Chapter Seven: Let's get married

"I have come to see my future wife," Sebastian said casually. 

"What?!" Charlotte yelled, not sure she had heard right. He couldn't have said future wife. No! She must have heard wrong. 

"I have come to see my future wife," Sebastian repeated shamelessly.

 He himself was surprised by how he was acting as it was not like him to act in such a way but as the saying goes, 'all is fair in love and war. 

Charlotte could feel her blood boiling. She had made it clear that she didn't want to get married to him so why was he still referring to her as his future wife?

 "I already told you that I do not want to get married to you. Were you deaf when I was speaking to you?!" She snapped in irritation. 

Sebastian clenched his fists in anger. He did not like Charlotte's tone but there was nothing he could do about it at least for now.

 However, he wouldn't think twice about teaching her some manners once she becomes his wife. "I wasn't deaf when you were speaking to me..."

"Then why are you here at this time of the night calling me your future wife?" Charlotte asked. 

"Can we talk?" Sebastian asked nicely with a smile on his lips. He knew if he wanted to persuade Charlotte to get married to him, he would have to do so nicely and not in his own way. However, if she remained adamant then, he would have to do it his way. 

Hearing Sebastian's soft voice made Charlotte calm down a little. "Ok then, talk, Mr Gerano." 

"You know, I'm still standing outside your bedroom..."

"Yeah so?" Charlotte asked, not quite understanding what Sebastian wanted. 

"Can I come in?" Sebastian asked. "What I am about to discuss with you is a private matter; one I wouldn't want anyone else to hear," he added. 

Charlotte didn't say anything as was torn on whether to let him in or not. "Fine," she said after a while. "Come in."

Charlotte moved away from the door and Sebastian came in. He looked around the room and was impressed by what he saw. 

She closed the door after Sebastian had entered her room. "What are you thinking about?" She asked when she noticed him looking around the room. 

"Nothing much. Your helpers do a really good job of taking care of your room."

"The helpers aren't allowed to enter my room."

"So you take care of your room yourself?" Sebastian asked, surprised. 

"Yes," Charlotte answered. "Why do you look surprised at the fact that l clean my room?" She asked suspiciously. 

"Nothing. It's just weird to see someone like you being able to clean her room, I'm really impressed" Sebastian confessed. 

He had finally found one quality in Charlotte that he liked. She was not dependent on her servants like the rest of the socialites he knew including Amy. 

Most of them couldn't do a simple task like getting themselves a bottle of water and here Charlotte was cleaning an entire room all by herself.

 He was impressed. 

Charlotte understood what Sebastian meant. It annoyed her but she couldn't blame him. It was indeed a weird thing for someone of her status to be able to do chores. 

"I believe you did not come all the way here just to gaze at my room and compliment me. Why did you come here Mr Gerano?" Charlotte asked coldly. 

"To make a deal with you Miss Brooks," Sebastian answered, straight to the point. He wasn't one to beat around the bush when it came to business matters plus he wanted to get the hell out of Charlotte's house. 

"Deal? What deal?" Charlotte asked, confused. She wondered why Sebastian was talking about a deal. She had nothing she could offer to him. 

"A marriage deal. Let's get married to each other...."

"Are you crazy or something?!" Charlotte flared up. "I already said I'm not getting married to you so... "

"Would you just hear me out? I do not like to be interrupted when I'm speaking!" Sebastian snapped irritably. 

He was trying to hold back his emotions but it was impossible to face this girl with a calm mind. 

"Fine, go ahead, I won't interrupt you," Charlotte said in a low voice. She could see that he was annoyed and she knew better than to annoy Sebastian Gerano. 

"I will be honest with you," Sebastian started. "I was just as shocked as you when I found out about the deal our fathers made. 

It was clearly not right for them to make a decision on our behalf but the deed has been done and there's nothing we can do about it."

"I initially rejected the marriage until my father told me what would happen if we didn't get married to each other and I'm assuming you've been told of the consequences of the marriage... "

Charlotte nodded indicating that she knew what would happen if she didn't get married to Sebastian.

"Good. The same applies to me, I lose my inheritance and I get disowned. I do not want that happen and neither do you"

"So what do you suggest we do?" Charlotte asked calmly and this pleased Sebastian. He could see that his plan was working as she was no longer yelling at him. That was a good sign. 

"We should get married to each other," Sebastian said. "But the marriage will just be a formality as I do not intend to force you to be my wife or do the duties of a wife. Our marriage will be a mutual agreement between us."

"Like a contract?" Charlotte asked. 

"Exactly. It will end after a year," Sebastian said. 

"I do not understand," said Charlotte. 

"It's simple. We get married just to get our families off our backs and we'll go our separate ways after a year. That way, we won't be breaching the term of the contract," Sebastian explained. 

Charlotte could see what Sebastian was driving at. If they got married, then they would fulfill the terms of the contract. The contract didn't say that they would have to be together for life. 

It only said that they had to get married to each other. 

Sebastian looked at Charlotte intently, waiting to see what her decision would be. 

