Business as Usual (3 page)

“I’m a proud man,” my father said. “Please,
Lizzie. Don’t make me ask again.”

And that was his plea.
Don’t make him ask
again.
From the sound of his voice I knew the hotel wasn’t the only thing
on the line. “What are you so afraid of?” I asked.

Dad
sighed, and his jaws tensed as he shoved his hands into his pockets and looked
down. “Please, honey? You’re the only person in the world I can turn to right
now. I need you, sweetie.”

My
heart broke when I looked into Daddy’s eyes. The marriage would be a piece of
paper, legal and binding like numerous contracts I signed throughout the week.
Then it would be over. Ethan was in on the plan so nothing would really change,
except marrying Danny would happen later than I originally planned.

“And how long would I have to stay married to
him?” I begrudgingly asked.

“Three years and that’s it, honey.”

Dad gathered the prenuptial agreement from the
table and held it before me.

“Ethan already signed.”

Dad pointed at Ethan’s signature. Was this really
happening? Would I go through with something so shady? Would my father ask me
to do something like this if he weren’t in serious trouble?

I wanted to ask him about his problems again,
but I knew he would never tell me. Dad would not want me to worry about him.
All I had to do was get married and pretend to be in love for three years to
help my father with a multi-billion dollar deal. Thinking about it further,
what was in it for Mr. Yu and his son? Like Ethan said, there were other
businesses he could easily invest in and monitor from China. Something was
going on and I was determined to get to the bottom of it. Just as Daddy’s stock
was beginning to recover, AmeriAsia was on the scene again. The timing was
suspect and Daddy was nervous.

“Fine, Daddy… I’ll do it. But hell or high
water, if this thing lasts more than three and a half years, I’m done. Contract
or not.”

Marrying Ethan would get me that much closer to
the truth. It was a sacrifice worth making for a man who had endured so much
over the past few years. Lies, treachery, and hostile takeovers…he’d been
through it all and was still standing. I was certain he had a plan and would
let me in on it later, I just had to dig up the evidence he needed when the
time was right.

In a fit of excitement Dad pulled me into a
bear hug, sweeping me off of my feet as he spun me around.

“Thank you, Lizzie! You won’t regret this, I
promise baby. I know this is a bit of a sacrifice, but on the plus side, a few
perks comes with the arrangement.”

Dad set me back on my feet and flipped through
the pages of the contract.

“You get $500,000 for every year that you’re
married. You get an additional $500,000 for every male child that results from
the union, $250,000 for

each female child.”

“Dad! You said no one is expecting us to
consummate this marriage. It’s not real, remember?”

“Right, but just in case the two of you…”

“It’s not going to happen!” I snapped. “I’m in
love with Daniel, got it?”

“This business with Daniel Williams is
finished,” said father, tersely. “He’s a threat.”

“The only threat is you!” I snapped. “Just when
I thought we were getting closer, you pull this rabbit out of your hat.”

“I’m prepared to do what I must to protect you,
Elizabeth. And if that means playing hardball to keep Daniel out of the picture
then so be it. The Byron name, our livelihood, and your freedom is on the line.
I need you to understand that.”

“Leave him alone, Dad. He didn’t do anything to
any of us. Stay away from Danny or the deal’s off, I mean it.”

“Okay…okay,” Dad said, backing off. “Let’s get
this document signed and the two of you can head over to the chapel and make it
legal.”

“Wait, you don’t expect us to get married
today?”

“Why else would we have the meeting in Vegas?
Quickie weddings!” Dad exclaimed, rushing toward the door. “You can do it the
day after tomorrow. Okay?” He gestured for Mr. Yu and Ethan to come back
inside, waving them in. The men had been waiting in the corridor for me and Dad
to finish our private chat.

“I have terrific news… Elizabeth has agreed to
marry Ethan,” Dad announced.

Mr. Yu broke into a smile. “Welcome to the Yu
family, Elizabeth,” he said, taking me by the hands.

“Thank you, Mr. Yu. Again, I apologize for my
reaction, earlier.”

“You have no one to blame
… but your father
,”
he winked. “I’m sure you and Ethan will get along just fine.”

I nearly forgot about the man at the center of
our rift. Ethan, who had come in behind his father moments earlier, shrugged
then sat at the conference table, completely unruffled, leg folded across his
lap. He fished around his pocket for a cigar, which he proceeded to smoke in
the room, despite the “No-Smoking” sign on the wall.

While I stood there wondering why Ethan would
be willing to go through with the farce that was to be our marriage, father
called Rick, his assistant, and told him to bring a notary signing Agent to the
conference room. Thankfully, the Concord had a notary office for the various
business deals taking place at the mall.

“
It’s
1:25 and I have
a plane to catch,” Mr. Yu said, gathering documents and stuffing them into his
briefcase.

I wondered why he wasn’t staying for my fake
wedding to his son.

“You’re leaving?” I asked.

Mr. Yu smiled.

“When a young couple in love runs away to elope
in Las Vegas, their parents are not usually part of the process.”

‘If only we were a young couple in love!’
I thought.

Rick arrived with a notary agent twenty minutes
later, long enough for my father and Mr. Yu to witness my signing of the
document. But not before my father left us with a bit of advice. And then we
were alone.

“You are officially on vacation, effective
immediately,” my father said. “Ethan booked a trip…a honeymoon of course, for
appearances sake. As far as I know, you’ll be taking the eleven o’ clock flight
to China with Ethan tonight. I understand a second wedding is to take place in
Guangzhou.”

“I changed my mind about going to China. We’ll
go when Elizabeth is ready. I have something else in mind for our honeymoon,”
Ethan said.

