CHAPTER TEN
Lorelei
This whole fiasco feels like a dream, but there is no denying it. The luxurious cars, the furnished penthouse, and the way everyone seems to treat Desmond with respect. Desmond Anthony isn’t the man I thought he was, and I can’t believe that he had truly deceived me.
I listen to him and his friend, sorry, his assistant, explain to me why we need to keep this pretense marriage. According to them, Desmond would be in trouble, and not only him. They try to justify why I shouldn’t get an annulment, and as much as I hate it, they’re both right.
Desmond Sinclair. That is the man I married.
“Why the whole pretense? You were going to be the CEO, no need for you to be working in the dispatch room as an analyst.”
Again, Desmond replies that he needs to know more about Westward Logistics, and he figures out that the dispatch room would be the perfect place to get a grasp of how the company works.
A part of me wished he would say he made that decision for me, but this isn’t a fairytale.
Still, it is difficult to believe that this man, with whom I spent more than a month, is worth several billion.
Sixteen billion, according to a quick internet search.
This is crazy.
I should be angry at him, but seeing him walking up to me, my heart cried out in relief.
I had imagined all sorts of things in the past few days, and seeing that he is safe is nothing but pure relief.
It seems that despite what I think, I haven’t gotten over the fear of the people close to me disappearing, and I had thought that something had happened to Desmond.
The thought of him dying in a ditch or something worse because he had married me plagued me for days, and now, I’m just glad to see he is fine.
Now, we just have to figure out exactly what to do with this.
“This is a sticky situation, Desmond. I didn’t sign up to marry a member of a dynasty.” I point out to him.
“I know, and I apologize again for deceiving you, but you won’t have married me if I mentioned it to you.”
I almost want to tell him he is wrong, but he is right. I would never have made the decision to marry Desmond Sincliar.
Getting married to Desmond might have been easy, but annulling the marriage would be problematic.
Apart from the fact that my life with my grandmother is at stake, I doubt I’d be able to live in peace with the media hounding for a story.
I look at Desmond, the one responsible for this whole mess, and realize that he should be the one to fix it.
Desmond tells me that the cleanest and easiest resolution is for both of us to stay married at least for a while until the whole noise dies down. I laugh at his suggestion, realizing that Desmond doesn’t know how absurd the thought of the two of us staying married sounds.
“You make a good point, but let’s be realistic, Desmond. Do you think anyone would honestly believe that a man like you would want to be with a woman like me?”
Life isn’t a fairytale, and by now, I can assume that the reporters would be digging into everything they can find about me. My stomach rolls at the thought of articles about me filling the internet.
“Leave that to me. I just need you to agree to do this with me, Lorelei,” Desmond says softly, his blue eyes looking at me.
I have never been able to resist those eyes.
Every fiber of my body wants to reject this, but I know I’m tied. There is no way I can refuse his offer, even though I would be stepping into a world I know absolutely nothing about.
“Fine.” I throw my hands into the air, giving up. “I need to go and see my grandma and move her somewhere else.”
Desmond assures me that she has already been moved to the best hospital in the city. I look at him, not sure what I am supposed to say about that.
“Please, it’s the least I can do, Lorelei, and I need you to come to Velhaven with me.”
I laugh at his statement. There’s no way I’m going anywhere with him, but Desmond continues to look at me, and I just give in. Why do I let this man have so much control over me?
“Fine, but I need to talk with my grandmother first. I’m sure she has questions.”
I excuse myself, Desmond leading me into a rather lavish room, a room he calls my room for now.
The whole place is twice my current apartment and the furnishings.
The mirror, the view of the entire city from here.
I have no time to look around the room when I have things to deal with.
My grandmother had heard about the current situation, and she is concerned about me.
I try to assure her that I’m fine, and she tells me that Desmond’s people are taking good care of her.
Somehow, knowing that she is in good hands makes it clear that I can back out. For my grandmother’s sake, I’ll do anything Desmond needs me to do.
She asks if Desmond and I will be coming over, and I explain to her that we need to travel to Velhaven to handle a few things, and we should be back in a few days. I end the call feeling like a fraud for lying to her.
“What is going on?” I ask as I lie on the bed, staring at the exquisite chandelier in the middle of the room.
A knock on the door has me sitting up, and Desmond pushes the door open. He tells me that we need to head over to the airport for our flight to Velhaven.
“Yeah. I don’t know. Is there anything I need to pack?” I ask as he enters.
Desmond covers the distance between us with a few steps. “No, anything you need, I’ll get for you in Velhaven. Besides, I’ve asked that your things be moved here. Yes, I know I didn’t ask, but we can’t exactly live separately now, can we?”
His hands on my shoulders feel electrifying, and images of our first night together pop in my head. I have craved his touch every night since then, and even now, I still crave his touch.
“Separate rooms, though. We might be married in name, but we aren’t in love with each other,” I say, putting my feet down.
He tells me that’s alright, though I sense some sort of reluctance from him.
Of course, I also play with the idea of what a shared bedroom would mean, but for both our sakes, this is the best way forward.
Besides, I can’t afford to get intimate with him or get pregnant, which is why I immediately started using a birth control pill.
