Chapter 2
Four months ago, my world fell apart. My father and I didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but he was my hero. My mentor. One of the very few people I truly love. We’d been at odds when he died, and the bomb he dropped in his will only escalated my frustration. And, consequently, my guilt.
Dad’s death was sudden. A heart attack at the young age of 57. It shook our family and our company to its core. The Monroe Financial Corporation is a family-owned investment banking company with a valuation of over 50 billion dollars. When my father died, I took his place as President and CEO. As the only one of his two children interested in the business, I’ve been groomed my entire life to take up the mantle, but I never thought it would be so soon. Don’t get me wrong, I’m capable. I just thought I had more time. I thought my father would retire at 65 and be there to mentor me as he passed over the reins.
I miss my father. But I’m so angry at him.
We never agreed on the dating issue. Dad was a total family man. He worked hard, but he valued his time with us and tried to instill those values in all of his employees. Mom was his college sweetheart and the love of his life. They were married for 35 years. My older sister Sophie and I were their entire world.
Sophie got married six years ago, and she’s currently five months pregnant with her second child. She never had any interest in working for the family business. I think that put even more pressure on me to follow in my father’s footsteps.
From the time I could walk, Dad was giving me tours of the company. I’ve worked various positions within the company since I was fourteen. I double majored in economics and accounting and got my master’s in business management at UCLA all while working side-by-side with my father. By the time I was twenty-five, I had a spot on the board of directors. I like the work. I believe in the company. I want to make my father proud.
But now, after death, he’s threatening to take it all away from me. All because I don’t date.
I’ve never had the time for or the interest in relationships. I’ve never met a woman who didn’t want me for my money or the status dating me would give her. Most women I meet are simpering, coy, narcissistic gold diggers. Women are drama, and I don’t have time for their games.
There’s nothing wrong with being alone, or married to the company that is depending on me to keep it afloat. Especially if I can’t trust the people I date. And how could I ever trust a woman when my personal net worth is over a billion dollars? Who would ever see me for more than just the zeros in my bank account? If such a woman exists, the effort it would take to find her wouldn’t be worth it.
But my father was obsessed. He thought because he was lucky enough to find his other half that I should have found mine by now, too. And now, here we are, in a nightmare mess of his making. His company, his legacy, could all crumble because he was a hopeless romantic. It’s ridiculous.
I’ve been a constant grump since the reading of my father’s will, but I’m especially pissed off right now, sitting around the conference table with my mom, my sister, my father’s estate executor, and my board of directors. Because this is not a board meeting. It’s an intervention.
I’m sitting at the head of the long table, but I’m not heading up the meeting this time. I’m facing a firing squad. The room has been in a tense silence since the final people took their seats. All eyes are on me, but I’ll be damned if I’m the first to speak. I glare at anyone who has the nerve to make eye contact. I’m brooding, and I don’t care. Let them squirm.
My mom is the first one to speak. Patricia Monroe is a strong woman. She’s determined and stubborn as a mule. And on this particular subject, she backed my father 100 percent. She takes charge of this ambush, shooting me a stern look before smiling at everyone else. “We all know the reason why we’re here.”
“Yeah. To find me a wife.” I sneer.
Several people in the room shift uncomfortably in their chairs. Mom huffs in frustration. “I know you’re upset about this, but the fact of the matter is?—”
“The fact of the matter is: my father lost his damn mind and gave me a year to find a wife, or everything this family has built for the last three generations will be destroyed!”
Mom dips her chin down and pinches the bridge of her nose.
“Sebastian,” Sophie says softly. “We know this is hard, but we have to face it.”
“There’s no way around it,” my father’s executor pipes up. When I glare at him, he clears his throat and pulls his shoulders back before speaking again. He’s trying to sound firm, but he can’t quite hide the tremble in his voice. I can be downright scary if I want to be. “If you’re not married, and if the board isn’t convinced of the sincerity of that marriage, the appointment of CEO will be turned over to your chairman of the board, and your father’s shares in the company will be split among the board members.”
Rage sweeps through me. “And our family-owned company will no longer belong to our family. We’ll lose control. Our legacy will be dismantled. Everything I’ve worked toward my entire life will be taken from me.”
