Fake Marriage, True Love

Chapter 3

Father glanced at his secretary, as if telling him that he wanted to know more about this Mr. Livinston. I bet he was aware that Nikolai was a police officer and an heir of the Williams or probably also the Livinston family, however, knowing him, I knew he wanted to get to know him further to see if he could be of any use. Well, that was just how my father was.

“Why a police officer?” he asked, glancing in my direction. “I hope you are aware that Mr. Livinston is one of those police officers who does not bend their knees for the likes of us.”

“That is also one reason why I want him, father. He won’t be easily fazed when he faces anyone. He would be able to protect me like what you have been doing since I was born.”

Father was obviously not convinced just yet. Turning on his back, he said, “I will think about it tonight. If he meets my standards, then I will make the proper arrangements.”

I almost squealed since that only means that I still had a chance to get his approval. Either way, I ran to my room to look up about Nikolai, only to realize that my phone was not with me. Geez… Why did I only notice it now? Looking for it for a few minutes without even seeing its shadow, I eventually gave up and shrugged it off since I could always have her father buy another one. Switching to my laptop, I entered the full name of Nikolai in the search bar.

“Whoah…” I muttered in almost a whisper as I stared at the only result that came out. “His information is too limited.”

The only thing that was in there was that Nikolai was the top of his class in the most prestigious college in the country. Well… He was more intelligent than I thought him to be. I wonder if he would also be good when it comes to business… I mean, if he were to become my father’s son-in-law, he had a chance to become the next leader of the group.

Scrolling further, the only other person mentioned in his profile was Daphne Levius. From what that man said earlier, she was the mother of Nikolai so I also searched her up and my, oh my. Unlike Nikolai who only had one result, hers was a lot and most of them were about scandals with other men and her disappearance. Seeing that Nikolai was like God Apollo, it was no surprise that his mother was a beauty… A troublemaker beauty, to be exact.

And to think that she had the CEOs of the Oceania Hotel pursue her was beyond amazing. Either way, the relationship of Nikolai’s parents seemed more than complicated. And I wonder if they would like me as their daughter-in-law.

After a while of going through the news articles about her, the unfamiliar word that Nikolai mentioned back in the bar suddenly crossed my mind. What was that again? Orgy, right? Yeah… I think that was the word.

Having no idea what it meant, I also looked it up while I was at it. Upon pressing the ‘Enter’ key, a scream immediately escaped from my mouth upon seeing several nude pictures of about more than four people doing it in one place.

“Damn you, Nikolai!” I yelled, keeping my eyes shut tight as I fumble over my laptop and pressed the shut off button.

Yikes! What did I just see? And… And was that the thing that Nikolai thought when he found me there? Yucks! Gross! I would never do such a thing, especially when I do not even know those men.

While trying to forget about it by keeping myself busy with some books, I was interrupted when the telephone suddenly rang. Answering it, a familiar voice was on the other side of the line.

“Nikolai?” I asked to confirm if it was indeed him.

“You left your phone here in the station. Come and claim it tomorrow or I will look into it,” he replied.

I scoffed. “That is already an invasion of privacy… Sir. You are a police officer so I know you are more aware of that. Anyway, where will I claim it and what time?”

“Just anywhere and any time.”

Before I could even ask him for the specific since his answer was nothing but nonsense, however, he already hung up. The nerve of that guy! But wait… I must keep it together since I will be asking him for a favor later on… A big, big favor.

Hence, the very next morning, I left the house early and personally went to the mall all by myself for the first time… I mean, for the past few years, my assistants were the ones who had been buying the things I needed and bringing them back to the house so yeah… I never really went out that much aside from going to campus before. It only showed how protective my father was… Probably because he was one of the prominent mafia lords so he feared that I might be taken away by one of his enemies.

Either way, today was different since I was wearing a disguise. Thanks to that one assistant of mine who was fond of cosplaying, which I was not really a fan of. She did my make-up and even let me borrow some of her cheap clothes so I did not stand out that much.

Anyway, upon entering the mall, I headed to the jewelry shop to buy some rings for me and my husband-to-be. I mean, before any wedding would happen, the proposal comes first, right? I will do just that and when Nikolai says yes, then we will both confront father about it and viola! We will have the grandest wedding ever! I will make sure of that.

“What would you like to buy, young miss?” one of the saleslady asked upon approaching me.

“I want a ring for my proposal,” I replied. “I want it to be something simple but elegant. And expensive, of course.”

“Y-Your proposal?”

The saleslady looked at me with an unsure gaze and the tone of her voice sounded like she was not believing the words I said.

I raised an eyebrow. “Yes. Is there something wrong with that?”

She shook her head and led me into the shop. She showed me several rings, even their most expensive ones but none of them really suited my taste. I did not really want to buy anything but since I wanted to propose to Nikolai as soon as possible, I just bought the most expensive one and left. I was even unsure if the ring would fit Nikolai’s finger. Oh well, we still have some time in the future to have our rings personally made so this would do it for now.

I drove to the police station and just when I was about to ask where Nikolai was, I heard his voice from behind. Turning on my heels, I saw him wearing some casual clothes instead of a uniform. Even before I could announce my presence, his gaze settled on me so I waved at him. He showed no reaction. He simply continued talking with the other female police officer, making me roll my eyes.

After a while, he approached me.

“What is with that get-up? Are you posing as someone else or–”

I did not want him to speak another word just yet so I covered his mouth with my hand.

“Shut up for now and listen to what I have to say. So… I very much hope that you remember how I begged you the other day to not get my father involved in the matter, right? I even offered to get tested to prove that I was not taking drugs and my friend can testify that I was not selling any drugs either. Do you remember?”

He slapped my hand away before nodding.

“So here is the thing… Because you did not listen to me, I really got into this serious trouble so yeah, I am dragging you into this not out of revenge or grudge, but for you to take responsibility for your own actions.”

“Little kid, I do not care if you are grounded-”

“Listen to me first!” I yelled, which somehow caught him by surprise since he flinched a little. “I am not yet done talking to you so you do not get to call me that. Anyway, where was I?”

Pausing for a while, I took a deep breath and remembered what I said last.

“Right, right… As I was saying, you should take responsibility for not listening to me at all. And by that, I mean…” I took out the blue box from my purse, opened it right before, and added, “You must marry me as soon as possible.”

After I said that, a deafening silence followed. I probably asked him out loud that I could feel the stares of the people inside the station. Oh no… Did I just embarrass myself? Wait… I think I just did! Why did I even go and just propose to him right here? I… I should have chosen a more isolated place… And… Why did no one tell me that it was actually embarrassing to propose? I mean, it looked so natural in movies.

For a while, Nikolai just stood across from me with his eyes glued to the ring before his gaze finally met mine.

“No,” he said bluntly before putting my phone in my purse and walking past me.

I heard someone snicker and it was that woman who spoke with Nikolai earlier. I shot her a glare but she simply raised her eyebrow. If only I had some time to fight her, I could have lunged and pulled on her ugly hair. But instead of doing that, I rushed out of the station and saw Nikolai getting into his car. Running in his direction, I held the door of his car and looked at him.

“I won’t take a no for an answer, Mr. Livinston! Like I said, you will take responsibility!”

“A no is a no, little kid. You should just go and ask your father’s men to marry you. They might be able to tolerate that spoiled ass of yours.”

Surprised by what he said, I let go of the door and simply watched him drive away with a pang of pain in my chest. I… I was never told something like that in my life.