Marry Your Billionaire: A Modern Cinderella

by C. J. Anaya

  Her question seemed to take him off guard for a moment, and then he looked at her…really looked at her for the first time since she’d arrived.

  “That’s definitely an issue I always take into consideration. It’s hard not to feel like a target for all of those gold diggers out there, but if you’re saying that I’m interesting enough without my money then I am sincerely grateful for the compliment.”

  “Then I will simply say, you’re welcome, and leave it at that.”

  “You’re a good person, Charlene. I’m happy for this opportunity to get to know you.”

  It was a very promising breakthrough. Her plans were all coming to fruition—she simply had to stay the course. After months of working for Felicia she had managed to get all of the proof she needed to expose Felicia and her many crimes, especially the ones against herself and her family.

  One more step left and then Midge and Felicia would be exiting the show for good, leaving Brody heart broken, vulnerable, and very available.

  Midge jolted at a sharp knock on her door. She’d spent all morning trying to cope with the idea of Brody on another date without her and she felt supremely insecure. Which was ludicrous considering his declaration of love for her the previous night, not to mention the wonderful feeling of waking up completely ensconced in Brody’s arms this morning. Old habits died hard, she guessed.

  What worried her most was her inability to return his declaration of love with one of her own. She’d overcome many fears simply by admitting that she cared for him, but what if it wasn’t enough, and his date with Charlene turned his head in a different direction?

  Was he enjoying himself? Did he like Charlene? Were they laughing together, feeling comfortable and happy with one another, enough so that perhaps he was having doubts about his feelings for her and what they shared? Insecurities as to her own worth and merit were something she would simply have to overcome day-by-day.

  The sharp rap on her door sounded again with an impatient urgency that had Midge grudgingly moving off her bed.

  She opened the door only to become fully alert when she saw Felicia Davenport standing on the threshold. She was dressed to the nines in white capri pants with a bright yellow shirt that looked as if someone had vomited gold glitter on the front, obviously a brand-name shirt that was valuable due to the label attached and not the design glued across it. Her Louis Vuitton bag was slung over her shoulder and possessively clutched to her side. Though her make-up was immaculate her perpetual scowl and disdainful air completely marred the perfection of her features.

  Was this it? Was this the moment when Felicia decided to do her own dirty work after all? It was just like her to attack with Brody out of the way.

  Where the heck was Talin?

  A spike of fear shot through Midge’s core as she considered everything she had learned about Felicia’s background, but she squared her shoulders and arched an imperious eyebrow, doing her best to fake boredom lest Felicia think she had actually managed to intimidate her.

  “Seven in the morning, Felicia? Did you have to get up at three to put yourself together or do you tend to roll out of bed with three layers of make-up caked to your face?” It was nasty, she knew, but she couldn’t help baiting the evil wench.

  Felicia’s eyes narrowed at the insult. “I would tread very carefully if I were you, considering I have something of yours which I’m sure you’re going to want back?”

  “Something of mine? I can’t help but seriously doubt that.”

  “Why don’t you invite me in and find out?”

  Midge did her best to sigh heavily in the most put upon way imaginable, though secretly she wondered if Felicia would spring a knife on her the minute she closed the door.

  “Won’t you come in?”

  She opened the door a little wider and stood back as Felicia strutted into the room. Midge shut the door and stood silent right next to it just in case Felicia decided to surprise her by pulling out a gun from that monstrosity she called a purse.

  Felicia didn’t waste time mincing words. “I want you to leave the show today. Now.”

  Midge’s eyes widened in surprise. “You think I would leave the show just because you demand it? Felicia, this god complex you have needs to be put in check. You’re really not as important or powerful as you think you are, and your pathetic attempts at intimidating me haven’t really panned out either.”

  Felicia’s eyes took on a lofty glint and Midge was sure the feline was about to unleash a trump card she wasn’t prepared for.

  “You’ll leave the show today and cut off all ties with Brody Prescott or I’ll publish your manuscript under my own name and use all of the connections I have to establish myself as the best selling author of…of…what is that little book of yours called?” she placed a finger to her chin and tapped it for a moment as if trying to remember something inconsequential. “Forget Me Not. Which, by the way, is the worst title ever. I’ll probably have to change it if I want any hope of it succeeding in the entertainment industry.”

  Midge’s insides began to curdle as the magnitude of Felicia’s threat solidified within her brain.

  “How could you have possibly gotten access to my laptop? I always put it in the safe and it’s password protected.”

  “Please. Do you really think I would do something as mundane as breaking and entering? I had a very sophisticated virus emailed to you. Once it uploaded onto your computer I had full access to everything.” Felicia pulled out a thumb drive and held it up to the light. “The only copy of your manuscript in existence happens to be on this very small piece of technology.”

  Midge felt her mouth go dry. “You…you deleted everything from my computer?”

  “Even from the hard drive. There’s absolutely no way for you to prove that you’re the one who wrote what is no doubt a sniveling, sentimental tale of love, loss, and second chances. Love conquers all, am I right, Madelyn? Did all of your naive ideals where love and marriage are concerned make their way into your pitiful novel?”

