her right away."Look what you've done!" She c
He felt her eyes on him and when their gazes locked, her soul left her body. This man was staring at her like he was a demon. He lacked emotions and intimidated her. She looked away and stared at her feet instead, as if they held so much importance."What do you mean send her in?" One of the men opposed. He looked way older than the other three and his hair was grey and thinning.Roman shrugged one shoulder, his eyes on Louise. "Do exactly as I say."Lily could not stop thinking about how she had spent the last few days on the internet, searching through this man's profile yet she had managed not to recognise him in their first encounter.To be fair, he looked like a completely different person in that white shirt and black shorts.Louise clearly took Roman's words, and left the room to do just as she had been told.Lily wished she hadn't left because now her anxiety was rising above the charts. Taking the details of the office i
"I think there's a mistake." Kim stood to her feet sharply. "I'm Kim!""Why would you choose this woman, she clearly had nothing to say, what has gotten into you?" His father banged his hand against the table aggressively."I got this email, I was supposed to get married to you! Are you just going to send me back like that?" Kim sounded like she was about to burst into tears."She's right. I don't understand how there was a mix up in the first place but sending her back is not the right option!" Their dad argued."I'll marry her then."Silence filled the air and everyone turned to look at the owner of the voice, Adrian.
"Your bedroom?" Lily looked around, wearing a look of confusion. Her face dropped in realisation, she was standing in his room."Oh my goodness, I'm not used to these halls yet so I-" she stopped, taking steps backwards after realising that he was taking steps towards her."Wh- what are you doing?" She swallowed."You didn't tell me the interview you were heading for was to be a wife." He said in a low bass voice."You didn't tell me you were the interviewer either." She tried to sound unaffected by his words but her voice was breaking her heart and deserting her.Something about him just seemed to terrify her. Was it his higher class? Or his expressionless
A knock on the door interrupted and Lily wondered what the hell had just happened.Roman pulled away slowly and cleared his throat before proceeding to speak, "come in." He called with a look of doubt on his face.It was another maid.Lily doubted she would be able to keep up with so many people."Your sister is here, sir." She announced.Roman shrugged. Emily was a celebrity. Not that the rest of them weren't famous, but she was in the entertainment industry and she was always away working."The whole family will be here for the wedding?" Lily wondered.
The security men seemed to hold him back like he had done something wrong until Fred stood from where he was seated and chose to intervene. "Hey, what's happening over there?"One of the security men came by his side and whispered a few things into his ears.After a few seconds, he pulled away to talk to Kim, "this man here claims to know you or something like that?"It was evident from his tone that he wasn't a fan of things like this happening."Yes, he's my older brother." Kim lied, glaring at James and hoping he would play along.James knew that whatever was going on, the only way he could get to talk to his girlfriend was if he played along
After the ceremony, when Adrian had gone to attend a meeting, Kim had hurried to seclude James from the rest of the party, not wanting to raise any suspicions.She knew Fred was not happy with her on this and she especially didn't want to get on his bad side. It was bad enough she had paid someone to be her father today, it would be worse if they found out she was in a relationship, or at least used to be in one."What are you doing here?" Kim whispered once they were out of hearing and sight."What am I doing here?" James had bloodshot red eyes. "Kim, you are fucking getting married while we are in a relationship, and you're asking me what I'm doing here? The fuck?""I know things look weird but I can explain." She
Roman was already awake by the time Lily sat up in bed. She was tired and exhausted. They'd had the most silent sex last night and Lily could only think of what next she had to do."I want to go home now." She stated, not turning to look at him. She feared that meeting his eyes would force her to change her mind but she really needed the space to think.Roman nodded and got to his feet, "I'll wait for you outside, you can clean up and get ready in-""No, I want to leave now." She shook her head at him."Alright." His voice was low and he sounded just as tired as she was. She wondered if he'd had any sleep at all. She didn't want to care but she hoped that he got enough rest.Roman helped her to the passenger seat and got on his side.Lily sighed, bracing herself for another moment of silence. It was going to hurt her ears but she couldn't bring herself
Lily shook her face out of his grip. "Roman I'm sorry but I can't. I just can't keep doing this. You lied to me not once, not twice, how do you expect me to believe whatever you have to say?" She attempted to stand on her feet but failed due to the excruciating pain she felt in her foot.Roman crouched so he could lift her up but she wouldn't let him. He shook his head at her, knowing he wasn't leaving her here to drown in pain."You might not want to talk to me but you are hurt and you need my help. I'm not going to leave you on your own injured, there's no point fighting it." With that, he picked her up and led her back to the shed. Cassie was not waiting inside by the time they got there and Lily sighed in relief. She couldn't deal with both their presence but it was better Roman than Cassie.