I shouldn’t be thinking about sleeping with him!
“Let’s just get going,” I say, rushing ahead, not wanting him to see my flushed face.
Instead of getting into the car, Desmond leads me to the helipad. A helicopter takes us to the airport, where a private jet is waiting for us. I am totally shocked by the experience, and Desmond tells me that I need to get used to this lifestyle now.
I don’t think I can.
On arriving in Velhaven, Desmond is wheeled off into a meeting, and as he prepares to leave, he hands me a black credit card, telling me I need to go shopping while he meets with a friend of his grandfather.
“Once I am done with my meeting, I’ll come find you, then we can go see my grandfather.”
Damian Sinclair. Desmond's grandfather.
I am not so sure that is a good idea, but he hands me over to Timothy, who drives me off to a rather fancy store. Back home, I’d always pass by the luxurious brand's store, never giving it a second thought.
“Do I have to get something here?” I turn nervously to Timothy.
He tells me that I’d have to be presentable as Desmond’s wife and that cheap brands won’t work. My stomach flutters at being called Desmond’s wife, even though I’m not sure exactly what that entails.
Two of the store attendants are already waiting to help me with my choice, and I watch as they bring out the latest items they have.
Most of the items in the store are worth at least six months’ salary, and I find it a bit difficult to make my choice, even when Timothy tells me that I can spend a million dollars here in this shop and Desmond won’t feel a thing.
For someone who spent every day worrying about her finances, spending hundreds of thousands on clothes, bags, and shoes seems just awkward, but Timothy makes it clear that I have to spend at least three hundred grand or Desmond would have his neck.
This is crazy.
Checking out this handbag that is currently worth around fifty thousand dollars, and I can’t help but overhear one of the attendants talking.
“I can’t believe that someone like him got married to her,” the taller one begins. “I mean, I have seen Desmond Sinclair, and he could have done better than her.”
Strangely, I don’t feel angry or ashamed at her words because I know it is true. A man like Desmond Sinclair, who could have thousands of the most beautiful women in the world swooning over him, shouldn’t be married to someone who is plain like me.
“Just mind your business, Tess,” the shorter one says in a harsh whisper.
“Come on, I mean, do you think she deserves him?”
I pretend not to hear, trying to focus on the items in front of me. I have long since grown a thick hide to statements like that. I move away, not wanting to hear anything else she has to say, which is why I didn’t notice Desmond walk in.
“I take it you know me quite well for you to assume that my wife isn’t the type of woman I am attracted to,” Desmond’s loud voice has me turning my head quickly.
Judging from the shock on both their faces, I assume that Desmond must have walked in on them while they were talking about me, and clearly, he didn’t like what he heard.
“No, that’s not what she meant,” the shorter one tries to explain, but Desmond isn’t having it.
“I want to meet your manager,” Desmond fires at the tall one before walking over to me. “I’m so sorry, Lorelei.”
He places his hand against my cheek, gently caressing it. “My meeting took a while to be done, and I can’t believe you had to listen to those women!”
Before I can explain to him that their comments barely mean anything to me, the manager, who is a man somewhere in his late fifties, appears looking worried.
“Mr. Sinclair, I heard about what happened, and I’d like to—” the man begins before Desmond cuts him off.
“I want her fired. She insulted my woman, and someone has to pay for that,” Desmond says as he places his hand on my shoulder. “I won’t take anyone talking about her that way.”
“Sir, we can’t just fire an employee like that,” the manager tries to defend, sweat appearing on his brow.
Desmond looks him dead in the eye and tells him that if he won’t fire the rude employee, then he won’t be purchasing this store any longer, and he would be reaching out to his friends telling them how offended he felt.
“We don’t have to do this, Desmond,” I whisper to him, not wanting him to cause a scene, but Desmond isn’t having it.
He insists that he wants the lady fired, and the manager shifts from one leg to another, tense about the entire situation.
I look at the two attendants, feeling a sense of sympathy towards them.
I know what it feels like to be in a situation like this, and I won’t want to be responsible for anyone losing their job.
“We can end this with just an apology,” I say to the manager, who looks happy at my statement.
“Yes, she’ll apologize right away.” He turns to the attendant, who quickly nods.
“Lorelei,” Desmond asks, and I turn to him, my mind made up. “Fine, but I don’t want you treated this way.”
As much as I am flattered by his concern, this is something I have been dealing with, and I don’t need him to fight for me. The attendant apologizes, telling me she doesn’t mean any insult by her comment.
Desmond asks for everything I have purchased to be packed into the bags, and the attendant, who had almost been fired, quickly helps. I look at Desmond, telling him that he doesn’t need to fire anyone just to protect my honor.
“Fine, but you shouldn’t let anyone speak to you that way, Lorelei,” Desmond says as he holds my hand. “You are the woman I love, and anyone who wants to insult or belittle you should be ready to deal with me.”
I look at him, wondering if he meant what he just said or if he is only saying it because we’re out here in public. I can’t forget that all this is an act. Yes, Desmond is acting like we are in love, after all, we need to sell the idea that he had fallen head over heels for a woman like me.