Chapter 3: mate for rent

"It's time for you to talk to your audience, ma'am. Your fans are waiting," a tall, handsome young man said after knocking gently on Mercedes' dressing room door.

"Okay!" she muttered, trying to figure out how many images of this man she was seeing. She slapped herself hard on the cheek to stay awake.

"I'm not drunk... I can't mess this up, fuck!"

Knowing she had gulped down the entire bottle of wine meant for a sip while being dressed, she downed a cup of water, hoping to dilute the effect of the alcohol.

When Kiara, her manager, entered the room, she was devastated at the sight. "What the fuck have you done, Mercedes? Everyone is waiting to announce your presence."

Kiara picked her up from the sofa. "Did you drink alcohol?" She sniffed around Mercedes, confirming her suspicion.

"Should we call a replacement?"

"No. I will do it! That my marriage failed doesn't mean I will let my career crumble too."

"You're married?" Kiara's eyes narrowed in disbelief.

"Where is the speech I am to deliver?" Mercedes looked down and away, trying to cover her embarrassment.

She and Trevor had agreed not to make their marriage official and public, thinking it would look like a cheat pass when Trevor became the CEO of Sterling Enterprises. It was a good thing for her too, as she had a lot of male fans.

"Are you sure about this, Mercedes? You are not in a good state."

"I said I will do it!" She pressed her lips together and dragged the document from Kiara. The words still jumped over each other, but she strolled gracefully to the stage, luckily without missing her steps.

The echoes of people clapping and screaming in excitement, and flowers being thrown on her, made her heart swell and her eyes watery.

Once she took the microphone, everywhere went quiet. "So much love from you all, yet one man can't love me?"

There was an outburst of noise from the crowd.

"Yes, say it loudly, all men are scum! All of you staring right at me with dicks between your legs, you are no better than a wild wolf ! You don't deserve happiness, and you will face much more betrayal than you have caused..."

Kiara ran to the stage, took the microphone from her, and shoved her to a corner. "We are sorry for the inconvenience. Our top model was drugged. We promise to find the culprit... thank you." She hurriedly left the stage when she noticed her explanation was causing more havoc.

At the after-party that evening, the effect of alcohol had left her, and she was now watching what she had done to herself on the internet. Within a few hours, she had lost three thousand followers, and several bloggers had taken her drunken state as an opportunity to make extra cash.

When she remembered that Stephanie was going to be present at the after-party, she told herself firmly that she wasn't the bitch that betrayed her friends and married her mate.

Scrolling through her tab, she came across an enticing headline: "Upcoming model, Stephanie Williams, announces her marriage and mate bond to the CEO of Sterling Enterprises."

When did all this happen? While she was groveling in betrayal?

The party at Brevilis Hotel was what she needed at the moment. If Stephanie was decent enough, she'd never show her face at the party.

Finding the location at the hotel wasn't hard. A banner already hung boldly, canvassed with "Congratulations, Mercedes!"

Today she was celebrating ten years in the modeling industry, and the most famous actresses in the whole of North America.

A hotel staff member smiled as he approached her.

"Can I get an autograph, ma'am?"

"Sure," she smiled and signed on the cloth the male staff was holding.

She inhaled a deep breath as she walked through the door."at least I haven't lost them all"

Loud music filled her ears and boosted her ego. Mercedes loved music so much that it could easily swing her mood. She danced in, not minding that people were already in full swing, picking food from waiters and standing in line at the bar.

"This wasn't a bad idea," she assured herself. After all, she had bought an Oscar-standard gown and couldn't afford not to wear it.

"Heyyyyyyy Mercedes!" She heard a familiar voice gently call out her name amidst the loud music.

Claire, her colleague, stood at the bar with other models, laughing and waiting patiently for her to arrive.

"We are all proud of your little ass, Mer," Claire said.

"It's all thanks to you all."