Mom throws her hands in the air. “Exactly! I know you’re angry, but we don’t have a choice. Either you try to solve this problem, or you abdicate your position now and let the board take control.”
I slam to my feet. “Over my dead body!”
Mom jumps to her feet as well, pounding her hands on the table. “Then find a damn wife!”
So much anger and frustration fill me that my head threatens to explode.
A steady voice drifts over from the opposite end of the room. “Let’s all try to keep calm.”
Peter Jenkins, my father’s right-hand man and the Chairman of the Board gives me a sympathetic smile that I can’t help feeling is patronizing.
“Easy for you to say,” I grumble. “You’re the one who stands to gain the most control from this.”
He sighs. “We all loved your father. Believe it or not, we’re on your side. We don’t want to see this company taken from you any more than you do. And to be frank, removing you from the position and wresting control from your family will be costly and only destabilize the company even more than it currently is. Our stock took a hit when your father passed. People loved your father. They trusted him. They love you too, but you’re young and untested. People are nervous, but at least you have the family name behind you. If we have to remove you as CEO and appoint an outsider, if the shares are dispersed so that your family no longer holds the majority vote, stock will plummet. It could leave us vulnerable for a hostile takeover. Someone could swoop in and take everything. Chapman and Rowe has been sniffing around. They’re no doubt putting together a tender offer as we speak.”
My stomach rolls. We really could lose everything. And if another company buys us out, they could dismantle us and sell us off in pieces. Thousands of people could lose their jobs. The weight of that responsibility crushes down on me all at once.
“Sweetheart.” Mom’s voice breaks. “You have to try.”
A wall of hopelessness slams into me, and not for the first time—not for the hundredth time—since my father’s passing, I’m completely and utterly lost. My chest feels like an empty cavity. I meet my mother’s shiny eyes. It takes me a moment before I can speak. “How could he do this to us?”
She gives me a pained smile and sniffles. “He loved you so much. He only wanted to see you happy.”
“I was happy.”
“I’m sure he didn’t think he’d be taken from us so soon. I’m sure he figured you’d find someone on your own time and this clause wouldn’t ever matter. It was just a contingency plan to make sure you have a full life.”
I clench my hands into fists. “I have a full life.”
“You’re lonely.”
“I have you and Sophie. I have my niece and my soon-to-be nephew. I don’t have time for anything else.”
“Because you don’t make time. This company meant everything to your father too, but he always found a balance. You work, and you work, and you work. Since your father passed, have you even gone home aside from showering and catching a few hours of sleep?”
I grind my teeth. That’s not my fault. “I haven’t had a choice. I’ve been trying to take over a multibillion-dollar company. I’ve been working hard to make the transition as seamless as possible. As Pete pointed out, our stock dropped. People are unsure of me. I have to do everything I can to earn their trust.”
“And where does that end? At what point do you step back and take some time out for yourself? If you’re not careful, your whole life will pass while you’re hunched over your desk in your office. Living and living well are not the same thing. That’s what your dad wanted, for you to learn the difference.”
“And you agree with this? With what he did?”
She gulps. “I don’t agree with what he did. He should never have put this kind of pressure on you. But I do agree that you need to learn there’s more to life than work. Finding love and starting your own family would change your life. I want nothing more than to see you find that joy.”
Sophie leans forward, splaying her hands on the table in front of her. “Look, Seb, we all hate what Dad did. It’s not fair to you. I wish you didn’t have to do this. But if you don’t find a way, we could lose everything. A lot of people could lose everything. You’ve spent four months contesting the will, and nothing’s worked. It’s time to face this.”
I rake my hands through my hair and take a deep breath to avoid another explosion. Losing my temper will help nothing. “How the hell am I supposed to do it? Even if I found a woman I could trust to take my name, how am I supposed to fall in love with her, make her fall in love with me, and marry her before the year is up? What does that even mean? Love? Who can judge that?”
In the silence that follows, someone clears their throat and suddenly everyone is twitching in their seats again. All eyes turn to my mom. She schools her face into an innocent mask that I don’t buy for a second. She’s up to something. A glance at my sister tells me she’s in on the secret too. Whatever it is that they’re thinking, I’m going to hate it. They know it, which is why they’re both stalling. “Just tell me. Things can’t get any worse than they already are.”
