365 Days with My Billionaire

CHAPTER 9

ONYX

What was I doing?

I wanted her to walk out that door, tail between her legs because I knew and she knew that she wasn’t prepared for this interview. She barely scaled through my questions and she had no prior experience or certifications.

But she had a backbone.

And I liked that.

Most people were too scared to look me in the eye, especially the employees, but she held my gaze even when I was belittling her.

“I’m sorry, Mr Bradford, I’m really not following,” she said. Bryson was probably more confused than she was because I never gave people second chances, especially with a screw-up as big as Sarah’s.

“Why don’t you sit down and let me explain what I mean,” I offered. Her manicured fingers left the door as she slowly approached the seat she just stood up from like it was some kind of parasite.

“If this is a joke,” she started, settling down. “I can assure you it's not funny. I thought I failed the interview.”

“I don’t joke around, Miss Lane,” I assured her with a straight face.

“Yea, he’s always serious,” Bryson added for good measure and I sent a glare his way. He mouthed a ‘sorry’ with a s**t-eating grin and continued listening to the conversation.

“You did fail the interview.” There was no point in lying to her. I already had my top two candidates in mind and she was not on that list. “But, as I said, I have a proposition that can satisfy both of our problems.”

“Okay?”

“You said the person you care about the most may be sick, right?” She nodded. “An ailing relative?”

“My aunt.”

I felt sorry for her. I wasn’t a cold-hearted bastard. Cancer was a b***h and I knew how badly it affected, not just the ailing person but the family members as well. My grandfather, from my father’s side, died of prostrate cancer when I was still a student at Simpleton, and my grandmother, from my mother’s side, died shortly after that. Their deaths hit me hard because we were close. I was especially close to my grandfather because he always supported me and my ideas, even if he thought they were too risky or made no sense.

He was the first one I told about Renegade and he encouraged me to go for it even though he knew my father would never approve. Unlike my father, he knew that I didn’t want to take over the family business. We were wealthy, but I wanted to make a name for myself without the attachment of my family’s name.

I wish he could see who I’d become now. I bet he’d be so proud.

“I could give you money,” I continued. “Only if you’re willing to do something for me.”

Again, what are you doing, Onyx? You barely know her!

Better someone I knew less than someone I knew well.

“I knew there was a catch,” she said with a ghost of a smile. “No one hands out money for free in this country. What do you propose?”

“I want you to be my wife. You’ll get paid, of course.”

My offer stunned her judging by how her jaw was slacked, almost to the floor. Bryson raised a brow and said. “Nyx, when I said you should hire a wife earlier, I was joking. I didn’t think you would take me seriously. Since when did you start taking me seriously?”

“Since today,” I simply answered. I thought about Bryson’s ‘joke’ back at Coffee Hop and it didn’t sound like a bad idea. All I needed to do was hire someone to be my wife for a while. It would get my parents off my back and out of my business and everyone will be happy. The only problem was who to hire as a wife. I didn’t want to start my search with people that were in my family’s inner circle. My parents’ friends had daughters that would kill to be my hired wife but there was the risk of them running their mouths to my parents. I also didn’t want to hire a complete outsider that I had never interacted with before. I did some digging and some matchmaking sites could help me fulfill my desire, but they just didn't do it for me.

Sarah could be classified as a stranger, but I was willing to take the risk. She was an interesting person.

“You want me,” she pointed to herself. “to marry you? To be your actual wife? For money? Why?”

“I have a problem. My parents are pressuring me to get married and I don’t want to, The simple solution is to hire a wife, which is where you come in. I need you to pretend we are a couple and marry me so they’d be happy."

That was the shorter, simpler version of the story.

“So you essentially want to lie to them?” she said, flabbergasted.

“It’s not lying. It’s called concealing the truth. Besides, the marriage wouldn’t be a sham. It would be documented and signed.”

“Are you really sure about this?” Bryson warned. “You could always think this through.”

For once, Bryson sounded like the voice of reason. But, I was too far gone to actually think about the consequences of my decision. I had already proposed it so it was too late to turn back now.

“Billionaire, Onyx Bradford is asking me to marry him?” Sarah mused lightly. “Usually this kind of thing happens in dreams and very cheesy movies.”

