Chapter 7
After Ana’s abrupt, emotional exit, Juliette bursts into tears again. She falls against me, weeping softly. I tuck her into me and pat her head, running my hand over her hair. The table is silent; no one is brave enough to speak up. My eyes are glued to Jeremiah. He’s staring off in the direction Ana left, and he looks pissed.
“You’re really not going to let them go home to their father who has cancer because you want the publicity?” I ask. “How heartless are you? They wouldn’t even be worth it. They’d just be angry and upset all the time. They’d withdraw into themselves and ignore everyone, including Sebastian. That doesn’t make good TV, it just makes the show look like assholes.”
“You do it, then.”
It takes me a second to figure out who spoke. Everyone turns to Sebastian. He’s watching me, his face carefully blank. “What?” I ask, because I couldn’t have heard him right.
He stares a moment more, then slowly says, “Take their place.”
I bark out an incredulous laugh. “Me? Take their place? On the show? As a contestant?”
He shrugs. “You’re pretty enough, and you’re still related to fame. Ellamara Oliver’s best friend is as notable as her stepsisters. You’ll get the ratings. And it’ll be this grand gesture. You’ll valiantly be taking their place so they can go home and be with their father. Altruism sells.”
I hold up a finger. “Problem. I don’t want to date you. I don’t even like you.”
“That’s right. I’m a dick,” he says, deadpan.
“You are. And if you’re looking for a wife, you’re barking up the wrong tree, buddy. You’re not my type.”
He rolls his eyes. “I’m a billionaire. I’m everyone’s type.”
Seriously? I can’t even with this guy. “Spoken like a true asshole.”
“You don’t have to like me. You just have to date me.”
“Ha!”
Jeremiah’s gaze bounces between us as we argue back and forth. With each shot we fire at each other, the greedy gleam in his eyes grows. He leans forward and wags his finger between us. “Yes,” he says. “This is good.”
I gape at him. “How is this good? I won’t want to be there.”
“Exactly. It’s drama.”
“And it will drive the other women nuts when I keep picking her,” Sebastian says, ever so helpfully.
I’m shocked. He’s been so reluctant about this entire process. Making the bare minimum effort and snarling at everyone along the way. He’s been a grouchy tyrant, even to the women he’s supposed to be wooing. Why is he suddenly being so helpful? Is he really that mad that I called him a dick? “Or, you could not pick me. Just a thought.”
He smirks. “Where’s the fun in that?”
I lift my hands and squeeze them like I’m strangling him. His smug smile goes nowhere. I want to scream, but that would only amuse him.
“It’s a new spin,” the nameless guy beside Jeremiah says hesitantly. “We’ve never had an unwilling contestant before.”
I laugh again, and it sounds crazed. “Because it’s absurd! He’s looking for a wife. I can promise you now, I’m not it.”
Jeremiah shakes his head and gives me a creepy grin. “You never know. You could fall for him. You’d be Marry Me’s first enemies-to-lovers romance.”
“Um, not lovers. There are no lovers.” I gesture between Sebastian and myself. “We will never be lovers.”
Sebastian leans back in his chair with his hands behind his head as if he owns the place, which I guess, technically, he does. His eyes never stray from mine. “This is the deal. You for them. Take it or leave it.”
“Vivian,” Juliette murmurs. I’d almost forgotten she’s still here. “You don’t have to. We can take them to court.”
I break my staring contest with Sebastian to give Juliette a sad smile. “Of course I’m going to do it for you. You need to be with your family, and you don’t need the stress of breaking a contract.”
Her eyes fill with tears again, and she throws her arms around me. “Thank you.”
I return the hug, rubbing soothing circles on her back. “No need to thank me. I’d do anything for you guys. You know that.”
A hand clap startles us from our moment. We turn to find Jeremiah smiling at us giddily, as if we’re one big happy family and he didn’t just exploit my friends’ grief and blackmail me into being on the show. “Great. I’m glad we’ve worked everything out. Vivian…” He waves toward the show’s lawyer. “We’ll get a contract for you with the necessary changes that will add in the release of the twins from their contracts. As soon as you sign, they’ll be free to go.”
“Fine. Give me the contract now. They need to leave as soon as possible.”
The lawyer clears his throat and squirms in his chair. “It will take me a couple hours to draw up the standard contestant contract with the addendums needed for this.”
I sigh. It’s not as fast as I want, but at least they’ll still be there for their dad’s surgery in the morning.
