Single Mom Wanted for Fake Marriage: A Billionaire Romance

by Aubrey Dark

  Sierra, who’d stolen my heart while I wasn’t looking.

  I clamped down on the emotion working its way up into my throat. I wasn’t going to let emotion get in the way of the right decision here.

  “Kit’s college fund will be transferred into your name. I’ll see that you get the details sent to you right away.”

  “Okay,” she said. With each repetition, her voice seemed to grow softer. “Is that it?”

  “That’s it. You can leave whenever you want. Or you can stay for a while, until, you know—you find a new place to stay.”

  It hurt me to even offer. Would I be able to stand being around Sierra for even another day? To have her living with me, tempting me with those full lips and silken skin? It seemed like playing with fire.

  “We still have the lease on my old apartment.”

  “Right.” Disappointment mingled with relief inside me. She was so calm about this. So confident. In a way, it hurt me even more to see her blandly accepting my money to leave. I knew that I had no right to expect anything from her, but I couldn’t help growing upset as I thought about how easily she was going to walk away.

  It had been fake. All of it, fake. As stupid as it was, I was mad at myself for forgetting that one basic truth. It wasn’t a real relationship.

  Then why was I so angry that it was over?

  “What about my—my being pregnant?” she asked.

  I shook my head, biting down on my lip.

  “We can say we lost the kid. I hate lying to my family, but it’ll be for the best.”

  “Ha.”

  My eyes flickered up to hers.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You’ve been lying to them the whole time,” Sierra said, tossing her dark hair over one shoulder. “This whole thing has been you lying to your family.”

  It was the truth, but it stung. Before I could help it, I’d whipped out a retort.

  “You’re one to talk. Your whole career is built on lies, isn’t it?”

  Her hands flew to her hips. Her eyes sparked with hot anger. And while I hated to have her look angrily at me, it was better than the bland calmness. This was how I’d met her—in anger. And I could feel my own emotions rising in response.

  “At least my relationships haven’t been built on lies,” she said.

  “Oh? What about your relationship with me?”

  She flushes.

  “What about it?”

  “You led me on,” I said, blurting out the real reason I was so upset. Because it hadn’t been all fake, had it? “You slept with me.”

  “I led you on? You’re the one who said that this was all pretend. That I had to pretend to be your wife.”

  “Oh? You’ve done an admirable job pretending.”

  “Thank you. It’s what you paid me for, after all.”

  I burned with anger. She couldn’t even admit that there had been some feeling between us. And I was ashamed—ashamed that I’d ever fallen for her charms. Ashamed that I’d fallen for something that she was admitting now to be a complete lie.

  “Good to know that this business arrangement worked out to your liking,” I spat.

  She turned away, then turned back. Her cheeks were red, and her dark eyes flashed with anger.

  “Can I ask you something, William?”

  “Of course.”

  “So this—all this—was all a superficial thing? None of it was important to you? Not the proposal? Not our wedding night?”

  How could she even ask me this? At the mention of these things, I burned with shame.

  “Sierra—”

  “Answer me.”

  The inside of my cheek was hurting from my biting down on it to keep myself from flying into an emotional frenzy.

  “I—I tried to keep things professional,” I said. “Just like you.”

  “Sure you did. You’re a perfect professional. So damn professional—”

  “Why are you getting so upset?” I interrupted.

  “Me? You really have to ask?”

  “You’ve got your money,” I said. My voice was rising as my anger boiled up to the surface. “I’m the one who has to deal with the fallout from this. I’m the one with the problem.”

  She was silent, looking not at me but at the floor. When she finally raised her eyes, I was surprised to see them glossy with tears.

  “Sierra?”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  For a moment, I couldn’t register the words. All the air in the room seemed to be gone, and all I could hear was my heart beating along the echo of the words she’d spoken.

  I’m pregnant. I’m pregnant. I’m pregnant.

  The realization tangled my tongue. Pregnant? She was pregnant? It hadn’t been a lie?

  She was still waiting for me to speak.

  “I—I don’t—what are you—are you saying that—”

  “I told you I was on birth control. I wasn’t. I'm sorry, but there it is.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Her hand clenched into a fist at her side and I knew that I had said the wrong thing.

  “Sierra—”

  “I’ll get Kit and leave.”

  “Wait.”

  There were tears in her eyes, but she wasn’t letting them fall. She lifted her chin with a determined look on her face.

  “No. That’s it. It’s over, William. I thought—I don’t know what I thought. But I was wrong.”

  “Sierra, wait. You don’t understand.”

  “I understand perfectly.”

  “Don’t leave. You can’t leave.”

  “Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do,” she said flatly. “I’ll see you at court tomorrow.”

  My heart was pounding, and I leaned on the desk, my legs suddenly unsteady.

  “But what are you going to do about—about the baby?”

  Sierra glared at me with hard, glistening eyes.

  “It’s not your problem.”

  With that, she turned away, leaving me dumbstruck, my heart beating hard, my foolishness dawning on me. I’d lost her, and so much more.

  It was over.