“Would have been nice if you shared those
arrangements with me,” I said. “I’m a part of this too.”  

Ethan shrugged and puffed his cigar like he
didn’t have a care in the world, which really pissed me off. The sanctity of
marriage clearly meant nothing to him, whereas I was completely torn up about
our situation.

“Spend time together like young newlyweds.
Trust me, shit will hit the fan when news about your marriage gets out. The
media will question the authenticity of your relationship.”

“With good reason,” I quipped.

“It’s not a joke,” my father said, looking
serious. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“
Yadda
yadda
yadda
, I get it Dad,
pretend we’re married for real.”

“We will be,” Ethan said.

“On paper,” I shot back. The only man I wanted
to be married to ‘for real’ was Danny.

Ethan and I watched as our fathers left,
leaving us alone in the big empty conference room. If this was a business
meeting, would I have reservations about being alone with Ethan, working
quietly side by side?

Ethan waited until the door was closed then
shuffled the neatly coiffed hair style he’d adopted in his father’s presence
into a mess of hair. He then leaned against the edge of the conference table,
sitting down as he knocked our prenuptial agreement and a pile of other
documents onto the floor.

What were we supposed to say to each other now
that we were getting married? I scraped the documents from the floor and sat
them on the table again, anything to avoid looking at him. Suddenly, Ethan
perked up like he remembered something important.

“I have something for you,” he said, reaching
into the interior of his jacket.

I waited, afraid of what he was about to do as
he dove into his pocket. Ethan produced a small black ring box and extended it
toward me. I shook my head in dismay.

“Really, Ethan… it’s not necessary. Please
don’t,” I protested.

“What’s wrong?” he replied nonchalantly,
popping the box open. I flinched like he offered a pox infected blanket. Ethan
smacked his lips derisively and grabbed my hand, gripping it firmly as he
pulled me close enough to see what was inside of the box. His lips were a
breath away from my face. Suddenly, my heart was in my throat. I was supposed
to be looking at the ring, but instead found myself staring ahead at the lines
of his chest, showing where the buttons parted at the top of his shirt. I was
suddenly acutely aware of his maleness and the all too primitive potential
behind it. What was Ethan like outside of the office?
What if I actually
started to like him?

Resenting my errant thoughts I pretended to
focus on the ring. “It’s really beautiful,” I said, biting down an overwhelming
desire to cry. I’d been imposed upon in the worst way. My actions or inaction
could shape the future of not only our companies, but whether or not Ethan
would stay in America.

“Lau po?
Shenme
shi
?”

“
Wo
mei
shi
(I’m fine)!” I snapped.
“And don’t call me wife. I’m not your wife.”

The musty smell of Ethan’s cigar was stagnant
as he blew a cloud of smoke into the air. I gave him an irate look as he
extended the ring box again. “Put it on,” he said, with a familiarity I
resented.

I finally looked at the ring. It was a gorgeous
crystal clear rose tinted diamond. “It’s beautiful,” I said. “But I can’t
accept it.”

“Why not,” Ethan asked, gazing fiercely into my
eyes.

“It’s too generous. A ring this beautiful
deserves a real engagement.”

 The rose colored diamond was extremely
rare, and also very expensive. Why would he invest so much in a marriage that
wasn’t even real? Ethan sighed.

I found myself gazing at the aquarium on the
other side of the room, looking at the exotic sea fish swimming around the
large saltwater tank. I longed for a life so uncomplicated and simple as
trickling noises from the filter filled the room.

Ethan took the ring out of the box and slid it
onto my finger. The gesture was too much. “What are you doing?” I demanded,
trying to draw my hand away from him.

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” he
smiled, strengthening his grip with a devious grin on his face. “It’s just a
ring, Elizabeth.”

 I rolled my eyes. Why’d he have to be so
cute?

“We
might as well get used to each other” he said. “We’ll be sharing our lives for
a long time.” Ethan leaned close and swept an arm around my waist, drawing my body
close to his. I gave him a look like he had lost his mind despite the
inexplicable heat emanating between us.

“That’s all we’ll be sharing, so don’t get any
ideas!” I huffed.

“I’m not the one with the ideas,” he teased,
“But now that you mention it…”

Just as I pressed my hand against his chest
with enough force to push him away, the door opened and Dad’s assistant, Rick
walked in.  I looked up, almost guiltily, realizing that Ethan was not
only still holding me, but had interlocked his fingers with mine.

Ethan stood about 5’10 with medium length dark
hair that swept his shoulders. In my heels we were almost the same height. His
face showed signs of stubble growing in, and a closer look at his eyes revealed
dark circles. He’d been up all night.

. “Oh, sorry to interrupt,” Rick said. “Your
father told me to grab the audio equipment.”

“No problem,” I answered smoothly, sliding out
of Ethan’s grasp. “We’ll be done in a minute.”

“Cool,” Rick answered. “Congratulations on your
engagement,” he offered.

“Thanks,” Ethan replied. “I’m the lucky one
with such a pretty wife so thank her.”

I hid both of my hands behind my back to keep
from wringing his neck! “We’re, technically not married yet,” I stammered, “but
thank you.”

Ethan was going to make this difficult.
Already, he was so exasperating. Rick left, closing the door behind him with a
promise to come back.

“What was that about?” I asked.

“How can people believe we’re a couple if we
don’t interact with each other? You look so alarmed. The glow of love is missing
from your eyes.”

Ethan was right. If the government caught us he
would be deported and I would end up going to jail for immigration fraud.
Looking like a real couple was detrimental. How could my own father get me
involved in something like this? No doubt he truly believed I could pull it
off. My shoulders sagged.