“In the meantime,” Jeremiah says, “go pack your bags, and we’ll get you moved into the contestants’ quarters.”
I cringe. The thought of moving into the mansion with all those women makes my skin crawl. “I have to move?”
Jeremiah schools his face into that stern, stubborn, no sympathy expression that makes me want to punch him. “You’re a contestant now, so yes. You will have to live with the other women and follow the rules of the contestants.”
“I didn’t pack like the contestants. I don’t have a single pair of heels or a gown. No swimsuit.”
Andrea speaks up. “It’s not a problem. Just take your measurements and we’ll get them to whoever our new wardrobe specialist is.”
I’m so distracted by having to be a contestant now, that Juliette catches what she just said before I do. She gasps. “You’re going to fire Vivian?”
My heart stops. “WHAT?”
Andrea holds her hands up in a placating gesture. “Not fire. We’ll simply hire a temporary replacement. The job will still be Vivian’s if the show is renewed next season and she chooses to come back.”
My stomach feels sick, and the blood roars through my ears. I’m fired. They’re replacing me. This is my dream job! I’ve worked my ass off to get where I am. All kinds of opportunities will open up to me because of this job. What if the show doesn’t get renewed?
“It’s not as bad as you’re thinking,” Andrea says. She smiles sympathetically. “You can keep your credit as the lead wardrobe specialist. You’ve done all the hard work already. The clothes have already been picked out for the contestants. You’re just there to mix and match and coordinate the girls and adjust, fix, or replace anything if needed. We’ll just bring someone on as an assistant.”
That doesn’t make me feel better. It still feels like I’m losing everything I worked for. I want to cry. I want to rage. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m hit by a panic attack at any second. “Please don’t take this from me,” I beg. “I can do both.”
Sebastian frowns. “You’re supposed to be focused on the show.”
I glare at him. “What is there to focus on? You? I’m seriously supposed to sit around all day pining after you? Is that the kind of person you want as your wife? I have news for you, I won’t be some kept woman. I’d make a horrible trophy wife. I have dreams. Aspirations. Plans for my future. Don’t take that away from me.”
He scoffs. “It’s six weeks of your life. I think your future will be fine. Andrea already said you’d get to keep your credit. What’s the big deal?”
What’s the big deal? How can someone be so infuriating? “The women in the house literally sit around all day doing nothing but talk about you and fight with each other. I will go insane if I have to do that.”
“That’s the rules,” Jeremiah says. “No special treatment. You want the twins off the show, you take their place as a contestant. No phones, no Internet, and you’re required to participate in all activities. You make an effort to get to know the other women. Spend time with them. And you have to make an effort to get along with Sebastian.”
I wrinkle my nose at that one, and he shakes his head. “I mean it. Take this seriously, or the deal’s off and we’ll keep the twins.”
This sucks. If it weren’t for Juliette and Anastasia, I’d never agree to any of this. “Ugh. Fine. But you’d better let me talk to Ella after Rich’s surgery tomorrow.”
“On camera.”
I glare at him, but nod. “Fine. On camera. And I have a prior commitment I can’t miss that I’d already worked out with Andrea. It’s a charity ball.”
“Oh!” Juliette gasps. “You can’t miss the ball! You and Ella organized it. You’re giving a speech.”
“No,” Jeremiah says. “No leaving the mansion. That’s not negotiable.”
So much rage boils inside me, I’m going to blow any moment. “You’re already taking my job. You can’t take this from me, too. It’s in my contract that I can go.”
Jeremiah huffs. “You’ll be signing a different contract which will release you from your current one, and there is no leaving the mansion. It’s not happening.”
“But we leave the mansion to go on dates,” Juliette argues.
“That’s different.”
“So let’s make it a date,” Sebastian says. “I’ll take her to the ball. We can film it. I’m sure a formal charity event run by the Olivers will be crawling with celebrities. It would be great publicity for the show.”
I glare at Sebastian. “How dare you suggest we turn such a meaningful event into a joke!”
He glares back. “You want to be there. I’m giving you a solution.”
Jeremiah gasps in outrage. “This show is not a joke!”
I turn my anger from Sebastian back to Jeremiah. “It’s just entertainment. That charity is one of the most important things in Ella’s life. I’m not going to let you cheapen it by bringing your circus to it and filming celebrities all night like the damn paparazzi. I’ll just skip it. Ella will understand. I’m not sure she’ll be there anyway with everything going on.”
