Upstairs in the control room of Trojan House, Xavier Roman watched the events going on from the cctv. There had been several reports of some sleazy men groping women and drugging their drinks as well as many other ugly characters he did not need to spoil the reputation of his club, so he was watching to see if he could catch one red-handed and teach them a painful lesson.
Deep down however, Xavier knew that watching out for predatory behavior wasn’t his main reason for taking over supervision tonight, when he could have been doing anything else he wanted.Jonah was having his engagement party and although he had abruptly refused to go no matter how often he was asked, Xavier just had to watch it happen somehow.No one in the family truly wanted him there. They just needed to use his club as it was the most exclusive in the state and it was impossible to book an appointment there without his notice. He didn’t care that they didn’t want him though, as he had more important things to worry about than his ashy family.Just a few days ago, the woman Valerie, who Jonah had engaged had been in his office, trying to seduce him. Besides the fact that she was way too skinny and had no chance in hell with him, he knew she was just trying to get him to fall for her like the hundreds of other women who had tried the same tactic and failed. She was the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the state who he had blatantly refused to do business with, so it wasn’t hard to put two and two together.Xavier had seen enough and now wanted to leave. However, he noticed a woman who looked vaguely familiar walk in. Immediately he saw her, something told him she didn’t belong there. From the camera planted closest to her, she looked terrified and like someone who would faint soon.He had to see this. The woman hesitated by the door, torn between staying or leaving when Jonah’s bride walked up to her and began to insult her. He couldn’t tell what was said, but from the terrified woman’s expression, he could imagine it.Jonah came up soon after and made things worse like he always did by opening his mouth. While he spoke, Xavier noticed the woman start to tremble and turn white, like someone on the verge of fainting.That was strange.He knew she hadn’t been drugged in his club as he had seen her walk in, but he couldn’t possibly have her faint there and increase the bad rep his club was beginning to get.“Carlos,” he called his guard who always followed him everywhere.“Yes, boss,” the big man responded, ever ready to do whatever his boss requested.He pointed at the woman who was barely maintaining her balance now. “Don’t let her back touch the ground,” he instructed him.“Yes, boss,” Carlos responded, before disappearing from the room and appearing on the screen behind the woman a few seconds later.Just as Xavier had asked, the young woman fell right on him and her back did not touch the ground.When his guard looked up at the screen with the woman in his hand, Xavier realized he didn’t know what to do with the woman now. The people around them looked angry that Carlos had saved the woman from touching the ground, so even if he kept her on a chair somewhere around there, she would not be safe.He had no idea who the woman was, but from what he could see, the people around them did not seem to like her. She also looked like she was begging his nephew Jonah for something and he understood immediately.She was probably one of his mistresses. Xavier would never understand what these loose girls saw in his nephew.“Bring her here,” he instructed his guard through the Bluetooth mic in his mouth.“Sir, I think she needs urgent medical care,” the guard responded. “She’s wheezing but she’s turning blue. I don’t think she can breathe.”“Hold on,” Xavier said, cutting his connection to the guard off. He connected the head of medical staff next who rushed down to the scene immediately and took her into the make-shift medical center he had built in in case of emergencies like this.Usually, the emergencies that occurred in his club included over-drinking or in worse cases, a heart attack, but something told him this wasn’t either of them.“She has been treated but she is still unconscious,” the guard said to him a few minutes later.“Bring her here,” he ordered and almost regretted it.What was he going to do with this woman when she came? She was probably one of Jonah’s flings who didn’t know when to quit, but no matter who she was, he had to keep her safe until she regained consciousness. He didn’t need any stories.“Tell the IT guy to run a background check on her,” Xavier instructed the guard after he brought the woman into the control room.Knowing the woman would help a great deal. At least he would know who to contact.“She is the wife of your nephew, sir. No one has seen her in two years until now.”That interested Xavier, who looked at the woman with more interest now that he knew who she was. No wonder she looked familiar.“So she came to crash the engagement party?” He asked.“I think so,” the guard said, looking displeased.“What did the others say?”“No one gave me any favorable answer,” he said with disgust which interested Xavier. Never had he seen his guard speak passionately about anyone. “They just kept calling her names like piggy, bad luck, pretender, home wrecker and several others. She hasn’t been seen in two years. It’s almost like she stopped existing until today.”Xavier cocked his head to the side as he regarded the woman who looked worse for wear. Now he saw her up close, he could remember her.He had only seen her a few times when Jonah had brought her over and the only thing he remembered of her was how timid and afraid of everything she had been. It was safe to say she hadn’t changed at all. He had felt bad for her when they announced they were getting married, but he couldn’t possibly pull her aside and advise not to marry his nephew.It was not his place and he really didn’t care.