Mom and Sophie share another loaded glance. Sophie loses their silent standoff, and her shoulders drop. She sighs, then tries to smile at me. It’s more of a grimace. “We have an idea.”
I cock my brow. “An idea for what?”
She rolls her eyes at me. “How to find you a wife.”
Shrinking back in my chair, I give her a grim look. I fold my arms over my chest, bracing myself for whatever asinine suggestion is about to come out of her mouth. And I know it’s going to be a doozie, or she’d have spit it out already.
“You become the next bachelor on the show Marry Me.”
I must be missing something here. “The what?”
Sophie shoots Mom a help me look. “It’s a TV show,” Mom says.
“A dating show,” Sophie clarifies with a wince. “One guy has thirty hopeful women, and after a series of dates he narrows it down to one and asks her to marry him.”
My mouth falls open in shock. No. In horror. “This is a thing? For real?”
Sophie smirks. “It’s quite a popular show. It’s in its seventeenth season.”
She lifts her brow in a challenge. I have the urge to jump from my chair and run from the room screaming. “No. Hell no. Not a chance, Sophie. Think of something else.”
She tips her head back and huffs. “There is nothing else. The show starts in three weeks and takes between two to three months. If it works, you’d still have a decent amount of time to plan a wedding. A simple one, at least.”
“If it works?” For a moment, I’m a thirteen-year-old boy again at the height of voice-cracking puberty. “Are you insane? How could that possibly work?”
“It works all the time. There are a ton of couples from the show that really do get married and have kids and all that.”
I slap my hand over my face. There’s just no way they are serious with this right now.
“Think about it,” she plows on. “Thirty women who have no idea who you are before you get there so you know they’re not after your money. And all of them auditioned for the show knowing the ultimate goal is marriage. They’re ready to fall in love and commit to a partner. It’s perfect.”
“It’s psychotic.”
Sophie gives me a narrow-eyed glare. “Do you have a better idea? Would you rather Mom and I create a dossier of all the eligible women we know? All the same ones who’ve been throwing themselves at you your entire adult life? Because we already made that list. Would you like to see it?”
I definitely don’t want to see that list.
I scrub my face. I really must be crazy if the idea of random strangers willing to go on a dating TV show to find a husband sounds more appealing than the women in my family’s social circle. “How desperate are these women to have to resort to a dating show to find a man? They’ll be lunatics. All of them.”
“You’ll be more desperate than any of them,” Sophie teases.
I shoot her a look full of so much annoyance only a little brother could accomplish it.
“It’s romantic, Seb. These women want to be swept off their feet.”
“I’m definitely the wrong guy for that.”
Sophie snorts. “Can’t argue there.”
“It’s television. They’re probably all just in it for the publicity. Actresses wanting exposure, or hopefuls looking for their fifteen minutes.”
Mom groans. “Don’t be such a cynic. Not every woman is a rotten apple. This is a good way to solve our problem. You only have eight months left, honey. We’re out of time and options.”
“You have to at least try.” Sophie’s tone stops my retort. It’s a plea. She’s begging.
“I don’t have time to be off gallivanting around the world with women for months. Who will run things while I’m gone?”
Mom lifts her chin in a stubborn gesture I’m very familiar with. “Peter will have things handled, and I’ll be filling in wherever I can. We’ll get along without you for a few weeks.”
“How do you even know they’d let me be on the show?” I ask in a half-panicked, last-ditch effort to get out of this. “They must already have someone picked if the show starts in three weeks.”
Mom’s smug grin tells me my grave has been dug. “We already called the show. As fate would have it, their chosen bachelor backed out. They’re thrilled to have you.”
I’m out of excuses, and I’ve never seen my mom or sister look so determined. I have a feeling they’d hog-tie me and drag me to the TV studio, kicking and screaming. But the truth is, as awful as this all sounds, I don’t have any better idea. I have to find a wife.
My entire body sags in defeat. I lean forward and let my forehead bang against the table. I let out a long, suffering groan. “Heaven help me. I’m going to hate this.”