Bryson chuckled. “I like you, Sarah. You’re funny.”

She turned to him and smiled at the compliment. “Thank you. You have a chill aura around you. It’s refreshing to see.”

I cleared my throat loudly, interrupting their ‘bonding’ moment, and steered the conversation back to the matter at hand. “I’m willing to pay you one million dollars if you play your part right.”

“One million? Are you that desperate?”

My desperation was none of her concern.

I didn’t answer her question. “It’s a win-win situation, Miss Lane. You play the part of my wife and I would pay you a million dollars. With that money, you can help your aunt.”

The room was silent as she thought about my offer. She bit her pink lips ad furrowed her eyebrows to the point that I thought they might fall off. I tried to look at everything else but her but it was hard. She was beautiful and even though it had nothing to do with why I chose her, I couldn’t help but feel like my parents would be quite pleased with her. She caught me staring at her and I cleared my throat again. A hint of rose coloured her cheeks but she quickly shook her head and turned serious.

In her situation, she was bound to accept my offer. Human nature was simple: desperate times, desperate measures. There was no way she would say no.

“No,” she finally answered.

What?

“You heard me, Mr Bradford. I refuse to be your make-believe, pretend, hired, whatever-you-call-it wife.”

“Even for a million dollars?” I asked skeptically. Women would kill to be in her position right now and she was saying no?

Unbelievable.

“I don’t know what world you live in, but not everything and everyone can be bought with money. No, I don’t want your million dollars so you can keep it. Do you realize what you’re even asking me to do?”

“Be my wife?”

Sarah rolled her eyes and Bryson whistled. No one has ever told me no before. I never liked that word and it certainly didn't sit well with my spirit. I always got what I wanted, no matter the cost.

“I can’t just be your wife for heaven’s sake. It doesn’t work that way.” Her voice rose slightly. “You don’t even know me. All you know about me is what I stated in my resume and the things I said during my interview.”

“I don’t care about knowing you,” I answered frankly and that made a vein pop in her skull judging by how she had gone from calm to angry. I was probably screwing my chances of getting her on board with my offer, but I was a brutally honest man. “We don’t need to know each other to get married. All we need to do is put on a show for my parents, sign the document and we could continue to live as strangers. You don’t even have to like me. Just play your part.”

What I was proposing to her was simpler than playing chess.

“Don’t be selfish. If I agree to do this, I’d be lying to my aunt as well. I can’t do that!”

“Don’t tell me you’re a goody-two-shoes,” I taunted. “We’re humans. It’s our nature to lie.”

She ignored my jab and asked. “What about love? Don’t you want to marry someone you love?”

In this day and age, people no longer married for love. They married for money, s*x, or power. Simple as that.

I was in love once upon a time, but it turned out to be a big mistake.

“Don’t make me laugh,” I answered with a humourless laugh, “Love doesn’t exist.”

“It does,” she countered. “But I doubt it’ll exist for you owing to your rather rude and condescending nature, Mr Bradford.”

“Ouch,” Bryson remarked.

“I want to marry someone I love. I’ll say it again. I don’t want your money.”

“Two million dollars. That’s the most I’m willing to offer.”

I was treating this like a business deal I wanted to secure. I didn’t want to lose to her because I never lose. She may be stubborn but I had more defiance running in my veins than she did. I wouldn’t be as successful as I was if I didn’t.

It was either my way or the highway.

“No,” she looked at me in disgust. “And my decision is final.”

“But,” I started, but she raised her hand to stop me. “I’m done with this conversation. I’ve overstayed my welcome and my aunt would no doubt be worried about why my job interview was taking so long.” She stood up from the seat and shot lasers directly at me. “This was quite a nice and lovely chat.” I detected the sarcasm in her voice. “Find someone else to be your make-believe wife. I’m not cheap.”

With that, she politely said her goodbye to Bryson and walked out the door, leaving me seething. That was not the ending I planned in my head.

“You’re quite the romantic, aren’t you?” Bryson snorted.

“Shut up, Bryson and call Mrs Wilkinson. Tell her to send the last person up.”