4. GET MARRIED

“In other words, I will be ruined?” Oliver asked almost to himself than to Anne.

“Yes, we will be ruined,” Anne made it official.

Oliver felt his breathing lose its calmness again. He felt his world begin to crack. It was crashing down before his eyes. He had never once thought that a day like this would come. What had he done to deserve this fate?

“What’s causing it?” Jeff asked, breaking Oliver out of his thoughts.

It was when he asked the question that Oliver realized he had not thought of asking that same question. If they knew what was causing it then they could find a solution to it. Maybe, just maybe, he would not have to be ruined after all.

“Apparently, you’re a monster and you disrespect women,” Anne announced.

Oliver narrowed his eyes at her as if she had said something that made sense to no one in the world.

“I remember the reporters outside kept yelling things like that to him,” Jeff added. There was a small frown on his face as he remembered the way they attacked his boss.

Oliver remembered it himself too but he still had no idea where they got their information from. Who could have spread such a nasty rumor about him?

“What did I do to warrant such accusations thrown at me?” Oliver finally asked.

“I think telling you won’t work. I have to show you,” Anne said and gestured at Oliver’s office. Both Oliver and Jeff followed Anne into the space.

She found Oliver's desktop computer and opened it. Since she was his personal assistant and she had been with him for as long as he could remember, she knew everything that had to do with his life. Including his passwords. If she ever wanted to steal from him, then she would have easily done it a long time ago. Oliver trusted her with his life and he knew what she was capable of doing.

She typed and clicked on certain things on the computer and successfully brought up a video. She stopped and stared at the men to be sure she had their full attention, she was satisfied with what she saw. Both their eyes were on her and she could sense their anxiousness from where she stood. Anne turned back to the computer and played the video.

“Don't do this to me Oliver. I love you. I care about you a lot. I can't live without you. It's okay that you cheated. I will overlook it. I only want you!” a woman pleaded in the video.

She was in tears. She looked as if she had been badly hurt at heart by Oliver. It made Oliver look like a cold hearted monster.

Oliver stared at the video in shock.

“Get the hell out of my life! I don't want your filthy body in it!” Oliver yelled.

The woman moved towards Oliver and went down on her knees to hug him. She pulled it off and continued begging.

“Oliver, please, believe me. I truly love you. No one else can love you like I can. I can give up my life for you. I can sacrifice it all for you! Please Oliver!” The woman screamed.

The Oliver in the video stared down at her in disgust. He wanted nothing to do with her and it could all be read on his face. He looked like a cold hearted monster.

Immediately, he pushed her off his body and she landed on the floor harshly. She cried out in pain. “You hurt me!” She lamented.

“You deserve this much. I just want you out of my life for good! I don’t want any part of you in my life. I want nothing to do with you!” Oliver screamed.

At that, the video came to an end. Oliver gritted his teeth. His anger was slowly rising now that he knew the root of his suffering.

“Vanessa,” he spat with all the hatred he could manage to channel in that one word.

“I always knew she was up to no good,” Jeff muttered under his breath.

“I should have listened to you sooner. Look how she turned my life into a joke? A reputation I worked so hard to build, she destroyed it within hours,” Oliver cried out.

“Yeah she posted it last night and it went viral. The video broke the internet. There’s no one out there who hasn’t seen or heard about it,” Anne explained.

Oliver got to his feet and stared out the glass walls of his office. The reporters had started to reduce but he was sure it was all a camouflage. They were probably waiting somewhere for him to show up so that they would attack him.

“But why did it affect the sales this much? It's my personal life? Why do people care so much about what I do? Shouldn't they be more interested in what I have to offer?” Oliver demanded.

“People like gossip. Asides that, once people love you, they are willing to buy whatever you offer them. Even if it’s a piece of crap,” Jeff explained.

Anne nodded in agreement. “Also, you sell out more to the women. Females are your greatest customers. They have great influence. They never tire of jewelries and they can make men buy these jewelries. But they’re also very sensitive. You hurt one woman and you’re capable of losing all of them,” Anne explained.

“Like the saying goes, never underestimate the power of a woman. They can bring down the President if they want to. They have the great power of persuasion and men easily fall prey,” Jeff went on.

Everything they kept saying did not make Oliver feel any better. Instead, he only felt more doomed. How was he supposed to free himself from this problem? Was there even a way out of it?

“This just shows how doomed I have become. The women have hanged up against me and all because of a lie. Vanessa obviously manipulated the video in her favor yet I get to be the one to suffer,” Oliver complained.

“We have to find a way to prove your innocence,” Jeff whispered.

“If we could get the original footage. The full thing,” Anne thought out loud.