I expect Jeremiah to smugly claim his victory on this one, but he surprises me by arguing. Though, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised he’s desperate to attend this ball. “We won’t be invasive. The two of you miked, and only one camera. No lights. No repeating extra takes to get different angles. We’ll just deal with whatever usable footage we get. We won’t focus on anyone but you and Sebastian. No bothering the other guests. You have my word.”
I really, really hate this man. “No. I’m not doing it.”
“It would be great publicity for your charity, too,” Andrea says softly. “Obviously we would mention the name on air a number of times. We’ll even show a website and phone number of how to get involved or donate.”
“I’ll speak to Ella about it,” Juliette says, surprising me. She gives me a pained smile when I gape at her. “Andrea’s right. A lot of people would learn about the foundation. Ella might want the free promotion. And if she can’t be there because of Dad, then you really should be.”
I pull in a sharp breath and massage my temples. My head is pounding. I’m about to sell my soul to the devil, but what choice do I have? They basically own Juliette and Anastasia right now. “Fine. We’ll discuss it with her, but I make no promises. And if we do go to the ball, I don’t have to stay through the Meet the Family round. I can back out of the show anytime I want after the ball.” Jeremiah opens his mouth to argue, but I cut him off. “You wouldn’t be meeting the twins’ family on that episode anyway, just my dads. And Sebastian is looking for an actual wife. He’s better off keeping women he’s genuinely interested in around. It’s better ratings for you when the couples stay together in real life.”
That stops him. He closes his mouth and narrows his eyes at me. I hold my breath while I wait. “Only if Sebastian sends you home,” he negotiates. “You stay if he wants to keep you around.”
I glance at Sebastian. He shrugs at me. I can’t tell what he means by the gesture. I want to argue, but I know I’m not going to get a better offer. I slump back in my seat with a huff, giving into the compromise.
Jeremiah drums his hands on the table. “Excellent.” He’s all unctuous smiles again. “If there’s nothing else, we all need to get back to work.”
“One last thing,” I say as people start getting up. A flash of annoyance crosses Jeremiah’s face, but he stops and bites out a “Yes?” through a tight smile.
“My clothes come from my own closet. No one is picking out my wardrobe except me, and the only people finding gowns for me is my dads.”
“Done!” Andrea says quickly. “Makes our jobs easier, and your fathers know their way around dresses. We trust you’ll look great. We’ll let you call home and get your affairs in order before we take your phone.”
There’s a moment of silence, as if everyone’s afraid I’ll keep making demands. When I don’t, the meeting breaks apart and everyone hurries off to get back to whatever it is they’re supposed to be doing.
Juliette and I sit there, both a bit shell-shocked, and share miserable smiles. “I’m sorry,” she says.
I wrap her in a hug. “No apologies. I’m glad I can help.”
She sniffles and hugs me back. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Give everyone big hugs for me when you get home. Especially Rich. Tell him I’m praying for him.”
Juliette wipes at her tear-crusted cheeks. “I will.”
“Go find Ana before she burns the mansion down or something. I’ll come help you pack in a bit.”
Juliette runs off to find her sister. Once she’s gone, I suck in a sharp breath through my nose and rub my hands over my face. I’ve just given up my job and my privacy, and as much as I love watching the show, I do not want to be a contestant. Especially not for a man like Sebastian. We have nothing in common, and our personalities clash. Why in the world did he want me on the show?
Feeling eyes on me, I look in his direction. I’m not sure why he’s still here, but he’s watching my every move. I glare at him. I really kind of hate him right now. This was his idea. If he hadn’t said anything, the producers would have backed down. They couldn’t risk Brian and Ella’s wrath. Especially not if the show isn’t doing as well as everyone thinks it is. They would have released the girls from their contracts. Instead, I’m about to sign the next two months of my life away, plus however many future publicity stunts they’ve no doubt added to the contract.
Sebastian and I break our stare when Andrea places a hand on my arm and James clasps his hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. “Come on, you two,” James says. “Sebastian, we’ve canceled your dinner with Juliette. We’ll have you join the other women for the evening instead. I’ll let you explain the situation to them and spend a little extra time with them before the rose ceremony tonight. Vivian, you’ll officially join the cast tomorrow morning, but we’ll need to get some footage of you first. All of the contestants made short introduction videos.”
I sigh. This is going to be the longest two months of my life.
“Quick and painless,” James offers.
I don’t believe that for a second.