1 Chapter 1

It was a Monday morning, the beginning of a new week. Catherine was inside her office, her eyes fixed on the computer as she kept going through the documents sent to her by the senior manager.

As she was going through it, she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," she ordered, and immediately the door burst open and Jerry, the CEO of the company, came in.

Once she saw him, she stood up and greeted him, and he responded.

She was surprised to see him in her office because, since the first day he came to her office to inform her about her appointment with Jackson, he had never come to her office again. Anytime he wants to see her, he simply puts a call across to her, and she comes to his office.

"How are you, Catherine?" he asked, sitting on the chair opposite her.

"I'm fine, sir," she responded, sitting down too.

"Catherine I must admit that your coming to this company has yielded a very good result, "he said to her while smiling.

"Thank you, sir," Catherine replied with a warm smile.

"And if you continue in this way, you are going to get promoted even before some employees that have been here for a very long time," he said to her.

"Wow, I'm happy to hear that, sir, and I promise to work harder to attain it," Catherine replied with determination, and Jerry smiled at her.

"By the way, Catherine, there's a serious issue I would like to discuss with you," he announced, peering directly at Catherine's eyeballs.

"OK, sir, I'm listening," Catherine replied, wondering what the serious issue is.

"Well, before I became the CEO of this company, my father was the one taking care of it. But as he started getting older, his health started deteriorating, and because of that, he handed everything to me." He explained to Catherine, and she nodded, wondering why he was telling her all that.

"As the days go on, his health keeps getting worse, and as the firstborn, all my father wishes is to will the family's properties to me before his death because he knows that they are in safe hands with me, but before he does that, he wants me to get married first."

"I'm not ready to get married," Catherine chipped in, knowing where he was heading, and immediately Jerry smiled at her ability to easily guess things.

"Neither am I, and that's why I need your help," Jerry informed her.

"And how am I supposed to help you?" Catherine inquired, wondering what he had in mind.

"Well, I want the both of us to get married, but not for real; it's a fake marriage," Jerry informed her, his eyes peering directly into her eyeballs.

"What!" Catherine exclaimed surprisedly, and Jerry furrowed his brows at her.

"I'm sorry," she replied. But what you are asking for is too complicated. What about if your father finds out about it?" She asked, peering directly into Jerry's eyes.

"That's not going to happen, and secondly, we aren't going to be married legally. It's a fake marriage; we pretend to be married, and after my father gives the properties to me, we break up and go our different ways," Jerry explained.

Catherine stared silently at him without uttering a word.

They both stayed silent for some seconds before Jerry broke the silence after heaving a sigh.

"You see, Catherine, don't think I'm doing this because of the properties; I don't need it; I can do without it. I only want to accomplish my father's last will before he dies, and that's all," he explained dejectedly.

Catherine peered directly into his eyeballs for some seconds as if she were trying to find the truth in his eyes, and then she heaved a sigh before replying.

"OK, Mr. CEO, if I decide to help you, what will I gain inside?" she asked, peering into his eyes.

"Twenty percent of the properties," Jerry replied.

"Well, I'm not a greedy woman, so I'm OK with that." Catherine replied, smiling.

Jerry stared at her and heaved a sigh of victory, but immediately Catherine cut him in.

"But I will first think about it," she replied with a straight face, and immediately Jerry's countenance changed.

"No problem, and when will you give me your final decision?" he inquired.

"Before the end of the week," she replied.

"OK, I'll be taking my leave now, Catherine," he replied, standing up from the chair.

"Ok, have a nice day, sir," she replied to Jerry, who was already heading towards the door.

"Thanks, and have a nice day too," he replied before exiting the office.

* * * * * *

The evening darkness was slowly engulfing the whole of New York City as the sunshine had gone back to its resting place, making way for moonlight.

As Catherine got down from the yellow taxi, she opened her handbag, brought out some dollars, and handed them to the taxi driver, who waved at her before zooming off.

Once she got into the apartment, the aroma of the delicious meal being cooked by her mother filled her nostrils, and immediately she smiled and started heading towards the kitchen.

"Good evening, mom," Catherine greeted her mom, who was dishing out the Irish potato and sausage she cooked for dinner.

"Good evening, my baby girl. How was your day?" Her mother inquired, still dishing the food.

"Fine, mom, and yours?" she inquired.

"Fine too, my dear. Please help me out with the food," she said to Catherine, who helped her take the meal to the dining table, after which she went to the bathroom and freshened up before joining her mom, who was waiting for her on the dining table.

After saying a little prayer, they started enjoying the meal.

Mrs. Joyce Edmond had been the one taking care of Catherine after the demise of her husband.

She did all she could to play both the roles of a mother and a father in Catherine's life.

She was working as an accountant in one of the famous banks in New York, and she did all she could to make sure Catherine finished with her studies.

Unfortunately, when Catherine was in her final year, Mrs. Joyce started having health issues, and due to that, she could no longer work in the bank.

She used her savings to sponsor Catherine's studies until she finished, and to avoid staying at home, she used the remaining amount and also the monthly allowance she received from the bank to rent a little supermarket where she sells some provisions.

"Mum, do you know that you are the best cook in the world?" Catherine informed her mom while munching the Irish potato.

"Come on, Catherine, stop teasing me," her mother replied, smiling.

"Mum, that's the truth; I haven't seen anyone who cooks as well as you do," Catherine said to her mother, who smiled while enjoying her meal.

"By the way, mom, how was your meeting with Mr. Jonathan?" Catherine inquired, and immediately her mother's countenance changed.

"Well, my daughter, he has made up his mind; he said he needed to sell the supermarket because he will soon be relocating from New York, and you know I can't afford to rent a new supermarket with my present financial situation." Catherine's mom spoke to her with a sad tone.

"Don't worry, mom, we will find a way out," Catherine said to her mother reassuringly, and she smiled before continuing with her meal.

After dinner, Catherine cleared the dining table, after which she joined her mom, who was watching her favorite movie in the sitting room.

She kept her company for a few moments before retiring to her room because she was already feeling drowsy.

As she was lying on her bed facing the ceiling, she remembered Jerry's proposition to her, and immediately sleep dispersed away from her.

She kept turning on her bed while pondering it. She wanted to accept the proposition, but on the other hand, she knew she would be in serious trouble if Jerry's parents discovered it.

At least she knew that if she accepted Jerry's offer, she would gain enough money to open a new boutique for her mother, but at the same time, she knew what could occur if anyone discovered it.

As she started drifting into slumber, the ringing tone of her phone jerked her back to reality.

Without hesitating, she took the phone and saw that it was Jerry calling her, and immediately she frowned.

"Don't he know it's already late?" She mumbled to herself before picking up the call.

"Hello," Catherine replied grumpily after picking up the call.

"Hello, Catherine, I hope I wasn't disturbing your sleep," Jerry inquired from the other end.

"No, sir," Catherine lied.

"OK, I wanted to ask you if you would mind if I come and pick you up tomorrow at your house." Jerry asked.

"No, sir, I don't mind, but you don't need to," Catherine replied with a frown on her face.

"Only what I heard was, No, sir, I don't mind, but what you said after that, I didn't hear," Jerry informed her from the other end. "Good night, and don't forget to send me your address." Jerry said to her before hanging up the call.

"Seriously?" Catherine asked before realizing that he had hung up the phone.

"He thinks that being kind to me is going to make me accept his proposal," Catherine mumbled to herself before lying down on her bed, and in no time she drifted into slumber.