  Midge didn’t even acknowledge Felicia’s insults, too intent on the thumb drive she dangled like a carrot in her hand. Months worth of work, sweat and tears had gone into the writing of that book. It was her first step to achieving everything she’d dreamed of, her concrete validation that she had truly joined the ranks of all authors everywhere, and now the only copy in existence was being held hostage in Felicia Davenport’s blood red claws.

  “Now that I have your undivided attention I expect you to pack your things, tell Brody you’re no longer interested in what he has to offer, and fly away on your little charter plane to wherever the hell you roost.”

  Midge felt her breathing become shallow as she considered what giving up Brody would mean for her happiness and her future.

  “I tell Brody I don’t love him and I never did, and in return you give me back my manuscript?”

  “I’ll mail it to your home address the day you leave the show,” Felicia said, growing more confident by the second.

  Madelyn wondered if she could pretend to feel nothing for Brody, then Felicia wouldn’t assume she had the upper hand in this.

  “But I don’t love him, Felicia. I’ll admit that he’s extremely likable, but for you to think that I’m still here due to any interest in Brody Prescott is simply ludicrous. I can’t leave the show until Brody eliminates me; otherwise, no trust fund.”

  “I’m not an idiot. Every time you two are on camera together you positively glow with love and adoration. It’s sickening.”

  Midge smirked at that. “I’ve spent years directing actors with my father. Do you really think I’m incapable of acting well enough to please an audience? I’ve even got you believing that something exists between Brody and me when it doesn’t. I’m sorry, Felicia, but as much as I love the idea of publishing my first novel, I love my trust fund even more, and since Brody seems very interested in putting a ring on my finger, what do I need a book for when he’s more than happy to offer me his billions
. The benefits for pretending to love Brody far outweigh the loss of this one story. So you can take your thumb drive and leave my suite now. This entire conversation has been one big snooze.”

  Midge nonchalantly patted a hand to her mouth while she gave an over-dramatic yawn and prayed that Felicia would believe her bluff and even go so far as to throw the thumb drive at her in frustration. She didn’t want to lose all of her hard work over the last year, but she didn’t want to lose Brody either.

  Felicia tapped her finger to her chin as she gave Midge a long, calculating stare.

  “Well, I suppose if this manuscript means so little to you then I may as well flush it down your toilet right now.” She moved toward the bathroom, and Midge couldn’t help when her body stiffened in response.

  Felicia’s smirk spread across the entirety of her face. “Not so indifferent to the loss of your precious manuscript, are you? You see, I’ve done my research, Midge darling, and I happen to have it on good authority that you were the one to walk away from your trust fund six years ago. So I don’t, for one second, believe any of the crap you’ve just spewed. You may want your trust fund, but you want Brody more.”

  Midge’s façade began to crumble as Felicia called her bluff.

  “You’re going to tell Brody you don’t love him and then you’re going to leave the show.”

  “I can’t do that. I can’t lie to him like that.”

  “Of course you can. Repeat after me, Brody, I don’t love you.” Felicia clamped her hands around the thumb drive. “Or I’ll just toss this in the toilet right now.”

  Midge held up her hands. “Brody, I don’t love you.” She repeated.

  “And when people ask you why you left you’ll say what?”

  Midge’s heart sank. “I never loved Brody Prescott.”

  “Exactly. You need to decide what’s more important to you, Madelyn. Brody’s love or your career as a respected author. Which is it?”

  Midge couldn’t answer, the bile burning the back of her throat was moments away from choking her. Felicia’s eyes narrowed as she inched her way toward the bathroom.

  Midge could control the course of her career, but she still didn’t have complete faith in the strength of Brody’s love. Was she willing to risk all of that for a man who may or may not have been willing to commit to forever with her?

  Midge took in a shallow breath, forcing herself to consider her own insecurities and fears and finding herself completely terrified at the possible outcome.

  “Well?” Felicia said.

  “My career.” The moment Midge uttered those words she felt tainted and dirty. Surely, she would feel relieved at having come to a decision if that decision were correct. Instead, the pit in her stomach widened further.

  Felicia nodded in satisfaction and then placed the thumb drive back into the black depths of her purse. “I knew you’d see it my way.”

  Midge’s thoughts began to race as Felicia made her way to the door. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t walk away from Brody because she did love him. As much as her hopes and dreams of becoming an author were important to her, she couldn’t imagine attempting any of that without Brody by her side.

  “Wait,” she said just before Felicia opened the door. Felicia turned around and tapped her foot in an impatient gesture. “I do have other pressing things to worry about at the moment.”

  “I won’t do it. I won’t forfeit mine and Brody’s happiness for a three hundred page manuscript. I can always write another book, but I can never replace someone as amazing and wonderful as Brody Prescott. So if you plan on publishing that book under your name or destroying the only copy in existence, I suppose that’s up to you. I love him. It’s taken me far too long to get to the point where I can actually admit that out loud, and I can’t give it up now. I can’t give him up ever. Brody means far more to me than my success as an author, and if you had any concept of what true love feels like you might have found your own happiness by now rather than lying and murdering others in an attempt to grab it.”

