I couldn't believe he was sitting in front of me, after all these years. After everything he did to my family that I couldn't forgive him for, ever, he was sitting here with a smug smile on his face like nothing happened.
"Do you two know each other?" Alex asked
I shook my head. "Of course not."
"But he just called your name."
"He must have mistaken me for someone else."
Alex stared at me like he wasn't satisfied with my answer but at least he finally dropped it.
He pulled out a chair for me to sit and took the seat next to mine. I stared at all the food on the table and wondered for a moment if we were expecting more guests because the food I was looking at was definitely too much for seven people.
"So you two got married huh?" Helen began
"Yes, we got married at the courthouse. I brought the certificate along just in case you chose not to believe me." Alex replied, pointing to an envelope on the sofa.
"Okay then. You have fulfilled my requirements so it is time for me to honour my part of the agreement. You will be meeting with my lawyers tomorrow so we can do the official handover and sign all the necessary documents. Well done my son. I am proud of you."
Alex smiled at his father and I began to feel sorry for him. I was pretty sure he had no idea who his father really was or else he wouldn't be in the same room with him.
I zoned out for the rest of the dinner mostly because nobody seemed willing to talk to me and also because I didn't want to talk to any of them. It was hard having to sit through dinner with them but I was glad when it was finally over and I didn't have to look his father in the eye anymore.
"There will be some ground rules you two must adhere to during the period of your marriage." Henry began, shortly after we finished dinner
"What are these rules? " Alex asked
"Firstly, you must remain married for at least five years."
Five what? I just signed five years of my life away to a man I just met today. I couldn't believe it.
"Secondly, cheating in any form and kind is strictly forbidden. "
"Thirdly, you two must live together and share the same room."
I had no idea how we were going to pull this off but I knew I had to try for Alex's sake. I looked at him and saw that he was already sweating so I took his hand in mine and he squeezed it.
"Lastly and most importantly, you must produce a heir within the five year period. "
Did I hear this man right? I need to have a child within the next five years or everything goes to waste.
"Can you give us some time to talk about this?" Alex asked
"Sure, take all the time you need but I need your answer by morning. "
Alex took my hand and led me towards the gazebo outside. He waited until we were alone before he spoke.
"You don't have to do any of this if you don't want to. I'm sorry for dragging you into all of this. I had no idea any of these was going to happen. "
"Five years? I have to spend the next five years of my life married to you? This is completely ridiculous. " I said, tapping my heels on the floor
"I know and I just found out as well if not I would have given you a heads up. I didn't know he was going to do this. I just thought that I had to get married and get my inheritance. I've worked my butt off at his company for years with the hope that I was going to inherit it one day. He told me yesterday that if I didn't get married within twenty four hours, all his properties and wealth would go to a complete stranger that none of us know about. I can't let that happen. "
He suddenly got down on his knees which startled me as I wasn't expecting him to do that.
"Please I really need your help."
I was torn. On one hand, I didn't want to spend the next five years of my life married to a stranger and other hand, Alex really needed my help. I didn't want to be the reason for him losing his inheritance.
"I'll do it."
"You will?"
"Yes but I have a few conditions of my own."
"What are they?" he asked
"I want to open my own bakery. "
"Done, is that all?"
"No, I also want to be free to do what I want. I don't plan on being a full housewife. "
"I understand and I am not going to stop you from working. "
"Good. Now the most important issue is the heir. I don't plan on having kids yet. "
"It's okay. We don't have to discuss it now. We can talk about it later."
"Okay then. I think we can go back inside now."
"Thank you so much for agreeing to do this. You have no idea how much this means to me "
He took my hand in his and led us back to the living room where his family was waiting for us.
"We have agreed to your terms. " Alex said to his father as soon as we sat down
"Great, so we'll meet with the lawyers tomorrow morning to sign all the necessary documents. "
"It's getting late. We need to leave now." Alex said, staring at his watch
I stared at the time on my phone. It was almost nine pm. I didn't realise it was that late.
"Why don't you two spend the night here?" Helen asked
"No" Alex and I replied at the same time
"We're leaving now. See you all tomorrow. " Alex said and led us to the car.
"Why did you say no?" I asked as soon as we got into the car. Dave was in the driver's seat. Apparently, he was Alex's personal assistant and best friend.
"I already told you. I don't like spending time with my family. "
"If you say so." I replied and leaned back into my seat. I stifled a yawn and realised how tired I was.
"You can sleep if you want. I'll wake you up when we get to your place." Alex said and helped me recline my seat a bit.
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't fall asleep in a stranger's car but this was far from normal.
True to his word, he woke me up when we got to my place.
"Oh we're here already." I said, struggling to open my eyes because I was really tired
"Yes but you can sleep a little longer if you want. I'll wait."
"I can't although I want to. Lily has been texting me all day. I need her to know that I am okay and I haven't been kidnapped. "
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Yeah. I'll see you too. Goodnight. " I said, opening the car door
"Wait."
I turned around to face him.
"I almost forgot to collect your number."
"I forgot as well. Here, let's exchange numbers."
He gave me his phone and I typed in my number. I gave him mine and he typed his number in it.
"I'll call you tomorrow. Goodnight then."
"Goodnight." I said and walked towards my apartment. Unfortunately for me, Lily was waiting for me at the door.
"Where have you been? I've been texting you all day. " she asked
"Can I at least come in first?" I asked
"It's your house as well. You can come in if you want. "
"Thank you." I walked in and shut the door behind me.
"Explain yourself. " Lily said as soon as I sat down
"Fine. Sit down and I'll explain everything. "
"I'm all ears."
"So you know how I was supposed to go and get groceries but I came back empty handed?"
"Yes. I'm still wondering what happened so you better tell me right now if you want to sleep tonight."
"Calm down. I'll tell you everything. "
"First of all, you have to promise not to get mad."
"Aurora, what did you do?"
"I did something crazy, very spontaneous and out of the blue."
"Just tell me what you did"
"I'll get to it soon."
"Hurry up, I'm tired of waiting. "
"I ended up in front of the courthouse again. "
"Again? You really need to stop doing this. "
"I know. I'm trying but somehow every time I take a walk, I always end up there. I can't help myself. "
"So what happened today? " Lily asked
"You are probably not going to believe me but I got married today."
"You did what?"