  Chapter 34

  Still holding back the tears, I put Kit to sleep in her old crib in our living room. The air seemed stale, unlived in. The plants were wilting, their googly eyes drooping sadly as though blaming her for leaving.

  I didn’t know what I was going to tell everybody. Didn’t know what I was going to tell my dad. Didn’t know what I was going to tell Teresa—she had left William’s house before me, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that she wouldn’t be coming back. The check in my hand would pay her forever, if that’s what I wanted. I didn’t know what I wanted, though.

  I want him.

  I’d had him, hadn’t I? For a few weeks, I’d been living a dream. It couldn’t have lasted forever. But I hadn’t known that it would end so soon. After one day of being married, it was over.

  “Mama?”

  Kit’s sleepy voice brought me back from my thoughts.

  “Yes, baby?”

  “Why’re we here?”

  “We’re back home, baby,” I said, feeling lost. This didn’t feel like home anymore.

  “Where’s ‘illiam?”

  “William is back at his house.”

  “Is he gonna come say goodnight?”

  Her voice was hopeful, and I didn’t know how to tell her that there would be no more goodnights from William. Tears slid down my cheeks, and I turned away so that Kit couldn’t see them.

  “Maybe later, sweetpea. For now, try and go to sleep.”

  It was barely a half hour later when I heard a knock on my door. I opened it, thinking that it was Teresa. But it wasn’t.

  “I hear there’s trouble in paradise.”

  Bobbi brushed past me, not bothering to wait for an invitation. She was wearing a rainbow-colored shawl over a silk jumpsuit, and she floated into the middle of my cramped studio apartment like it was a palace.

  “Bobbi—
”

  “Do you mind telling me what’s going on?”

  She turned and sat on the edge of the couch, her hands folded over one knee.

  “You should talk to William,” I said.

  “I have. I stopped by at his house and you weren’t there. He told me you had left. And he wouldn’t talk to me about you, either, only to say that you were having problems.”

  He hadn’t told her about the baby. I didn’t know if he was even going to.

  “So,” she continued, “I decided to come here myself and see what kind of problems would drive a happy bride away from a happy groom.”

  “Bobbi, I lied to you.” As I spoke, I felt a sense of relief come over me. I had never wanted to lie to such a sweet woman. As terrible as it was to be apart from William, it was nice to be able to finally tell the truth.

  “Lied?”

  “I don’t work at an art nonprofit.”

  “I gathered that much from our spa talk.”

  “I don’t work as a waitress, either,” I continued, not wanting to pause for fear I would lose my nerve. “I’m a thief.”

  Bobbi’s eyes went wide.

  “A thief?”

  “I stole from rich guys who tried to seduce me.”

  I thought that she would be angry. I thought that she would storm out of my apartment. But instead, she broke into peals of laughter.

  “My goodness! That’s an exciting career choice. Were you trying to steal from William?”

  She leaned forward eagerly.

  “No!” I said. “I mean, he did meet me while I was trying to steal. At a party.” I flushed. I wasn’t sure if I should tell her that it was Sanders’ party.

  “And he fell in love with your daring self. How romantic.”

  “Um, yeah. Something like that.” I wasn’t sure if pointing a gun at someone’s dick was romantic or not, but I wasn’t going to argue with her on that point.

  “Why did you get married so quickly?”

  “Honestly? Did he tell you about the board meeting?”

  “Oh, I heard about that from Sanders. Something about his only getting a third share.”

  “That’s why we married so quickly. He wanted to make sure he could still run the company, and he thought I could secure an extra part of the voting shares.”

  “But it didn’t work.”

  “Right.”

  Bobbi tilted her head.

  “Why didn’t he just ask Sanders and Dexter to give up their voting shares to him?”

  “I—I’m not sure. I got the impression they were fighting over something important.”

  “Oh, business. It’s the worst. Always driving family apart.”

  “Anyway,” I said, trying to pull the conversation to an end, “I think it’s over between William and me. He only married me to make this voting thing work, and it didn’t work, and here we are.”

  I didn’t have to pretend to sound disappointed. Bobbi shook her head.

  “Can’t you tell him that you want to work things out?”

  “I can’t do that. He needs to figure things out for himself. But you should talk to him again,” I said. “He might need someone to confide in.”

  “I’ve never known William to be very confiding,” Bobbi said. “But I’ll go back to him. In the meantime, you could try to—”

  “Bobbi, I can’t. I’ve tried.” My voice was shakier and shakier, and I didn’t know how much longer I could stand talking with her. She was so kind. So willing to step in to help. I wished that I’d grown up with a mother like her. William had no idea what he was missing. “I need to deal with this in my own way.”

  I wasn’t going to be the one to tell her that she had a granddaughter on the way. I didn’t know how William wanted to handle it. Anyway, I thought bitterly, he could deal with it himself.

  “But you have to work things out!” Her voice was growing strident, and I raised one hand to shush her.

  “Please,” I said. “Kit’s asleep.”

  Bobbi darted a glance over to the crib. She twisted her fingers together as she stood up.

  “Fine,” she said. “Alright. I don’t like it, but I understand.”

  She walked back to the front door, her head held high. So dignified, even walking through this dump of a place. What must she think of me?