“Knowing how far that woman can go, I do not think she would be careless enough to leave the footage behind for us. She would have erased all traces of it,” Jeff pointed out.

Oliver let out a very pained and heavy sigh. He turned to face them. “Why did I ever get myself involved with her? She was the one cheating. Not that I care since I did not love her or have any form of feelings for her. I made it clear that it was just been friends with benefit. Yet she always clung to me. She’s been after my money the entire time and now that I caught on her, she brings this up!” Oliver exclaimed.

“She was cheating?” Anne asked, surprised herself.

“Not only was she cheating but she was plotting with the man to come after me and steal all that I have. Who knows? Probably she was also toying with that man’s feelings,” Oliver revealed.

“That’s really shallow of her. She never looked it. I never saw it coming. This is what I warn you about every time. I keep telling you to find one woman to love but you insist on playing around!” Anne scolded.

“Please Anne, not now. You can’t possibly scold  me now. We’re at a crisis. The company is coming apart and you talk about love. Love that is not real but a mere illusion. An illusion that once it disappears, it leaves the one in love miserable until it drives them to total madness!” Oliver exclaimed.

His tone made Anne flinch. She went quiet immediately. Maybe she had crossed the line. She knew just how much he hated the theory about falling in love yet she had mentioned it at this time of crisis.

“I’m sorry,” Anne apologized. Oliver only nodded his head and turned to face the glass wall again. “Where are my manners? I haven’t even offered you anything. I’ll go get you some refreshments,” Anne said and excused herself. As she left, she signaled at Jeff to cheer him up. At this point, only Jeff could get to Oliver.

When Anne was gone, Jeff got to his feet and approached him. He came to a stop beside him and also looked out the glass window.

“We’ll work it out,” Jeff began.

Oliver tilted his head at Jeff. Those words from him meant a lot. It felt like Liam was standing there and telling him those words.

“You think so?” Oliver asked.

“Definitely! I mean, you've been through stuffs way worse than this and you survived them. This should be a piece of cake,” Jeff assured him.

Oliver let out a short chuckle. “And how would you know that? I have never told you about my life and it's down times before,” Oliver pointed out.

“You don't need to mention it to me sir, I just know,” Jeff added.

“You just had to ruin the romantic moment by calling me sir,” Oliver complained.

They both broke into laughter. When the laughter died down, Oliver turned to Jeff and wrapped him into a big hug.

At first, Jeff flinched but slowly, it began to feel right. It felt like that blankness in his mind was complete. Once Oliver broke off the hug, the blankness was back again.

“Thanks man, for always been here. For always keeping me sane,” Oliver spoke and it came from his heart. He meant it.

As if on cue, Anne knocked once and walked into the office. She had a tray on her hands which housed a bottle of fresh water and soft drinks. The moment Oliver noticed what she brought, it put on a frown but it was more like the frown one would give his mother when she was being too motherly.

“Make that face all you want; I’ll never bring you alcoholic drinks to the office. You can save the alcohol for the clubs and your fun places. In here, we keep it clean!” Anne scolded and served them the drinks.

“I’ll rather just have water since you refuse to spoil me with alcohol,” Oliver whined like a child.

Jeff chuckled as he watched the exchange between Anne and Oliver. Sometimes, Oliver revealed the child within him and sometimes, it was the playboy. Another side was the CEO and the true side of him, the real him; was the soft side. He was a good person but he did not like to reveal that side to just anyone.

“If only you had a wife, then she would have bailed you out of this. She would have cried to the press and told them Vanessa had been stalking you,” Anne said in an hopeless voice.

But those words hit differently in Jeff’s ears. His mind began to work all the possibilities and how it could work in their favor. Then he stared from Oliver to Anne.

“Jeff? What’s on your mind?” Oliver asked as he noticed his expression.

“Get married,” Jeff dared to say it out loud.

“What?” Oliver asked, confused and shocked.

Anne widened her eyes too as she took in the news. She understood where Jeff was heading. “A fake marriage with a fake wife. Only a wife can bail you out. She’s a woman, they would listen to her. Especially when they see her tears,” Anne blurted out with excitement.

“You’re both crazy,” Oliver managed to say. “Where will we even get a fake wife? What if she double crosses me as well?”

“That's why we need to find someone who really needs the money. There are women out there. I'm sure we can find a trustworthy one. Besides, my gut always tells me if someone is good or bad,” Jeff assured him.

“Jeff, start by taking him downtown, the population is lower there. This means there will be low chances of running into a reporter. Take him there now while I begin the search for the fake wife,” Anne instructed.

Oliver only watched them in disbelief. He had not even accepted to the fake wife plan but they were already working towards it.

“You'll be fine,” Jeff assured him.

Oliver had no choice but to believe him. There was no other way.