“You say she hasn’t been seen in two years?” Xavier asked, to be sure he had heard right.“Yes, sir.”“Who has she been living with?”“Your nephew. Some rumors say he never let her leave the house while some people from her past say she has always been antisocial.”Xavier nodded, as he watched the woman.“When did they get divorced?” He asked.“They are not divorced.”“But he’s marrying someone else,” he inquired, confused.Carlos shrugged. “There has not been an official divorce, sir. Sir Jonah just wants her out of his life as I heard him say downstairs.”Xavier stroked the small beard under his chin absentmindedly, deep in thought.“Does she have close relatives besides him?”“Her father and younger sister are outside the country, so there is no one for now. He threatened to send her out of the house into the streets right before she fainted.”“Hmm,” Xavier muttered, ideas forming in his head.Besides the fact that she was still legally married to his nephew, she seemed to be the perfect candidate. She was quiet, so she would definitely not cause any trouble.With his mind made up, he stood up and started to leave the room.“Put her in my car right away,” he instructed Carlos.“Yes sir,” the guard responded, without daring to ask why his master would make such an odd request.Charlotte woke up from a dreamless sleep and tried to adjust her eyes to the brightness. She yawned and stretched, feeling more refreshed than she had been in so long. A little too refreshed, considering what had happened the day before. Her hands stopped mid-air as she took in her surroundings, a note of alarm ringing in her head when she couldn’t recognize the beautiful room she was in. Where was she? Her heart started to pound as she jumped out of the bed but when she did, she realized she was wearing a big T-shirt that didn’t belong to her. She froze. Who had undressed her? Her eyes widened when she realized she was wearing nothing underneath. The last thing she remembered was being humiliated and rejected by her college sweetheart, her husband who she had been married to for two whole years. How did she end up here? Had she been kidnapped? She heard a deep masculine voice coming from somewhere outside and she jumped to the other hidden side of the bed when the doorknob twis
“If you’re trying to joke with me it isn’t working,” Charlotte said to him, eyeing him warily after his last statement. “I don’t know you enough to want to joke with you,” he said with a set face that convinced her he was being completely serious. “When you get to know me, you’ll realize I’m a serious man with very limited time for jokes.” She swallowed when she noticed he was actually being serious. “But I don’t know you. I can’t possibly get married to you.” “I don’t know you either,” he shrugged. “That’s the whole idea.” “Marriage is supposed to be between two people who love and care for each other,” she said, hoping he would see reason. From the way he had said they were getting married, she didn’t think he was asking her permission. “Look how that turned out for you,” he said and her heart sank. “When one thing does not work, you look for an alternative.” “And in this case you’re the alternative? What makes you think you’re an upgrade from my husband?” She asked, wanting
He suddenly stilled when she looked up at him and took his hands off her like he had just realized he was holding her inappropriately. He went back to the chair he had been sitting down on and watched from a distance. “Let’s start afresh,” he said. “I’m Xavier and I’m here to make you an offer I hope you won’t refuse. I sent my men to bring you here after I ran a background check on you and discovered you had no one. I didn’t undress you like I said before. I had a maid do it, so no, I didn’t see you naked without your consent.” Every single word that came out of this man’s mouth was always crazy. He asked to start afresh, yet the things he had said did not calm her down, but only made her more confused. “How did you know all those things about me?” she asked, relaxing a little now she knew he hadn’t really taken advantage of her. She sincerely hoped he was telling the truth. “Like I said, I ran a background check on you,” he repeated, looking at her like she was the one who was c
Xavier groaned in frustration when he entered his room, angry at himself for messing things up. He wrongly assumed that once he threw the fact that he had more money than she could ever spend, she would happily oblige him and get married to him, but that had ended up getting her angry instead. What had he been thinking? He had basically kidnapped her and no matter what he explained, she would never see past that fact. His chance to finally mend his bad reputation had slipped out from his hands. Maybe it was for the best though. It was crazy to want to marry his nephew’s ex-wife. Sighing, he lifted his phone to call his assistant to take her back to her home, hoping she wouldn’t reveal any of this to the reporters who worked tirelessly to smear his name. There came a knock on the door. “Who is it?” He asked, as he dialed his assistant’s number. “It’s me, Charlotte,” came the faint reply from the door. He dropped the phone and breathed in. He would have to send her away himself.
