William Caddel~•~[Me: Meet me at the cafe downstairs]The message was short and straight to the point, not even providing context for why I wanted to meet her, but she responded almost immediately.[Eliana: Okay]Five minutes later, I saw her walking past the lounge and into the cafe. She looked around and smiled when she noticed me before walking straight to the table I was seated at. It was a weekend and I was taking a break from my office in the penthouse to work at the cafe. It had a nice view and for some reason, the natural light helped me work better. I needed to renovate my office soon.Well, I was working until I got a call from my grandfather, which prompted my message to Eliana. We weren’t close enough for me to call her downstairs but she was a lot more naive than she knew.“Hey,” she said unsurely as she sat on the chair opposite mine. “Uh, how did you know I was home?”I checked the security cameras, but she didn’t need to know that. “I have been sitting here all day,”
Eliana Brown ~•~ William Caddel’s offer was weird. He could have any woman he wanted. Hell, he could pay a woman less than what I owed him to pretend to be his girlfriend for a few days, but he chose me. Who was I to complain though? It was a good way for me to pay off my debt. It meant one of my problems had been resolved. Now, I just had to find a new job to get my life back on track. Maybe, I shouldn’t have quit my job. Then again, I couldn’t fathom the idea of kneeling to apologize to a woman who stole. I was poor but I wasn’t desperate. “Eliana, what do you do?” William’s grandfather asked all of a sudden. Time passed by too fast and soon, we were already on our way to the lake house. William was driving, I was in the passenger’s seat, and his grandfather was in the backseat. “I’m currently searching for a job, sir.” “Really?” He hummed and from the rearview mirror, I saw him looking at William. William pretended not to notice. “Have you ever worked?” He asked instea
William Caddel~•~My grandfather had taken to Eliana very well.It almost gave me a whiplash the way he suddenly changed his attitude toward her. On the first day, he had his guard up and was probing a lot to try and find something wrong in our supposed relationship but twenty-four hours later, he was totally smitten.That also happened to be a problem though because whenever my grandfather got comfortable, his tongue got loose. We were taking a walk along the lakeside when he suddenly stopped wheeling his chair.“What do your parents do, Elia?”I arched an eyebrow at the new nickname but when I processed the question, I frowned. I let out a sigh. “You’re asking too many questions.” If it had been a real relationship, he would have chased her away with his many inquiries.“This is the first question I’m asking her today, is it not?” He opposed me. “And what’s so wrong in knowing the background of my granddaughter-in-law?”At his question, she started coughing, most likely taken aback
Eliana Brown~•~“I’m fine with getting married in private.”William’s head snapped toward me and for the first time since I knew the man, he looked speechless. I knew I had caught him off guard. After all, I was just a girl he met on the road who ruined his expensive suit yet here I was offering to marry him in private to appease his grandfather.“See? That’s what I’m talking about.” His grandfather, on the other hand, looked proud of my decision. “Elia doesn’t mind getting married to you, Will. If you’re insecure about your age, she doesn’t care.”I held back a chuckle at his not-so-subtle jab. William ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “Yeah, she doesn’t mind…”I knew a million thoughts were going through his head at the moment. I couldn’t even blame him. He probably thought I was a gold digger, snatching my only opportunity to get closer to him. I wouldn’t call myself a gold digger per se. We were already in a fake relationship. We might as well get into a fake marriage. I knew t
William Caddel ~•~ I didn’t know if Eliana was stupid, naive, or both. I was leaning heavily on both and rightfully so. I wished I could see through her. I wished I was able to tell what was going on in her head. I wished I could understand her thought process and figure out how she came to agree to get married to me. It wasn’t for my name because it was going to happen in private. Was it for the money? From her point of view, we wouldn’t be married for a long time anyway. Did she want the alimony? But then again, she didn’t hesitate to agree to signing a prenup so what exactly was her game plan? Aside from the three days we had all spent together in the lake house, she had only seen me four times. I was a total stranger to her. She didn’t know my intentions for her. She didn’t know the fucked up thoughts I had about her yet she was offering herself so easily to me. Was she comforted by the fact that I was a public figure? I couldn’t sleep that night. My thoughts were rid
Eliana Brown~•~I was already starting to regret agreeing to marry William Caddel.Sure he was rich, but apart from his name and age, I knew next to nothing about him. I knew nothing about his career, how he handled situations, and how he lived in general yet I blindly agreed to marry him. I didn’t even have any time to get prepared because we would be having a court marriage soon. Since there were no guests, we just needed to get our marriage license and get married. Fuck me.I rested my head against the window, wondering how my life was going to move from here. I had made a lot of impromptu decisions these past few weeks but this one was the biggest of all. I was getting married. I’d always wanted to get married. Harry and I had been together for six years and I wanted to get married to him but he wanted us to properly get our lives together first. Now that I had left him, I saw that he was evading it on purpose and I was thankful I didn’t tie myself down to someone as inconsiderat
