THE CEO'S GORGEOUS MULTITALENTED WIFE

CHAPTER ONE

MIA POV

"Sorry I'm late", I said as I hurry into the courtroom where my wedding ceremony was to take place. The heel of my pointy-toed stilettoes caught on the edge of the carpet, tripping me and sending me sprawling forward.

With a startled yelp, I fell to my knees, then hurriedly got to my feet, ears burning in mortification. Trust my clumsy nature to shine through on the most inopportune of days.

A motherly looking woman gasped and rushed to me. "Are you okay, dear?", She asked.

I forced a smile onto my blushing face. "Of course", I told Melissa Anderson, mother of the groom, and my soon-to-be mother-in-law.

Speaking of...I let my gaze travel around the room, taking note of the occupants. First, my gaze fell on a grey-haired man sitting in an armchair in the corner. Christopher Anderson, grandfather.

He stood, and walked towards me, a wide smile on his face. I wiped my sweaty hand on the skirt of the cute sheath dress I wore to give some semblance of elegant festivity to the occasion. I still couldn't think of it as my wedding. The word left a bitter aftertaste in my throat.

Christopher shook my hand firmly and I vaguely hoped he didn't notice the clamminess.

"It's nice to see you again, Mr Anderson"* I said politely.

The man laughed good-naturedly. "Let's leave that 'Mr Anderson' business behind us, eh? You can call me 'Grandfather' like the rest of the kids." His eyes twinkled. "Afterall, you're one of them now."

I smiled, obliging him. "Yes, Grandfather."

Melissa clapped delightedly. "And you can call me 'Mom' too. Isn't this amazing?"

My plastic smile certainly didn't agree with her, but I swallowed any disagreement. I glanced around the room again, my eyes landing on the only other occupant of the room. A stout, elderly man, most likely the magistrate who would wed me.

I forced my expression to remain neutral instead of scrunching up in disgust the way it usually did any time I was forced to recall the events that led up to this disastrous day.

"Julian's not here yet?", I asked Melissa - Mom - softly.

She looked up at me adoringly. "Not yet. He's stuck in traffic, but will be here soon."

I'd bet my best pair of shoes Julian wasn't stuck in traffic. He was as much an unwilling participant in this marriage as I was. We were both pawns moved about by the wishes and machinations of our families.

At that moment, the door to the courtroom opened. A shiny, patent leather shoe was the first thing I saw, followed by a long, strong leg, and then the rest of the body.

That body.

I let my gaze travel up and down the man's body quickly, before letting my eyes meet his. Julian Anderson. Handsome devil, billionaire extraordinaire. Also, my groom.

"Hello, Julian", I greet dully, carefully smoothing out all expression from my face.

Julian scrutinized me slowly, from the top of my curled red-gold locks, to the tips of my Manolos. Finally, he gave a curt nod.

"Mia. Shall we begin?"

I bit my bottom lip nervously. "Of course."

Without offering his arm or doing anything remotely chivalrous, he strolled confidently towards the Magistrate's table and planted himself in front of it. Melissa smiled at me encouragingly and gestured for me to join her son. I found it slightly hard to believe that such a warm, kind-hearted woman would give birth to the cold block of ice that was Julian Anderson.

Carefully, I picked my way over to Julian's side and stood. Melissa and Christopher stood beside us, there to act as witnesses.

The Magistrate began to drone and I let myself get carried away with a daydream of what I wanted my perfect wedding to look like if I wasn't being roped into this farce.

I wasn't a princess-y kind of girl, but that was exactly the kind of wedding I wanted. One with me in a sparkly gown with numerous layers and an enormous skirt. A twelve layer, twelve tier cake. Crystal glasses. Doves released at the end of the ceremony. I remembered why I was forced into this inadequate replica however, and sobered up.

My grandfather's death had shaken me to my core, such that I moped for weeks on end. He was the only one who'd been there for me throughout my formative years. Losing him to cancer was the greatest blow I had ever taken. His last request to me was a close second.

Marry the grandson of his closest friend, Christopher Anderson.

I hadn't had time to explain to him that Julian wasn't someone I envisaged spending the rest of my life with before he was gone. It turned out, Christopher was also aware of his best friend's request and was on board with it. He'd basically ordered Julian to marry me. Way to make a girl feel special.

