Chapter 13Diego's POVI pulled over at a fancy restaurant in the heart of town. I alighted the car and straightened my suit jacket before heading toward the entrance which was covered in regal gold lighting.The restaurant was well-known for its exquisite cuisine and the presence of different celebrities. A casual walk-in could land one in the sight of over five movie stars. Because of this, paparazzi were always lurking around. Even now, I believe a few photos of me had been taken and a story was getting generated.A wave of nostalgia hit me as I neared the door. It had been over a year – two maybe – since I came here in person. My assistant usually got takeout from here for me since I loved the seafood."Mr. Klein is expecting you, sir" A maitre d' approached me as soon as I stepped in. Nodding to her, she turned and led the way further into the restaurant. She led me to the second floor which was mainly occupied by people of great wealth.She stopped when we got in front of a dini
Chapter 14Sage's POV"Boss, your father called again. He asked to speak with you," Violet informed, walking toward me where I stood before the vanity mirror in my room.I was getting ready to meet, Talia, Theodore's mother since I found it hard to turn down her request. Hopefully, she wouldn't bring her son along."I won't speak to them till they have better things to say about me" A day ago, after the contract with Diego was established, we had to give the media enough to talk about so we made a public appearance by being all cuddly as I left his office. My parents were beyond furious and said a lot of fucked up things. But I have thick skin, thicker than theirs and now, they desperately wanted to speak with me as I'd locked them out.They should've known better than calling me names and scolding me for being an adult."Sage, don't you think you've put them through enough? I know they said horrible things–" Called me a disgrace "But I believe they said that out of anger at the momen
Chapter 15Sage's POV"Nervous?" Diego asked after a while on the road to his grandparents' estate. My gaze was outside the window and my expression neutral but for some reason, there was a flutter in my chest that wouldn't stop no matter how many deep breaths I took.This couldn't be considered nervousness, right? I didn't care about what his family thought of me but it mattered as it would directly affect our deal and my reputation. A good enough reason for the cause of my jitters.Looking away from the window, I gazed at him. "Do I look nervous to you?""You tell me," He said, raising an eyebrow as he brought the car to a halt before a red light."Well, I'm not. It just feels strange since I've never had to lie to people's faces before" I scoffed and quickly added, "Especially against my will"Diego glanced briefly at me, "You were ecstatic about the deal a few days ago, weren't you?"Yes, I was but just because of my gains. I hadn't thought of 'being' his wife."By the way you loo
Chapter 16Sage's POVThe clinking of cutlery against the ceramics echoed through the room, marking the silence. Tension hung in the air like a thick, suffocating blanket. Fleeting glances darted between Diego and me. Though no one spoke, I felt the weight of their unspoken questions.When Diego made the announcement earlier, his grandfather chose to ease the shock by asking everyone to sit for dinner. Now, I couldn't help but wonder what he had on his mind. Aside from complimenting the seared Salmon, he hadn't spoken another word.He was too calm for comfort. Had he been expecting this from Diego?The Seared salmon I'd forced down stuck in my throat when another possibility crept into my mind. Had the man seen through our charade already?"Diego, make her eat more," Vivian's voice rang through the room cutting through the silence that hung in the air. A hum came from Diego as he packed my plate with more of the savory quinoa crisps."Eat up, sweetheart" Diego smiled and I almost snor
Chapter 17Diego's POVDinner wasn't going well with Uncle's underlying digs at mine and Sage's relationship but I hadn't expected Bella to fall in line with him as well.The questions she was asking Sage had made me begin to lose respect for her and even mentally block all of her credit cards till she unexpectedly snapped out of whatever trance she had been in.That's if she was even entranced in the first place. The smile on her face as she ogled over Sage was far from pretentious. She was truly awed by Sage. Had she questioned Sage on purpose?I knew we had to expect such things but not from Bella, grandfather was to do the picking apart. Whatever the case was, I was relieved on Bella's behalf because sure as hell, she had been on my bad side for five minutes and was going to lose a brother today."Jesus Christ, Bella. We don't need a twisted soap opera with you around" Nick commented, holding his chest, dramatically."What can I say, Nicolas, it's a specialty of mine to be my brot
Chapter 18Sage's POV"Sage, I know you're mad at your father and me for certain reasons but you can't just block us out. We're your parents, we worry about you" Mom said, softly.I had been in the living room with Bella trying to imprint her best impression on me when I got a call from Violet saying it was urgent. Turns out my parents were the cause of the urgency. I should've known.They were at my house and wanted to see me. For what reason? So that they could call me a disgrace again? Suddenly, I felt glad that Diego chose today for the meeting with his family."Mom, I know you and Dad have my best interest at heart but it can be suffocating sometimes. I just need for you guys to stop making decisions on my behalf, I'm not a child anymore," I said with a sigh, if only they could understand this point. Every parent has the right to worry for their child but mine was overdoing it and it was straining our relationship, hurting us all."Can you come home so we can talk about this?" Sh
Chapter 19Sage's POV"No!" I gulped down nothing. "I mean we have no plans of going on a honeymoon"Vivian's smile dropped causing a stir in my chest. I didn't mean to make her sad, she had too many expectations – Hopes."Sage dear, I understand that you and Diego are busy people but I want you to make out time to spend with each other," She said softly, cocking her head to the side as she awaited my responseI nodded thoughtfully, "Don't worry Vivian, we will take out time for sure. Maybe we'd make it a family trip" The words slid out of my lips with so much ease that left me questioning myself. This relationship was a lie and here I was nurturing it for whatever reason.Her eyes lit up once again, a smile reappearing on her face, "I like that idea""Me too. We could go to the Caribbean" Bella chimed in making me flinch a bit. I'd almost forgotten that she was seated right beside me.I was about to say something when I spotted Diego descending the stairs. I breathed discreetly a sig
Chapter 20Sage's POVThompson was rather calm and cooperative as the meeting continued. I'd felt he would have a lot of other shit to sprout about my sense of operation but he didn't.As the meeting came to an end, the investors looked content and proud of the outcome of it. We had put out and rephrased the financial budget for the company's projects during the second half of the year.Our market value at the moment was peak. The highest we've ever experienced. Thompson didn't seem happy to give me the credit but he had no choice.I was happy to watch him reluctantly applaud for me along with the others. Too bad he didn't succeed in his aim of badmouthing me, however, he had a lot to tell Theodore the next time they met.I exchanged handshakes with them before walking them out of the room.Violet was outside and she collected the file from me, "They look pleased""They are. Ecstatic in fact." I felt a sense of pride as I spoke, "The Jersey project and its performance in the market is