"No. Not totally, Mercedes. We didn't contribute to you ruining your speech. What the hell happened? Stephanie said you were having a bad time with your mate. I didn't even know you were seeing someone, why the hell are you hiding your mate from us?" Claire asked with a worried face, sipping her drink slowly.

'That daughter of a stone,' Mercedes muttered, her clenched fist hiding behind her.

"Bad time with my mate? That's not possible. He is a very sweet soul that wouldn't even let me wrinkle my face."

"Then why the hell did you drink so much? Kiara is losing it, and if anything goes wrong, all the investors will withdraw, and you will certainly pay for breach of contract. You know better than to play such jokes on a live stream."

"My dog. My dog died, Claire," Mercedes lied. No one was going to believe she was mated and married to the same man Stephanie announced as her husband. They were as good as best friends in the industry, and since Stephanie made it official first, she was likely going to look like a cheat.

"Your dog? I just fed it this morning." Stephanie showed up, head held high, dressed exquisitely beautiful. And quickly joined the conversation. Uninvited.

"You don't know everything about me, Stephanie." Mercedes clenched her fist. She bottled her emotions, knowing she couldn't afford to tear up while her enemy was gloating. "I named my favorite cat 'Dog,' and she was killed after she slept with someone else's man."

"The fuck? That doesn't make sense," Stephanie countered.

"Why? Are you scared you're going to die too?"

The way her circle of friends kept quiet meant they were aware of the last post Stephanie made on her Instagram page. Mercedes was probably not aware.

Claire and the other two ladies, Frankie and Catherine, stared, mouths ajar, from Mercedes to Stephanie, wondering whose fault the fight was and its origin.

"Not like we are fighting besties. I've missed you, Mercedes. When was the last time we saw each other? Two weeks ago?" Stephanie said intentionally raiding her finger to Mercedes's shoulder.

"Oh... oh my goodness. Is that a diamond ring on your finger? Bloody hell, Stephanie! Your mate must be fucking rich!" Frankie gasped

"Yeah, fucking rich! He's the CEO of a four-star company. What do you think? Mercedes specifically chose this ring for me, and that's why we will remain friends forever."

Mercedes wasn't prepared for this. Seeing her wedding ring on Stephanie's finger shattered her heart and broke her into tiny pieces.

"I envy you both," Claire said.

"This calls for a double celebration!" Catherine added, leading the way with a glass of wine while the other girls followed.

"My husband will be coming to celebrate my best friend. I gave him a nice blow job before he accepted my invitation," Stephanie bragged. She kept glaring at Mercedes to gauge her reaction while lying about how she met Trevor and got married after three months.

Tracing back to the time Mercedes accepted her into her house, it had been just a few weeks.

"Your boyfriend is coming too, right, Mercedes?" Claire asked, squinting her eyes. She refilled her glass again.

Mercedes became desperate as she searched around for someone, anyone she knew who could save her from this situation.

Her eyes met a familiar face, Christian Blackwood, a senior in the industry. When Mercedes first enrolled as an actress, she had a big crush on this handsome dude who occasionally came around to supervise. Although she'd never seen him on any drama on television.

He was already staring at her, each passing sip of his alcohol seeming to understand what was going on among the ladies.

"Excuse me," Mercedes smiled as she raised her long straight legs and walked away from the circle.

"You want a different drink?" Eva asked.

"Nah! My boyfriend is waiting," she said and walked straight to where Christian was sitting, knowing several eyes were following her.

"Hi, Christian," she bent really low to greet him, her face inches from his.

"Mercedes?" His husky voice carried a stench of alcohol. His dreamy eyes looked so sexy that Mercedes almost lost herself.

'Thank God he knows me,' she heaved a sigh of relief.

"Do you wanna make some extra cash?" She drew his tie closer seductively, looking behind her to ensure the group she was entertaining was watching carefully.

Christian scoffed. Still Surprised of the lady's boldness.

"I want to rent you as my mate tonight. The pay is fucking attractive," she smiled and placed her glossy lips on his without waiting for a response.