The Billionaire’s Fake Marriage

“Oh Brian is trustworthy! You can take my word for it. I have known him since my childhood, and can vouch for him both personally and professionally.”

“How did you guys know each other?”

“My father sent me and my brothers to this fancy school in England. Brian was my classmate there. I was a scrawny kid and Brian saved my ass so many times from bullies. We became really good friends since then.”

“Wow! Sounds like a story about two good friends who choose opposite paths in life. One of them becomes a cop, while the other becomes a gangster.” Kitty chuckled at her imagination.

“Which one would I be? The cop or the gangster?” Bilal inquired.

“Well, you just said you were scrawny and Brian saved your ass. So the formula says you must become the cop. Brian, the brawler will be more suited to become the gangster.”

“Brian, a gangster?” Bilal laughed. “That guy has the kindest heart and upright morals. He cannot do wrong to anyone.”

“Then why did he agree to do this?” Kitty wondered, “Technically, it’s fraud.”

“Because he is not hurting anybody by doing this, and also because I asked him to. There is absolutely nothing that we won’t do for each other.”

“Wow, even brothers are not committed to each other that much.”

“We are more than brothers. Brian is a part of my family. He is the only westerner who has the unrestricted access to the whole of our royal palace. My father treats him as one of his boys. And I get the same treatment when I am at his home.”

“I so want to tell all this to Janet, but I can’t. She is going to freak out.”

“Why is that?”

“Because she thinks Brian is doing it for the money.”

“Brian does not need money. He has plenty of his own. His family is filthy rich.”

“Like yours?” Kitty asked naughtily.

“Well, not like mine, but he is substantially rich. Let me give you a hint..” Bilal said in a playful voice. “Brian can buy both CookUp and High Seas together, right away if he wants to. And it’s not going to make a dent in this wealth.”

Kitty was dumbstruck for a moment, “Then why is he doing this? I mean I understand your friendship clause. But how come he has so much time to do this kind of thing?”

“You said it was not going to cost him professionally.” Bilal reminded Kitty. “He will be able to manage his business from the United States.”

“Oh yes, we need somebody rich to prove that our site works. So if Brian is filthy rich, like you tell me, it’s going to be wonderful!” Kitty paused for a moment. “I am just a little worried about Janet. I don’t know how she will react after knowing all this.”

“Who is going to tell her? I know Brian will keep his mouth shut.” Bilal was confident in his friend.

“You don’t know Janet like I do. That woman is a hound — she can smell secrets. I am sure she will find out about it. It’s better that I inform her before she realizes who Brian really is. But it will still take like a month of two.”

“So you have ample time to break the news to her.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Kitty said.

“Then how about after you get Brian and Janet together you and I go for a holiday?” Bilal finally popped the question that was on the back of his mind for a long time.

“I get it, you went through all this conversation just to ask me out.” Kitty smiled.

“Hey, you cant blame a man for trying. You left Neil Island in a hurry, we did not get much time to spend with each other.”

“You know what?” Kitty said. “Once we get Brian and Janet sorted out, and our numbers are up where we want them to be. You and I are taking some time off together.”

“Now that is what I wanted to hear!” Bilal laughed.

“So, tell me, when is Brian going to be here?” Kitty came back to the real conversation.

“Well, give it around a week. He is in Japan right now. So it might take him around 4-5 days to be back in London.”

“Alright, just let me know when he is available for this.” Kitty said.

“I have already talked to him about it and we are meeting in London on Friday. The man is bored to death with work and needs some excitement. This will be perfect for him.”

“I hope this works out for all of us.” Kitty prayed over the phone.

“Insha-allah!” Bilal said.

“What does that mean?”

“By God’s will!” Bilal explained.

“By God’s will!” Kitty said to herself.

*****

“Alright, show me!” Janet sat down in a chair before a projector screen. Kitty and Rebecca sat down with her turning the projector on. Brian’s smiling face appeared on the screen.

“Brian Watson, age 29 years. Born in Prague to a British father and a Czech mother. For most of his life, he has lived in London and keeps traveling around the world.”

The picture changed and now Brian was seen in a Rugby outfit. Soaked in his own sweat and rain, he was smiling with some scratches and bruises all over his face and body.

“He really likes Rugby and cricket. No matter how busy he is, he always takes time for his sports. Also coaches little children.”

The picture again changed and Brian was seen Scuba diving and skiing in two different photographs placed side by side.

“He is into adventure sports and is an expert swimmer. Scuba diving is like cycling to him. Is also in love with traveling, but does not like to travel like a tourist. Most of the places he goes to, he visits as a back-packer. Has visited many countries all over the world.”

“I think that is enough.” Janet took the projector remote and turned it off.

“Hey! I was watching that!” Rebecca did not like it a bit.

“I know what is going on here,” Janet yelled. “You are actually trying to sell him to me as a suitor. Well guess what —- not going to happen!”

Janet was able to see through Kitty’s plan. “Besides, we will just pretend to be in love. There is no need for us to like each other.”

“It’s not going to hurt to know the guy.” Rebecca said. “Look how handsome he is.”

“You wanna try this? Cause I will gladly switch places with you.” Janet turned towards her lawyer friend, but Rebecca remained quiet. She knew Janet was being a bi*ch about it for no valid reason. There was no harm in knowing who Brian Watson really was. In fact, it was going to help them.

“Now tell me,” Janet came to the next point. “How much are we paying him to do this?”

Kitty took a deep breath before saying anything. “We are paying him 1.5 million dollars.”

“That’s a lot of money!” Janet did not like this man to earn so much without doing any serious work. “He will be living a luxurious life. We don’t need to pay him that much.”

Kitty wanted to say a lot, but remained quiet.

“Secrets don’t come cheap, Jan! You pay a man as much as necessary to keep his mouth shut,” Rebecca told Janet.

Janet saw the point, but she did not like it. She was still upset that she was going ahead with this ridiculous plan. “So 1.5 million dollars is our insurance?”

“You can say so.” Kitty replied.

“Good God! Please tell me you at least tried to haggle with him on the price.”

“Since when you became so cheap?” Rebecca asked Janet.

“I am not cheap. 1.5 million dollars is not a cheap price. You can buy a new life with that kind of money.”

Rebecca and Kitty knew Janet was not going to listen to any argument and so they kept their mouths shut. While Janet kept going on —

“We are already spending so much on everything, and now this! And this 1.5 million dollars that he is getting — for how much time is it?”