Chapter 7 - Framed

Chapter 7

-INDIGO-

Everything is back to normal now.

Well, as normal as things can be when you're married to a billionaire and working for him.

"So, you're trying to say you and Mr. Grumpy pants have been married for close to two weeks and you guys haven't done anything dirty yet?" Matilda asks me and I nod slowly.

I continue to ask myself, time and time again, why am I friends with Matilda Fuentes? 

She is literally the most annoying person to ever walk on this earth. But one thing she knows how to do is to pry out personal information from a person. 

After delivering morning coffee to Mr. Grey, he dismissed me like a pest in front of her and Matilda—the real pest—started to pester me for information. 

She asked about Mr. Grey and I sexual lives and I told her that we don't have any. To say she was shocked is an understatement. 

How hard is it to believe that two responsible adults that are married are not having sex? 

Apparently for Matilda, it's very hard.

She sighs, leans into her chair and grumbles to a few incoherent words to herself. She stays like that for while and I go back to work, trying to forget her existence. 

"Is it you?" She asks, all of a sudden and I frown, as I stop typing. 

I turn my chair around to face her one more time and I give her a questioning look. 

"Or is it him?" She changes her question. 

"What?" I ask in an outrageous tone. 

"Aren't you two horny already?" She inquires, flaying her hands up in the air. 

I'm taken aback by her vulgarity at first. It takes a few seconds to compose myself again before I put on a dry look. 

"I've told you countless times, stop saying such vulgar words when you're in the office." I caution her, trying not to say anything about her previous words and she rolls her eyes as she folds her arms. 

"Okay, Mrs. I-have-a-stick-up-my-ass-the-same-size-as-the-stick-up-my-husband's-ass." Matilda mocks and I fume.

"I have zero sticks up my ass and neither does Mr. Grey!" I defend fiercely. 

She hums sarcastically and I narrow my eyes at her as I go back to what I was doing on my computer. 

"You sure about that, Chica?" She asks a few seconds later, and I don't know when I slam my hands against my desk harshly and stand up from my chair. 

"I do not have any stick up my ass! I am not uptight! My ass is stickless! Free! Untouched, beautiful and amazing!" I defend strongly, feeling satisfied with myself. Whereas, Matilda looks like she's stifling a laugh.

"What?" I ask her, and her eyes stray. I turn around to see the cause of her upcoming laughter and I see a large sized Rowan Grey.

Shit! 

My heart immediately escapes from my body and my tongue vanishes. The man heard everything. Everything. 

Oh my goodness, I feel like crying.

Don't cry, Indigo. Do not cry. Under no circumstance must you show fear. 

But with the way Mr. Grey is looking at me, fear is the only emotion I can feel comfort in. 

It wraps around me and threatens to choke me. I don't dare move an inch, I fear I might just run towards the direction of the nearest tight corner and hide in. 

"My office." Mr. Grey grits out, emphasizing on both words and I can only bob my head. 

He walks back into his office and it feels like a heavy weight has been shifted from the room. 

Matilda bursts into a full blown laughter as she watches me walk into my doom. I'm tempted to strangle her because she's the reason why I'm in this situation in the first place. 

This is what I get for standing up to myself. This is why I like keeping quiet whenever people taunt me. I'm the one that'll face the consequence at the end of the day. 

I'm going to kill Matty later for this. 

"Mr. Grey?" I call out, once I'm inside his office, stickingy head through the door before stepping in fully. 

I see that he is already seated on his fine office chair. He's crossing his legs, his back is not leaning on the chair. His fingers are forming a triangle shape from across his face. 

Oh oh. 

He only does those things when he is heavily pissed. 

"The Yuki investors just pulled out of the deal." He states, as his jaw ticks and I can see a popping vein across his forehead. 

What? I thought we sealed that deal ages ago. I don't understand, why would they even want to pull out? They're benefitting from the deal as much as we are. 

"What? Why? I thought they agreed already—" 

"I did too!" He snaps, cutting my sentence off harshly, and I flinch at his tone. 

Okay, he's in a terrible mood. 

But, I'm still not seeing the reason why he is taking it out on me. He's so mean.

I'm always the butt of his fury. I want to make an annoyed face at his behaviour but I control myself. He might probably fire me on the spot of I choose to misbehave right now. 

"Why did you go behind my back and tell them to pull out from the contract?" Mr. Grey asks in a serious tone, as he stands up from his chair and start to take predatory steps towards me.

What? I think I make a weird expression because he raises a brow at me. What the hell is happening right now? 

"Me? I didn't do that! I was the one who even pushed this deal! Why would I want it to fall apart?" I cry out, flaying my arms in the air, trying to make sense of this awkward situation. But he's still walking closer to me. So I start to take small steps backwards. 

