A White Lie
Levi looked around the board room.
He had been the CEO of R&N Group since he turned twenty. He didn't fully resume his duties until he was twenty-two, but then he had been the Chairman for over a decade now.
The board members dared to run a vote for him to get married all because Theo sat there like the dick he is and planted the idea in their heads.
First of all the idea was bullshit, why would he get married to satisfy some bunch of people who didn't give a shit about anything as long as the stock prices were stable and they were making a profit.
"It would be a better image for R&N considering the last scandal you had with that Russian model. All these P.R. of you being a rogue CEO is not the best for now. We're losing stock and customers with all the lawsuits going around with the factories. We do not need your social image ruining that of R&N, too." Mrs. Glenn said. She was a blonde woman in her mid-forties and one of the people that Levi liked on the board.
"All P.R. is good P.R. There is no such thing as bad publicity," Levi replied nonchalantly.
"You are the image of R&N, Mr Reynard. I advise you to finally act like it. Marriage would keep you grounded, you know, stop some scandals, and give R&N a new image." Mr. Finn said. He could see the way they all nodded in agreement.
What did his romantic life have to do with anything? Fuck Theo for being here, he was the one who did all of these. No one knew about the scandal with the Russian model and that was months ago. So why bring it up now?
He looked at Will, but there was nothing he could do in this situation. It was like they didn't trust him to be a responsible gentleman.
"I do in fact, have a fiance. I'm engaged. That scandal is old news and you haven't seen anything about me in the tabloids recently." Levi said.
Theo scoffed.
It made Levi's blood boil, why was he here anyway? After his father, Levi's uncle died he never came to any board meetings or the company at all. And when he did show up in the company, it was followed with chaos and most times Levi had to do damage control after.
Will and Keith looked at him with shock in their eyes. If only they could be more subtle, then the rest of the board would believe him.
"That's great news. Congratulations." Mrs. Glenn said with a genuine smile.
"I just don't understand why it's so important for me to get married all of a sudden?" Levi asked again.
"It's part of your inheritance clause Levi. You have to get married by the time you're thirty and you're over thirty now." Theo said with a sinister look on his face.
The rest of the board looked surprised by that piece of information and he knew they would capitalize on it since they were already on the issue anyway.
The late Mrs. Elsie Reynard had a funny way of doing things and she added that fun to her will. She knew Levi would never settle down with her gone and there was no one else who was going to be able to make him give her grandchildren. So she put a clause on his inheritance that he had to get married by the time he was thirty or Theo would take over until he got married.
He could see no ring on Theo's fingers, but then if he was here and saying all of these it could mean that he was planning to get married and take his spot on the table.
No way in hell would he let that happen.
"I know that. But that is not important right now. We need to be focusing on the projects we have and not my wedding date." Levi said.
The meeting went on and when it finally ended, everyone was waiting on the invitations to his engagement party. These people were sharks, once they smelt blood, they were out for the kill. It's probably why they're good with business.
"Levi we both know there's no fiancée. Why would you lie to the board like that?" Keith said once they got to his office and shut the door behind them.
"It was a little white lie and I can just tell them the wedding was called off. You know, make a sad story that leaves me heartbroken, which could buy me more time." Levi replied.
Keith looked at him shaking her head disapprovingly.
"This has to do with Theo and that darn phone call right?" Keith asked knowingly.
It didn't entirely have to do with Theo, but Yes. He was the center of the problem. Theo had purposely sabotaged and compromised some R&N factories, just because he was bored as he had said.
Theo had always wanted Levi's spot. When his father Gerald Reynard was alive, he had pushed him so hard to compete with Levi and even do shady things to get what he wanted. Gerald Reynard was the twin brother of Levi's father Scott.
Gerald and Scott were the only children of Mrs. Elsie Reynard. She adored her kids and probably favored one over the other. Levi didn't know the whole story but before his father died, he had the handling shares of R&N Group and was solely in charge of the majority of their business. Gerald and Scott always fought over things and ended up estranged.
The rivalry was transferred to Theo and Levi and the fact that their grandmother had left everything to him was more infuriating even Gerald stormed out of the house after her will was read and he never saw his uncle again.
Theo had been silent for years now, since his father's death. Levi neither saw him nor heard from him, but the moment he heard about the recent happenings at the R&N factories, he knew something was up and somehow he knew Theo had surfaced again. He was predictable like that, only for him to call and confirm his suspicions.