Eliana Brown~•~“WHAT???” Catherine exclaimed. “What do you mean by getting married? I haven’t kept in touch for one week and you’re getting married?”I stayed silent and allowed her to continue ranting.“I always thought I was going to get married before you, even when you were still with Harry because let’s be real, everyone knew you weren’t going to end up marrying him. You just broke up like a month ago. How are you getting married? Why are you getting married? Who are you getting married to?” She stared at me, waiting for a response.“What question should I answer first?” I joked but Catherine wasn’t in the mood for joking.“Who are you getting married to?”“William Caddel.”There was a long pause where Catherine just stared at me like I had grown two heads. When I didn’t take back my words, her jaw dropped. “No way! William Caddel? The billionaire man you owe twenty-five thousand? That one?”I nodded. “And I don’t owe him anymore.”“What? He forgave your debt because no offense
Eliana Brown~•~Two days later, I was standing inside the private elevator in my apartment complex that led to the penthouse above. To say I was nervous was an understatement. Since there were no stops, I got to the penthouse in less than a minute and the doors of the elevator opened to reveal William Caddel leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He was still in formal attire as though he had just gotten back from work.When he saw me, he pushed off the wall and approached me. “You’re early.” He checked the watch on his wrist. He had told me to come over by seven o’clock. It was six-fifty-eight. “I like that.”I didn’t know how to reply to that so I just went with “thanks.” I stepped out of the elevator just as he reached for the shoe rack and placed a pair of slippers in front of me. Getting the hint, I took off my shoes and put them on, following him inside when he resumed walking. They fitted perfectly, making me wonder if he usually had women over.I came to a pause. Wh
William Caddel~•~One week later I was finally back at work.Eliana resumed work way before me since her boss already didn’t like her. She didn’t want to give her reasons to fire her.The news of my grandfather’s death had hit the internet and every call I got these days was to offer condolences to me. I wouldn’t lie. It was quite tiring but I understood that my grandfather had a lot of friends and business partners before he retired and left the company for me.I had been tempted to have a private funeral but I wanted his friends to be able to say goodbye to him one last time, which was why I announced his death and the funeral to the public.The funeral happened two days ago yet people were still calling to sympathize with me.A knock on the door interrupted me from my thoughts and without waiting for permission to enter, Duke came in, slamming the door close behind him.I cocked my head at him. “Is something wrong?”“You have an unwanted visitor.”“Who?”“Eliana’s ex.”I frowned.
Eliana Brown~•~After being recognized as William’s wife publicly, it was a lot easier to navigate expensive places.Back when I was just Eliana Brown, it was very hard to even book a reservation for places like this. If my friends and I wanted to dine in such a nice restaurant, we had to book several months ahead, but this time, I could just waltz in and get what I wanted without any stress. I wouldn’t lie. William’s connections were quite good. It was precisely because the owner knew William which was why the staff prioritized me as soon as I got there. It felt good. Also, I didn’t have to keep William waiting. He finally wanted to eat something. If I took too long, he could change his mind. I couldn’t have that.They boxed my order and the owner handed it to me personally, telling me to send his regards to William. I nodded and assured him we’d visit soon before I left and flagged down a taxi.The ride back home wasn’t long but I was impatient and kept bouncing my leg each second
William Caddel ~•~Fate was playing a cruel trick on me.I lost my parents a long time ago at the same time. At the time, I thought my life was over, but my grandparents took me in. Since I was young when my parents died, I didn’t have many memories of them.I didn’t have any uncles, aunties, or cousins that I could lean on. I only had my grandparents.Twenty years ago, my grandmother got very sick and passed away, so it had just been me and my grandfather for the past twenty years.He got older each day and even more weaker as the days went by. I saw this coming. I knew it would happen soon but I still wasn’t prepared for it.Even after the official announcement of his death, I still couldn’t believe he was gone. As though I was in a trance, I dealt with all the paperwork and did all the necessary things to transfer his corpse to the mortuary.Eliana accompanied me every step of the way, staying close by as though she was scared I would snap.I wouldn’t. I felt numb. It hadn’t prop