"I don't know. Why would you?" He asks in a calculating tone as his eyes search mine for something. 

That's a good question. Why would I even want to sabotage the deal I pushed forward in the first place?

This doesn't make sense at all. A million thoughts start to cloud my brain as my back hits the closed office door and Mr. Grey is less than two feet in front of me. 

My breath hitches and the scent of his expensive muscular cologne jabs my nose. My knees start to feel weak and I'm tempted to tremble under the heavy gaze of the almighty Rowan Grey. 

"I didn't do it, I swear. I think it's just a misunderstanding. I'll speak to them and we'll work things out." I rant in such a tone that contrasts to my normal calm and collected voice. 

My rant does nothing to aid me in my situation as Mr. Grey looks even more serious than before. I'm breathless all of a sudden as fear and something that shall remain unspoken grips me. 

I do not like being on the receiving end of Mr. Grey's wrath. 

"Of course, you will," he says in urgency as he straightens his back on his spot. 

"Huh?" I ask breathlessly. 

"I've already set up a business dinner this evening with the investors." He says in a casual tone and takes two swift steps backwards, away from me. 

The tension in the room reduces by a great height and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. The air now feels suddenly free. 

Mr. Grey is too intense. He walks back to his chair and sits down, as he starts to tap on his desk in a weird rhythm. 

No, he's not tapping on his desk. 

His hands are shaking. 

I've noticed that about him over the years. Whenever he gets stressed, his hands start to shake uncontrollably. He covers it up by pretending he's in control of them. 

It scares people whenever that see him tapping on his desk. For me, I worry. That's not normal, right? Right? 

"This evening?" I ask for confirmation.

"Yes, you'll explain to me and the investors why you advised them to pull out from the contract." He says in a final tone, before turning his attention to his office tab.

"But I didn't do that. I swear!" I cry out one more time, but Mr. Grey's mind is already elsewhere.

I stand against his office door for the next two minutes, hoping that he'll look into my eyes and see the truth in them. But he obviously does not do that. When he eventually looks up, it's irritation that's in his eyes.

"Why are you still here?" He bites out and words fail me in that moment. 

"Get back to work!" He barks and I immediately scurry out of his office.

My legs find their way to the lounge room so that I can get water. Along the way there, my brain starts to rack into a million theories behind what just happened. 

Why would the investors even think I convinced them to pull out of the deal? Did I? No, I couldn't have. Maybe I was unaware when I did it. What am I even thinking? I'm not the one. At least I hope I'm not, it would be terrible if I actually were. 

Is someone trying to frame me? What would they even gain by framing me? Or is this just some elaborate misunderstanding. Or am I just missing some—

"Ah!" I jerk as someone touches my shoulder and the cup I was drinking water from, falls to the ground.

I turn around to see Joshua standing.

"Oh, it's you." I say, letting out a sigh of relief. I pick up my cup from the floor and use a nearby mop to dab the floor.

"What is it?" I ask him, as I finish up.

"I wanted to speak with you," he says nervously.

"Okay, speak." I say to him in urgency.

"Are you really married to Rowan?" He asks and I veer back.

"What?"

"The news says that you are, everyone says that you are, even Rowan says that you're married to him. Are you really married to him?" He asks me.

Am I really married to Rowan?

I hesitate too long.

"Why, Indigo? Is he forcing you to do this? Is he blackmailing you in some kind of way?" Joshua asks in concern and I shake my head.

"He's not! Why would you even think that?" I ask in horror.

"Because you two don't even look like you're husband and wife. He treats you like you're his secretary—"

"I am his secretary!" I cut him off.

"Indigo, please just tell me you're uncomfortable with that monster and I'll help you. I'll find a way to free you from him." Joshua says in a pleading tone and I take a step back from him.

"He's not some kind of evil monster that's trapping me. He's my husband and my boss as well! I don't appreciate your words. He is a-a good man." I stutter at the end.

"Please, don't ever badmouth my husband ever again or next time you'll be having a conversation with him and not me. And it won't be a friendly one." I say to Joshua in a curt tone.

"Indigo, can you hear yourself?" He asks me.

"Yes, I can. And I agree with myself. Rowan Grey is my husband, and you have no business in our matters." I say finally, before walking away.

God, I'm so stupid. Why did I just defend a monster in front of one of the good guys? I'm going crazy. I can't believe myself right now.

But I had to. To make this marriage between Mr. Grey an d I look real, I'll have to be doing what I just did almost everyday and in tenfold.

What have I gotten myself into? 

I made a deal with the devil, and now I have to live with the terms.