Kim stopped in front of a bar to order something to drink. She pulled her phone out and groaned at the low percentage before shoving it back into her bag. Adrian had let her go with the escort of a driver and had made up his mind that he never wanted to have anything to do with her ever again.The woman working behind the counter was heavily pregnant, she looked as though she could be on her seventh or eight month and Kim eyed her cautiously."No, I don't drink." The brunette woman snorted and rolled her eyes, "everyone seems to assume that for some reason just because I work here, I'm trying to make ends meet for my baby." She bent to retrieve a pack from the drawer and handed it over to Kim, "and to make sure girls aren't pregnant before they drink, here you go."Kim took
RoMan didn't give an explanation. Instead, he came up to her side and pulled her away from Kim. He held her shoulder for a minute and stared at her blankly."Roman, what's wrong?" Lily stood still, waiting for him to say something. Instead, he went to the closet, stuffed random pieces of their clothing into a mini travel bag. He held it in his weak arm and pulled a plain t-shirt over his head.He held her hand and took her out of the room while she stared still in utter confusion. She met Kim's confused gaze before heading down the flight of stairs.Fred was still waiting in the living room when they got there. He had a frown plastered on his face, "you can't be serious, where are you two fucking headed?"He trailed after them as Roman did not bulge or let go of Lily.Lily wanted to complain that he was holding her too tight but she was still so confused and was barely able to fi
Roman stood up after her immediately and trailed behind her as she made her way to go upstairs, "where are you going?"There was no response.Lily got upstairs and noticed that Adrian and kim had taken their issues to their bedroom. As complicated as the whole matter was, she truly wished they managed to resolve things."Stop following me!" She snapped when Roman came into the room with her. She hadn't been disgusted by someone's attitude in such a long time."This is my room, I can go wherever I want." He reminded her, sitting by the edge of the bed. Lily didn't argue with him, instead, she focused on her closet and began to pack a few clothes."Where are you going?" She could hear the mockery in his voice and when she didn't respond, he softened his tone, "I'm sorry about earlier okay? I didn't mean it like that. I know you did nothing with him, i just think you don't stay safe
Lily had completely forgotten that she actually had a brother in law, come to think of it, in laws at all. She wasn't expecting Adrian to be back from his trip so soon, she thought he would be gone all year, maybe it was something millionaires did.She blinked at the scene in front of her. He'd caught Kim and her 'brother'.She was so glad that she hadn't been the one to break the news to them. Turning to look at Roman, she could tell he had put two and two together and had figured out what was going on as well."Adrian I swear, it's not what it looks like." Kim began to wail while James ran down the flight of stairs without bothering to put his clothes on. It was a good idea because goodness knew what Adrian would do to him if he even stayed a bit longer.Adrian turned to look at Roman with cold, dead eyes. "Is dad home?"Roman didn't look phased by what was going on. "Nah." He shrugged.
Not sure she had heard him right, Lily stood to her feet and blinked at Jerry whose smile was now wearing off into a look of genuine confusion."Are you okay?" He asked her, noticing how the colour had been washed off her face."What do you mean by I am pregnant?" She asked him, hoping he would just wave it off as some silly joke but then that look of confusion on his face widened and he shook his head."I'm surprised you didn't know, I thought to take it since I was doing a general checkup." He thought it wasn't a very good idea now.Lily didn't wanted to wait to hear what else he had to say. She just wanted to leave and go back to the comfort of the room she had shared with Roman and see the pregnancy results for herself."I'm sorry Jerry but I have to go." She announced, standing to her feet."You don't look very okay." He pointed out and she forced the most fake smile
Kim pulled away from James and hid herself under a blanket. "What on earth are you doing here?!" She looked genuinely frightened. In her panicked state, she turned to look at James, "you said you locked the door!""What the hell is going on here?" Lily narrowed her eyes, unable to take it in. Her phone beeped in her hand. She raised the phone to her face, it was a text from Jerry.'I think we should fix a date when we can physically talk and get to know each other better.' the text read.She locked her phone, deciding this wasn't the best time to keep a conversation.Kim sprung to her feet, yanked Lily into the room by pulling her wrist and earning a small shriek from Lily. Kim locked the door behind them and double checked before holding Lily at arm's length."I need you to promise me that nothing you saw just now will get to anybody." Kim began to say, desperation filling her v
He stared at her blankly for a moment and when realisation dawned on him, a bright smile appeared on his face."My God, Lily." He spread his arms and she stood to her feet to receive his embrace in a warm hug while Roman's eyed widened simultaneously."I haven't seen you in forever." She commented, pulling away, still holding hands with him, the only thing Roman could focus on.She was lying, he was one of her old classmates she used to stalk on Weber and she'd known he was hot guy but he had never posted a picture of his medical life."Me neither, wow, here you are and you're still as beautiful as ever." He smiled."Thank you." She blushed. He'd been her high school crush and they weren't really close but they had been good friends at the very least and although they dated for a week in middle school, their communication wasn't deep."If you are done with th