Eliana Brown~•~I woke up to the sound of rustling on the bed.My head was aching from all the alcohol I had the previous night, but William’s footsteps were too heavy to ignore.I rubbed my eyes as I sat up on the bed, wondering why William was up. It was four o’clock in the morning. Even if he was an early riser, he didn’t wake up so early these days.I watched as he dashed into the closet and came back out dressed in less than a minute.“What’s going on? Where are you going?”He turned to look at me when he heard my voice. “The hospital.”Every atom of sleep cleared from my eyes immediately. “What? Is something wrong with Grandpa?” As I asked that question, I was already getting out of bed. Thankfully, William hadn’t taken off my clothes last night so I didn’t have to bother about finding clothes.He nodded as he grabbed his car keys from the nightstand as well as his phone.“I’m coming with you.”“You had a stressful night. You don’t have to.”“I will.” I rushed into the bathroom
William Caddel ~•~It didn’t matter that we just had a bunch of food and snacks with my grandfather. Eliana took me to dinner again.Well, we went roller skating first, which was chaotic because she had never done it in her life, but after that, we went to a restaurant.I was forty, but apart from my parents, no one had put in this much effort to celebrate my birthday. They died pretty early, which meant I hadn’t been celebrated like this in more than thirty years.If I wasn’t already married to Eliana, I would propose to her again. I didn’t regret any of my actions because she was the best thing to ever happen to me.I looked at my watch. “It’s already past ten. Do you have something else in mind or is this the end?” I couldn’t help but question because it felt like she wanted to celebrate every second of the day with me.Eliana giggled, already feeling tipsy from the one glass of wine she drank. She was such a lightweight. “One more once we’re done here.”I was intrigued, wondering
William Caddel~•~I was still surprised as Eliana opened the door and exited the car. I followed suit anyway.“Happy birthday, dude. Have a nice day.” Duke waved to me and started the engine again when we were out of the car.I didn't even have the time to answer him before he drove off, leaving me and Eliana alone. She was struggling with the bag and the box of cake, but when I offered, she slapped my hand away. “I can do it.”“I know.” I humored her. “I just want to help.”“You're the birthday boy, you shouldn't have to do anything.”My face scrunched up in displeasure. “Don't call me that again. It's insulting.”“My bad.” Eliana laughed. “I forgot the age you're turning today.”“Let's just go in.” I took the beg from her and headed for the hospital doors. She ran behind me and tried to take the bag from me but I didn't let her.Knowing we were obviously going to my grandfather's room, I went straight there. For years, I had spent my birthday with my grandfather, but I never expec
William Caddel~•~As bright and early as six o'clock in the morning, Eliana knocked on my door and pulled me from sleep.I had woken up but I didn't move from the bed. When she got tired of knocking, she pushed the door open and walked in. “Wake up, Will. It's your birthday today.”I kept my eyes closed. She was announcing it like I didn't know that as well. “Will? William?” Her voice got closer and soon I could feel her presence right next to me. “Wake up, William. You are not usually a deep sleeper.” At this point, her face was right next to mine. “Are you doing it on purpose?”I responded by pulling her onto the bed and wrapping my arms around her. I let out a satisfied sigh, loving the feeling of her body mashed up against mine.“Will!” Her voice was muffled since her face was buried in my chest.“It's my birthday today.” I reminded her of what she said just a few seconds ago. “Let me enjoy this for a moment, please.”“Will.” She mumbled for the last time before she eventually g
Eliana Brown ~•~I was crazy.I had told myself to do a lot of thinking before I approached Will but as soon as he cornered me, I melted into his arms immediately. It was scary. He had so much power over me and he didn't even know it.It wasn't the first time we were kissing but unlike the first time, I felt really embarrassed. I didn't even know how to leave my room, but if I didn't do that soon, I was going to be very late.Taking a deep breath, I finally arranged my bag and opened my room door quietly. When it was open, I looked around the hallway. Thankfully, it was all clear.I held my heels in my hand and tiptoed down the stairs. I didn't dare go into the kitchen no matter how thirsty I was. I kept my gaze on my focus as I slowly approached the corridor.So close to teaching my target, I was beyond shocked when I felt an arm around my waist. I didn't even have enough time to be surprised before I was suddenly lifted up.“What are you doing, Will!?” I yelled in horror as he plac
William Caddel~•~I kissed her immediately and I could feel it when her defenses fell. She melted against me and kissed me back with equal fervor, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me closer to herself.I groaned against her lip in satisfaction but for some reason, the sound had her pulling away to stare at me.I didn't give her time to reflect on her actions as I pulled her in for another kiss. This time, she wrapped her legs around my waist, eliminating any space between us. I was pressed up against her and my hands were running up and down her body, trying to touch her everywhere at the same time.“Will.” She whispered against my lips.“Hmm?” I captured her bottom lip in my mouth once again, sucking without restriction. When I pulled away, her cheeks were flushed and her lips were swollen. “Yes?”“I- I missed you.”I felt my chest tighten with excitement. When I first saw Eliana, I had thought it was just a minor obsession that would eventually pass. I thought she was j