"The first order of business is to get someone willing to play my fiancée for a bit and would be generously paid if she breaks my heart in public. Bonus if she does it beautifully well." Levi stated.
"You're joking. I think something is fundamentally wrong with you." Keith said, her hands on her hips.
"I'm not, maybe you should call Regina. She would be crazy enough to do something like this with me as far as I pay her."
"Regina is engaged to some Arabian dude. It was all over social media when you went on that stupid vacation of yours." Keith replied.
"The Regina I know would never settle down," Levi said, confused.
"Her father threatened her with her trust fund so she had to," Keith replied.
"Well, look for options for me. I need someone before the next board meeting." Levi said and then he gave her a suggestive look.
"That's disgusting Levi, I would never fake date you or fake marry you. How could you even think that, it made my skin crawl." Keith said with disgust written all over her face.
"It was just a crazy idea and I'm desperate."
"Ever since you came back from whatever foreign sun you've been under, you've been weird. Only God knows what they did to you there." Keith replied, and then she left his office.
Jade sat in the diner, ready to have lunch. She had ordered a Coke, fries, and a burger. The flowers arrived this morning, and she had arranged them all. She was happy she didn't see her boss when she got into the room. Her guilt wouldn't allow her to look him in the face or anything like that. She still felt so guilty about the shirt, especially since it cost so much. She tried to console herself with the fact that he had other more expensive shirts and that could be the least but still.
"Hey." Claire's voice said over her.
She looked up and looked around. It was still the diner and it was just Claire.
"Uhh… hey," Jade replied. She was unsure how to act since she and Claire didn't exactly have a track record of being friendly toward each other.
"Can I join you?" She asked.
Jade was surprised. She looked around again to make sure that it was her Claire was talking to before she nodded yes to her.
Claire ordered a salad, and Jade looked at her lunch. As if Claire noticed what she was thinking, she spoke up.
"It's not like that. I just have this wedding to attend, and I can't fit in the gown, so I'm trying to see if I could fit in it before the next two weeks." Claire said, and Jade nodded with a smile. It was cute the way Claire thought that she needed to explain that she was not one of those girls who ordered salads at a diner.
"I wasn't judging, and even if you genuinely want a salad, that's your preference," Jade replied.
"I'd probably still eat a sandwich later. There's no way I can stick to this before I get off work. They will drag my body out of there because I would faint." Claire said. Jade laughed. She didn't know Claire could have any form of humor and even be friendly with her.
It was nice to just chat with someone, she couldn't remember the last time she had any fun conversations with anyone and even if she had to be in a conversation, she was so focused on what was the right thing to say that she never said anything.
After lunch, they walked back to the hotel in comfortable silence. Jade had come to know that Claire's resting face usually looked mean, so she didn't feel like her expression was directed at her.
"Same time tomorrow?" Claire said, and Jade smiled warmly.
"Same time tomorrow, I might order a salad to help you so you don't get tempted to order a burger," Jade replied.
The rest of the day went by in a blur, Jade had to tidy Levi's closet. It was a lot of work because he had a lot of clothes and accessories.
She set the table and Levi's dinner on the table. He would be back soon, and then she would head home. Her favorite part of the day was going back home into comfort. There was nothing comfortable about her house but still, it was her house and she didn't get to deal with people there.
Levi walked in shortly after she set the table for dinner. She took his jacket and added it to the ones she'd send to the dry cleaners the next day, and then she took her stuff to go.
"Leaving?" Levi asked. She turned around. Usually, he didn't even bother when she came or went in the past two weeks she'd been working here.
"Uhh yeah." She replied confused.
"Hold on." He said, then he disappeared into the bathroom.
Maybe he had an errand for her to run or something, so she stood with her jacket in her hand and her bag in the other hand. He reappeared with his sleeves rolled up and he had lost his tie.
"Do you need me to do anything for you, sir?" Jade asked. If he wanted her to do something, he had to say it now so she could do it and get gone. She didn't want to miss the bus.
"Actually yes." He did not know how to go about it, but he had to say it somehow.
"What's that?" She asked.
"Will you marry me, Jade Marie?"
Jade blinked once.
Twice.
He couldn't possibly be serious.