I shook myself out of my thoughts long enough to say my vows robotically and sign the marriage certificate. Beside Julian's elegant cursive, my signature looked like the left-footed scrawl of a drunken chicken. I stared down at the simple gold band he had put on my finger. A similar one was wrapped around the ring finger of his own left hand. I had completely forgotten about the rings until the Magistrate asked for them. Thankfully, it seemed Julian was better at preparing for unsavory situations than I was. We neither smiled at each other or said anything other than the vows read to us. It couldn't have been more impersonal.

The Magistrate nodded his congratulations to us and Melissa pulled me into a hug that smelled softly of Chanel.

"How about we go out for lunch to celebrate?", Christopher - Grandfather - asked.

Julian sighed. "I have to get back to work, so that won't be possible, unfortunately."

His tone said there was nothing unfortunate about it.

"Julian, you can spare a few hours to take your wife out for lunch. Your business isn't going anywhere", Grandfather said.

I cringed at the word "wife", then quickly schooled my face back into a smile. Julian looked at me, then his eyes narrowed. I turned my fake smile on him first, then his grandfather.

"That's okay, sir", I said bashfully. "I'm not hungry."

"Nonsense!", Christopher exclaimed. "When was the last time you ate?"

The night before. I'd been too nervous to stomach any real food that morning.

"Uh...just a while ago", I lied. "Just before I arrived."

With the worst possible timing, my stomach chose to growl loudly at that moment. Melissa and Christopher both stared at me and I blushed.

"I ah...think I'm hungry again." One look at Julian's face had me hurriedly tacking on "but I can get something on my own. Really. You all don't have to come with."

"Of course we will", Melissa said. "Won't we, Julian?" She looked expectantly up at her son.

He heaved a deep sigh as though he was agreeing to lunch with the devil and not a sweet girl with a crush on his body but not him. "We will, Mom."

Would you look at that? Julian Anderson was a mommy's boy.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Grandfather snapped his cane against the carpeted floor, making a dull thud. "Let's go."

Lunch was a tense, quiet affair, especially between the two people that mattered. Namely, Julian and I.

Somehow, Melissa and Christopher had managed to weasel a promise out of the both of us to try to make our "marriage" work.

The car ride back to the Anderson mansion where I would be staying for the foreseeable future was even tenser. Immediately the car rolled to a stop in front of the building, Julian turned to me, his face unreadable.

"Can I see you?"

"What?", I asked dumbly, my voice high-pitched.

"A minute of your time, please", Julian repeated. "Now."

Without waiting for an answer, he got out of the car and stalked towards the house. Rolling my eyes at his use of a request and an order in the same statement, I got out of the luxurious Mercedes and hurried after him, cursing his long strides and my impractical shoes.

A hand clamped down my wrist as soon as I entered the foyer, and I whirled around to find Julian glaring down at me. I forced myself to meet his gaze head on.

"What do you want?", I asked rudely, folding my arms across my chest in a defensive posture, for no reason.

"Ground rules", my 'husband' bit out.

I raised an eyebrow, then gestured for him to go on.

"Firstly, we both know I never wanted this marriage."

No s**t?

"I think it's sensible to inform you that there will be no physical relations between us."

"Physical relations? What does that mean?", I asked.

"s*x", Julian replied impatiently. "There will be no sex."

My mouth fell open in shocked mortification. "Excuse me! I have no interest in having s*x with you."

Julian raised an eyebrow. "If you say so."

My mouth dropped further open. How dare he even suggest that I...

"Secondly", he continued, unfazed. "There are no handouts. We work for everything in this family. So if you think you can just waltz in here and spend our hard earned money..."

"Hey!", I snapped, my mood taking an abrupt turn from mortified to furious. "How dare you speak to me that way?", I seethed. "I'm not here for your money. I'm as unwilling as you are to be in this marriage, so why would you think I have an ulterior motive apart from fulfilling my grandpa's dying wish?"

He looked me over. "I haven't accused you of anything, but you're already defensive. If the shoe fits, then wear it."

"Why, you..."

A shocked gasp interrupted what would've been a start to my tirade. Julian and I turned simultaneously to see Melissa and Christopher standing in the doorway, looking at Julian with expressions of horror and disappointment.

"Julian Tyler Anderson!", Melissa yelled. "I didn't teach you to speak to a woman that way, much less your wife!"

Julian looked up towards the ceiling and sighed through his nose.

"Mother, I was only..."

"Apologize to Mia this instant!", Melissa ordered.

Julian turned to me, looking constipated. "My apologies, Mia. That was out of line and I misspoke. It won't happen again."

His apology was as stuffy and pretentious as he was. Stiffly, I nodded, then turned and walked out of the room, trying not to think too much about what Julian had said.

Well, there goes our first attempt to make the marriage work.