  “I’m sorry, Bobbi.”

  “So am I. This is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  There was a catch in her voice, and I couldn’t help myself from leaning out into the hallway after her.

  “Why?” I asked.

  She turned around. Her lip trembled under the expensive, organic lipstick.

  “William isn’t the most demonstrative person. But with you? It’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him.”

  She turned suddenly and walked off, leaving me alone with Kit. I’d managed to keep the tears somewhat at bay before, with William, and again while I got Kit ready for bed. But with that one sentence, Bobbi broke down every last bulwark I’d managed to hold up against my sorrow. I sat down on the couch and sobbed and sobbed.

  I fell asleep crying, thinking about how much I’d truly lost.

  The next morning, I woke up early from a nightmare where I’d been running away from an angry mob of people, including William and his family. “Liar!” they cried. “Thief! Liar!” I’d woken up covered in a cold sweat, and even a hot shower couldn’t wash away the knots that had gathered in my stomach. If I hadn’t been pregnant, I would have doused the feeling in a bottle of cheap wine, but now even that short comfort was denied me.

  A knock on the door took me away from my breakfast. To my surprise, it was Teresa.

  “Hey, Sierra,” she said, looking at me strangely. “Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine,” I said. And I would be, later. “I can’t really talk right now.”

  “I know,” she said. “William sent me.”

  “William?”

  “He said you have an important meeting and I should babysit.”

  I rubbed my eyes. Right. The court date. Two days after our marriage, we were going to get a divorce. The knot in my stomach tightened.

  “Seriously, though, are you okay? You look like shit.”

  “Thanks for being brutally honest with me,” I said, grimacing.

  “That’s what friends are for.”

  “I’ll be okay. We can talk about it later.”

  “Sure thing,” Teresa said, hugging me tightly. “Don’t even worry. I have everything under control.”

  “As always,” I said, smiling weakly. Me? I didn’t have anything under control. I was a single mom, pregnant again. Nothing could make this any worse. The thought gave me a strange sense of confidence, although I was still anxious. There was nothing more that William could do to hurt me. It was over, and I was going to deal with it. At least I had a nice check for my troubles.

  Always get out with more than you came in with.

  One of my dad’s rules, and one I’d certainly followed here. I was getting out with two million dollars. And a baby to go with it, I thought wryly. But I couldn’t help but feel as though I’d lost something, too—something worth more than money.

  Downstairs, I climbed into the black Lexus waiting at the curb. When it didn’t turn downtown to go the courthouse, I was a bit confused. Then I realized where the car was taking me.

  “Excuse me?” I asked, tapping on the divider between me and the driver. “Are we going the right way?”

  “Mr. Fawkes instructed me to bring you to his residence,” the driver said, pulling into the driveway.

  “Oh. Okay,” I said, sitting back. Maybe he’d hired the judge to come to the house so that we didn’t have to appear at court? I knew William valued his privacy, and it made sense that he didn’t want the news of our rapid divorce splashed all over the front page.

  He was more ashamed of me than I’d thought.

  We drove up to the house and the driver opened the door for me. I should have savored all of these small details. I
t would be the last time I ever had a chauffeur to escort me out of a car. But all I could feel was a rising sense of loss and bitterness. This was what I’d lost. This mansion. The lawn outside where Kit loved to roll around and play. The smell of the fresh air surrounded by pine trees.

  At the house, there was a card taped to the front door with my name written on it. I pulled the card off to read it.

  Come up to the lookout cabin, it said.

  Great. So he didn’t even want to let me into his house again. I let out a short hard laugh. It figured, didn’t it? Maybe he thought I would steal something if he let me inside. He was protecting himself. Taking care of every possible eventuality.

  I hadn’t known William long, but I felt like I knew him well. Every part of his character. Every talent, every flaw. It should have been easy to divorce him. I’d seen him at his absolute worst.

  But then I thought of the way he’d come after Justin. The way he’d said goodnight to Kit, not knowing that I was listening. The way he’d looked at me on our wedding day.

  I shivered and crumpled the card in my hand, dropping it onto the stoop. Fine. If he wanted to throw everything away, who was I to stop him?

  With every step up the trail, I cursed myself for wearing wedge sandals. The sun was rising through the trees, but even the beautiful landscape couldn’t hide the steepness of the slope. By the time I reached the top, my hairline was damp with sweat.

  I tried the cabin door handle, but it was locked. Tired, sad, and anxious to get things over with, I rapped impatiently on the door.

  “William?”

  “One second!” came the muffled reply. I sighed and leaned against the door. He wasn’t even ready? But it truly was one second, and I had to catch myself as the door opened from under me.

  I stumbled into the cabin, and for a moment I was struck dumb.

  White tea candles lined the entire room. The morning sunlight streamed in through the huge window, dancing with the flickers of candlelight and making the whole room shimmer. William stepped back, leading me in. He was wearing a dark gray suit that matched his eyes, and he swallowed hard as he looked at me.

  “You look beautiful,” he said. “Thank you for coming.”

  I turned in place, looking at the shelves filled with small flames of light.