He had given a good offer, one that would save both of them. He could see no reason why she would refuse his offer. 

"So, we will have no physical contact if we get married?" Charlotte asked. She wanted to fully understand what the terms and conditions of Sebastian's offer were. 

Henry had taught her a few things about entering into a contract. 

So although she wasn't a business woman, she understood greatly how contracts worked. 

"We will have none at all. We will sleep in different rooms after our marriage if that's what you want," Sebastian answered. 

"What about in public?" Charlotte asked. Even though they weren't a real couple, the public wouldn't know that. 

"You are required to act like my wife in front of my family and others especially in public places and events and I will do the same. To others we will be an ideal couple," Sebastian answered. 

"Hmm," Charlotte pondered on this for a while. That wasn't so hard. 

All she had to do was to pretend that she was happy with Sebastian but for some reason, she was having a bad feeling about Sebastian's offer.

 It seemed really shady that he agreed to marry her so soon. Was it really because of his inheritance or was it because of something else? 

"I'll think about it," Charlotte said, shocking Sebastian. He had been so sure that she would immediately accept his proposal. He had underestimated her and overestimated himself. 

"What's there to think about Miss Brooks?" Sebastian asked calmly. 

"There are many things to think about Mr Gerano. Even if we do not intend to live as a real couple, we are still going to get married for real and whether we like it or not, we are going to make a commitment to another and I want to make sure that I'm ready for such a commitment," Charlotte said.

 Plus getting married to you means I'm going to be stuck with you for a whole year. I don't think I would be able to handle seeing your ugly face everyday for a year," Charlotte added. 

Sebastian almost let out a curse when he heard Charlotte's statement. "Are you blind or something Miss Brooks?" He asked irritably. No woman had ever called him ugly. 

"No, why?" Charlotte asked innocently even though she very well knew the reason why he asked her such a question. 

"How can you call me ugly?! Many women are dying for my attention because of my looks and here you are calling me ugly," Sebastian said. 

Charlotte was controlling herself greatly from bursting into laughter. Sebastian looked like a child whose candy had been taken away from him. 

He must have been used to women drooling over his good looks. She had bruised his ego by calling him ugly. 

"Well I called you ugly because I think you're ugly Mr Gerano," Charlotte answered simply. That was a big lie she told. 

No person in their right frame of mind would think that Sebastian was ugly. He was really handsome and as much as she hated this fact, she couldn't help but feel attracted to him but he didn't need to know that.

"You really think I'm ugly?" Sebastian asked.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "How many times do you want me to say it?" 

"Really?" Sebastian asked in a calm voice which made Charlotte suspicious. 

Why did he suddenly become calm? She had a terrible feeling about this. 

"Yes," Charlotte answered in a low voice. 

Sebastian smiled mischievously upon hearing her answer. "Let's see how true your answer is," Sebastian said and he started walking closer to Charlotte. 

"W-what are you doing?" Charlotte asked nervously as she backed away but with each step she took, Sebastian took two steps. 

"You said I'm ugly but I do not think you're telling me the truth," Sebastian answered as he continued walking towards Charlotte. 

"Shit!" Charlotte muttered as her back hit the wall. She had run out of space to run to as Sebastian was now standing in front of her. 

"So, do you really think that I'm ugly," Sebastian asked in a hoarse voice as he wrapped his hands around Charlotte's waist and pulled her close. 

Her mind went crazy as she felt Sebastian's hand on her waist. This was the second time he was holding her in his arms and this was the second time she didn't hate it and that fact bothered her. 

She used to think that no man would ever have such an effect on her but she was wrong. Sebastian was making her feel things she had never felt before. 

"Please let me go Sebastian," Charlotte half pleaded in a whisper. She was conflicted. A part of her was enjoying what Sebastian was doing and was itching for him to do more while the other part wanted him to stop. The former seemed to be winning. 

"I do not want to," Sebastian unconsciously muttered. He didn't know what had come over him. 

He had just wanted to scare Charlotte a little by pinning her to the wall but it seemed his mind had other plans. 

He couldn't control himself when he got so close to Charlotte.

 Just being close to her was not enough for him. He needed more and so, he wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her close. 

Her intoxicating scent coupled with her hands on his chest was driving Sebastian crazy! He had never felt this with anyone before, not even Amy. 

He moved his hand to the side of Charlotte's face, where his thumb lightly grazed her cheekbone, sending another set of chills running all over her body. 

Charlotte's breath hitched in her throat as she lifted her head to look at him. 

Sebastian gaze lowered to her mouth and heart began to pound inside her chest. "Charlotte," He said, his voice barely audible as he leaned closer. 

"Sebastian," Charlotte whispered back as she stood on her toes and also leaned. It was like an invincible force was pulling her to him and Charlotte didn't try to fight it.

Sebastian's phone suddenly rang ruining what he and Charlotte were about to do. 

Sebastian came back to his senses and quickly let go of Charlotte and he backed away while trying to regain his composure.