CHAPTER FIVE

DANIEL'S POV.

That's it. Clara had officially gone mad.

"Are you hearing yourself right now, Clara," I said, giving her an astonished look which she returned with a shrug.

"People do stuff like that all the time Sir, it's nothing new."

Nothing new? She wanted me to find a random girl to marry so my dad could give me back my properties. I'd only heard of contract marriages in the movies, I didn't think it was a real thing.

"And who would want to do that with me? Wait ... No, how does that help my situation? My dad would obviously see through the act, you don't know him like I do," I said.

She smiled and crossed her arms. "There are plenty of ladies who would be down for that, I can tell you. What you need to be thinking about right now is a woman who would be willing to go into a contract marriage. I can help you with that if you want."

What was Clara saying? It all sounded so wrong to me. I didn't believe in love, but I wasn't one to think a marriage should be manipulated. I didn't believe in love, but I knew for a fact that love was supposed to be the main reason for a marriage, which was why I was so against it. I didn't believe I could love any human like I loved my self, talk less of more than myself.

I was about to reply he when my phone chimes with a text from the housekeeper, Jessica. She wanted to know if she could go into my room to clean and it irritated the hell out of me that she was disturbing me for something so flimsy while I was in a huge pickle with my father.

I shot her a reply that said, "do not text me over things like this whenever I'm at work ever again," and slammed my phone on my mahogany desk with anger. I really didn't like that Jessica and I'd just seen her a couple times precisely. She wasn't the type of woman I was used to.

I liked easy women, and judging by the way she acted on our first meeting, she's feisty as hell. I didn't like feisty.

"Sir, you need to relax and think of a solution," Clara took a seat and set her both hands on the table. "You can start by thinking of all the things your dad complains about you and then trying to see how you can change them."

My dad thought a lot of things about me, and changing them was going to be as hard as changing my womanising ways—wait, what this meant was that I couldn't get as much girls as I was getting in the past. No woman would want to sleep with a broke and useless asshole. Shit. It was kind of good, maybe I could finally stop it for good.

"Where do I start from?" I asked. "I think I'm fucking trying my best Clara. I don't know what to do, do I stop partying? Do I stop having sex? Do I change my friends? Do I change every single fucking thing about me that I like? It's driving me insane honestly. My dad hates everything about me."

Clara reached out her hand and placed her palm on mine. I froze at the contact at first until I relaxed. We had never been touchy touchy so it was weird. "I know how it feels Sir, but you have to trust me on this. The best thing you can do right now is to try to find a woman who would be willing to pose as your partner."

"And my dad? I just told him I wasn't going to get married, how would he believe it if I tell him that I have someone who wants to marry me?"

"That is what I wanted to explain," Clara said. "You could always tell him that you were scared. You had a girlfriend who you were very serious with, but you were scared of commitment and that was why you were so against marriage."

"And if he asks why I suddenly want to marry her?"

"Simple," Clara laughed like an evil mastermind. "You act all emotional and tell him that his words pierced through your words and you decided to think of things in a different light. You could always say that you changed your mind after you started to think about all he said. That way you make him feel like you respect him enough to change your beliefs."

This could work, but they were a lot of things that could go wrong.

"And when he asks why I haven't talked about the girl before? What if I can't act? What if he finds out it's all fake? I know my dad and I know his first instinct would be that I am doing it for him to change his mind."

"Firstly," Clara said, "You would say that the girl had always been on your mind, but because you didn't believe in marriage, you shoved her aside. Secondly, he would never find out if you act it out perfectly and lastly, you would have to take time before you finally tell him you want to marry her."

This was getting crazy and crazier, the more she went on. Could I actually fool my father so greatly?

"How long do I take before I tell him?"

"Maybe two or three months, you'll introduce her as your girlfriend, " Clara got up and started pacing around the room, rubbing her palms together like she was getting more crazy ideas. "Then when he is already used to her, you would announce your marriage, and that is when you will tell him of how he changed you with his words and how you are a changed man who can't wait to start a family."

Okay, smart. This could really, really work.

One last question.

"What do I do now that he is this mad? I don't know if he'll take my CEO position and I don't even know how I'll cope without his money."

"Easy," Clara smirks. "You just need to play by his rules and obey everything he says, then you need to start looking for your potential wife as soon as possible."

This was it. The time for me to finally get married—even though it's not real. It's either that or I keep getting turned down by every potential business client and keep being underestimated by my father.

My neck was stiff and my heart leaped out of my chest anytime I heard the word, "wife". Fear gripped my chest in a tight hold and I can't lie, my hands were shaking. The room felt stuffy so I undid the buttons on my shirt and took off my tie. When I couldn't take it anymore I got up from my seat and took my belongings.

"Clara, you can leave early today," I managed to choke out. My palms were so sweaty, I'm sure she noticed. "I'm leaving right now, so you can too if you want to."

She looked up at me with concern in her eyes and I darted my eyes away from hers. "Are you okay? You don't look too good."

"I'm fine," I lied, already walking away from her when she held me by my wrist. "What is it?"

"Please don't turn to alcohol," she pleaded with her eyes. "I promise to think of a way to get you out of this."

I almost chuckled darkly at the look on her face. I didn't deserve her pity or concern and I'd rather believe the concern in her eyes is because she fears she'll lose her own job if I don't succeed.

Nobody gave a fuck about stupid Daniel Snider. Everyone thought he was a screw up, including his own father.

"Good night Clara," I yanked my wrist away and stormed out of the company, ignoring the confused faces of all the employees as I passed them.

I ignored all the calls from Schumann and my mother as I drove to my house. The only thing I could think about was my father and how disappointed he was in me. I also kept thinking of the kind of woman I could possibly use for this charade. None of my hookup chicks were good enough for my father—he had always liked humble and respectful girls and had always tried to hook me up with several of them in the past—so I had to think of the perfect girl from a simple background for my father. I was pretty sure if I had brought home any of my fuck buddies, he would have chased them away with a baseball bat.

My thoughts were still swirling when I got out of the car and dragged myself into the house. The lights were on and it was early so it meant Jessica was fully awake and maybe somewhere in her room doing something.

The thought irritated me so I flung my blazer to the couch and sluggishly went to the kitchen. What I saw next made my jaw drop to the floor.