  Felicia’s face drained of all color. “What did you just accuse me of?”

  “Kincaid, Ramsey, Putin? Did you think no one would eventually put two and two together? I know far more about the skeletons in your closet than you realize.”

  “I would watch yourself and your next course of action. You’re hardly a threat to me, but I assure you I’m more than a threat to you. I’ve just become your worst nightmare.”

  “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Felicia. I’d hate for those butt implants of yours to explode.”

  Felicia ground out an oath and turned around, wrenching the door open and storming down the hall.

  Midge let out a shaky sigh of relief as she closed the door and considered her next move. Her manuscript was gone for good. There was nothing she could do about that gut-wrenching loss. She could no doubt recreate a similar plot with the same characters, but the labor of love in the journey of her creation wasn’t something she would be able to capture again. She took a moment to mourn the loss of what felt like the death of a family member and then remembered what she had gained from that loss. She knew she was in love with Brody, and though the realization came with insecurities and doubts as to how truly invested he was in their relationship she knew that she had more to lose by not giving into her feelings completely and letting their relationship take the course it was meant to. The only real obstacle preventing her from doing that had just walked out the door. Felicia needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. She picked up her cell and dialed.

  “Lisa,” she said as her friend let out a sleepy hello.

  “It’s called lunch time, Midge. People generally call their friends during the afternoon.”

  “Did you leak that information about Felicia to the tabloids yet?”

  “I emailed one of their journalists”, she let out a derisive snort on that last word, “and let him know I had some dirt on one Felicia Davenport. Let me check my email to see if he got back to me.”

  Midge impatiently waited while Lisa got busy on her laptop. A few minutes later Lisa came back with some puzzling news.

  “He says that the information I have couldn’t possibly match the dirt that was leaked to them two days ago.”

  “What?”

  “They are running some story on Felicia today. Apparently, the story is so big that the local news has picked it up?”

  “What?”

  “Do you have a TV in your bedroom?”

  “Not in Sababurg Castle. Even if I did, I hardly think I’d get L.A. news in Germany.”

  “Holy crap!” Lisa said. “Get on your laptop or cell phone and stream what’s happening on L.A. Nine News.”

  Midge grabbed her laptop and did as instructed. An anchor woman with overly processed blond hair stood just outside an enormous residence, vying for the attention of Senator Davenport.

  “It has recently been discovered that Felicia Davenport, daughter of Senator Davenport and current contestant on Marry Your Billionaire has been tied to a string of suspicious deaths over the last five years. Though we haven’t been able to reach Ms. Davenport with her own response to these accusations it would seem that there is enough circumstantial evidence to bring her in for questioning.”

  Midge watched the chaos of reporters and news crew attempting to get some kind of comment from Senator Davenport as he left his humble abode for work.

  “I don’t have anything to say to you people,” he shouted. “My daughter and I haven’t communicated with one another for several years now.”

  “Who leaked the story?” Midge asked.

  “I’m as clueless on that front as you are, but I have to admit I’m thanking them from the bottom of my heart. There’s no way she can stay on the show now that she is wanted for questioning by the police. You and Brody are in the clear.”

  Midge had to agree, though in the back of her mind she wondered if it was really that simple.

  Liz watched as Felicia storme
d into the suite, spitting curses and threats that made even Liz’s stomach feel weak. She’d been waiting for over twenty minutes for Felicia, wondering if their plan would indeed provide the results they both desired. From Felicia’s volatile behavior the answer was most likely one resounding no.

  “I take it she didn’t go along with our plan?” Liz asked.

  Felicia angrily dove into her purse and pulled out the thumb drive, holding it up in Liz’s face and then throwing it across the room where it landed on the bed.

  “I’m so furious, I actually went on a walk around the countryside to see if that might calm me down. I can’t believe I thought nature would be more soothing than retail therapy. I told you this wasn’t going to work, and now I’ve just tipped my hand in a big way. She has dirt on me from my past. I should have just killed her when I had the chance.”

  “Dirt? Felicia what are you talking about? You told me that there was nothing in your past that needed to be buried. Was that a lie?”

  “Of course it was a lie. First rule of getting away with murder, Liz: never kill and tell.”

  Liz wondered what exactly Madelyn had discovered, but whatever it was, Liz had already leaked the most damning evidence to the tabloids, police, and news stations. It was simply a matter of time before Felicia’s goose was good and cooked.

  “We don’t need to resort to killing her just yet. Depending on what was said, I can edit what you filmed to make it look as if Midge accepted your offer and chose her manuscript over living happily ever after with Brody. Let me see your purse.”

  Felicia nearly threw it at her in her anger as she stormed into the bathroom. Liz grabbed the purse and pulled out the tiny digital camera she had hooked to the front. She reviewed the footage quickly to make sure that Midge was not only heard but seen. She’d been half afraid that Felicia would wear the bag on the wrong side and end up filming her enormous plastic breasts by accident.

  A loud knock at the door took Liz by surprise.