Chapter 16

As soon as the dimmed lights went back to normal, Cedric instinctively searched for his grandmother. When he found her, she was still standing with the Rossi's with a glass of juice in hand while one of her brows are raised, obvious suspicion painted on her face.

He knew that she would react that way. This is the exact reason why Lucas should have told him that he's going to pull a stunt like this first. Their gran isn't the chairwoman of Ford for nothing. She may be retiring soon but he knew that she's still as sharp as ever. She'll notice that everything is just an act. Cedric's hand tighten unconsciously.

He then turned to look at the young man on stage while the blood in his head continued to pound.

The man on stage had a big smile on his face and even though half of his face was covered with a white mask, Cedric knew that the one standing on the podium is no other than Lucas.

Cedric continued to stare at the person from afar who seemed to be immensely enjoying himself. Their eyes met and he made sure to give him a look of disapproval.

Lucas, who remained unconcerned about his cousin's glare, even mouthed a 'You're welcome.' Before handing out a thumbs up and a wink.

At that moment, Cedric wanted to facepalm himself for failing by giving Lucas this job. If only he had taken these matters personally then something like this wouldn't have happened. He turned to his side and caught the woman next to her staring at him intently. Another thing was, Cedric isn't even sure if Lucas hired a professional for this. Can this woman even act? He thought while watching her. His head pounded once again and the palm of his hands started to feel cold. For a moment, Cedric felt faint as his vision clouded. He needs to get this over and done with.

"You know what to do, right?" he began saying but she seemed to not hear it as the woman only continued to stare at him, confusion starting to paint her face but Cedric can't let that happen since a lot of people are watching them so he wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her closer and started acting like an affectionate lover before bringing his mouth to her ear, "You know what to do, right?" he whispered the same thing again and her back stiffened in response.

There Cedric knew that his suspicions were correct. The woman in his arms isn't a professional. His jaw clenched thinking about what Lucas had done before eventually deciding to lead the show. Cedric kept the woman in his arms to look as intimate as possible before stealthily sliding the ring he thankfully found earlier in the pocket of his jacket. Lucas must have instructed George or Mr. Knight to slip the ring there back at the mansion before the event even started.

That's right, he'll just improvise and make it as if he already proposed a few days before this. As soon as he thought of a way out, Cedric faced the crowd with the most genuine smile he could muster while still holding the woman close to him. A series of claps and cheers surrounded the hall while each one of them raised their phones to take pictures.

The man onstage clapped his hands once bringing everybody's attention to him.

"Congratulations to the happy couple-" he said on the microphone while laughing gleefully. "I'd like to call Mr. Ford and her fiancee up here to say a few words to everyone."

Cedric kept the smile on his face while he made his way up the stage with the woman behind him. As he reached the podium, he began talking on the microphone still following the improvised plan in his head.

"Thank you. Everyone must be wondering how did this happen." He started with a chuckle and the crowd laughed with him.

"-my fiancé and I value our privacy so were able to keep the details about our relationship to ourselves and to those who are close to us. But since she said yes a few days ago, I've been wanting to share this happy moment with everyone and I figured the best time to do this if not tonight while we honor my grandfather's continuing legacy so thank you, everyone, for coming and enjoy the auction."

Veronica tried to stay behind the man the whole time he's talking on the podium not wanting to catch too much attention. And as soon as he was done on stage, he gently tugged her wrist as they go behind the curtains but not before stopping in front of the chestnut hair masked man, "You and I need to talk." he said with a tight smile that didn't reach his eyes although the tone of his voice sounded threatening that made the hair on the back of her neck rise.

The backstage leads to three doors that Veronica assumed as private rooms since the one they just entered is also a private area. The chestnut hair guy removed his mask when they reach the room and the man holding her hand immediately released his hold to grasp him by the collar making Veronica gasp.

"Whoa, Cedric!" the chestnut hair man whispered shout as he tried to stop the hand clasping the collar of his shirt.

"What did you do?!" the man, who she now knows as Cedric, responded with a clenched jaw.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I just did what you told me to do. Take your hands off, okay? Let's talk." Chestnut hair man coaxed him to calm down again.

Cedric's breathing hard but he released the man after a few seconds before collapsing on the couch inside the room.

The man fixed his shirt before facing Veronica with an apologetic smile on his face. "Sorry for showing something unsightly. This beast is uncontrollable sometimes."

"I can hear you, Lucas," Cedric mumbled as he buries his face in the palm of his hands.

The chestnut hair man whose name was Lucas turned to check on Cedric before turning back to face Veronica. "As I was saying, I apologize for showing that, Ms. Theresa." He began again, "-that beast is my cousin, Cedric. I promise you, he's a good person-"

Lucas was cut off when Cedric got up to walk where the two were standing. Seeing the two men fight, Veronica decided to tell them the truth after much deliberation, not wanting to get involved even further into the mess. If April loses them as clients then Veronica will just have to work twice- no. As thrice as much harder to earn the money April's company will lose because of her mistake.

With her head down, she began, "No, I should be the one apologizing." She then raised her head to face them, "I'm not Theresa."

_to be continued_