Charlotte read the contract again and again, as she tried to come to terms with it. According to the piece of paper she was holding, their marriage would be by paper and name for the public only, unless they decided otherwise. “What does this mean?” She asked Xavier who had remained silent ever since they entered the marriage hall. “It means we won’t have to act like a married couple when there is no one around, unless we decide to.”“Oh,” she said, unable to imagine how she could willingly pretend to live this man in private. She wasn’t even sure she could do it in public. The rest of the contract was reasonable. She would follow him for every function, meeting or party he went to as his wife and plus one, and act the part, anything to convince onlookers they were truly married. In return, she would be paid handsomely. There was no specific payment given, but she didn’t feel comfortable asking in front of all the lawyers who had to be present to legalize this. As she signed the
“No,” Xavier Roman said when Charlotte appeared once again, wearing a new dress from the boutique. This was getting exhausting. All he did was sit down there comfortably and cross-legged, saying just one word while she had to struggle to fit into a new unnecessarily complicated dress each time he rejected the last one. “I’m tired,” she said, leaning against the wall. Not only was she tired, but she was greatly insecure. She had put on some weight from staying home all day in the past year and each time he rejected whatever she put on, she automatically assumed it had something to do with her weight. He watched her for a few moments, as if he wanted to ascertain if she was really tired of testing out those ridiculously expensive outfits or if she was just being lazy. He sighed as he came to a decision. “Fine. You can rest for five minutes and that’s it.” She took off the last outfit she had put on and wore the gown she had worn originally. Unlike the others, these one didn’t snatc
Charlotte ended up getting three more dresses which were just as expensive to complement the mauve one, in case of future outings. After seeing how quickly Xavier had been willing to part with his money, she now knew he wasn’t bluffing when he told her he was very generous with his money. “Are you hungry?” He asked her after they had been driving for some time and her stomach grumbled. Perfect timing. “A little,” she whispered, feeling embarrassed. “Alright then,” he said, thankfully not remarking on what just happened. “There’s a restaurant close by that has the best roast meals. What type of food do you like?” “Roast will be fine,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. She noticed his gaze go down to where her hands were and stay for a while before he eventually turned away. Why did the car suddenly feel so hot? When Xavier spoke of a restaurant that had roast meals, she had imagined a small and simple place with smoke everywhere. This establishment that looked so glass
“How do I look?” Charlotte asked him with wide eyes when she walked down in that dress that hugged her body in the right places. He shrugged.“Good,” he said. “Let’s go. We’re getting late.” Xavier saw her face fall at his dismissal, but he pretended to be focused on something on his phone, appearing not to pay her any heed. ‘Good’ was an understatement. In that dress, she looked gorgeous, sensational, breathtaking, but he couldn’t possibly tell her any of that. She was beautiful already without any of the extras, but she always walked around with a dull expression on her face and a slouchy posture, constantly facing the ground, that it was hard to tell. Xavier had spent just less than a full day with her, yet he could tell how lowly she rated herself. He couldn’t blame her. After being with someone like his nephew whose confidence only came from putting people down, for two whole years, she had begun to doubt her self-worth. However, after wearing this dress and makeup, he knew