The Billionaire’s Fake Marriage

*****

After the lunch, the team reached Janet’s penthouse.

“This place is lovely!” Brian paid his compliments looking around.

“Thank you. Please make yourself comfortable.” Janet took off her coat.

Rebecca quickly pulled out her briefcase that contained all the document. She started spreading them on the table before Brian.

Brian checked the documents and found that they already had Janet’s signatures.

“All we need are your signatures and we begin right away.”

“Marvelous!” Brian picked up a pen while reading the documents.

“This, is a standard non disclosure agreement.” Rebecca started explaining the documents to Brian. “It makes sure nobody talks about this arrangement outside this group.”

“Understood.” Brian signed on the papers before Rebecca could say another word.

“Would you like to discuss these documents with a lawyer?” Janet asked.

“Oh don’t worry, I am a lawyer!” Brian said signing another document.

Suddenly, the floor disappeared under Janet and Rebecca’s feet. They did not know anything about this Englishman being a lawyer. Together they looked at Kitty for an explanation.

“Fu*k!” Kitty said to herself as Janet and Rebecca’s eyes pierced her soul.

“So, what else? I guess you might have also prepared some sort of a liability contract.” Brian’s eyes searched for the said contract on the table. “Aah, there it is.” His sharp eyes picked up the right stack of paper.

Janet did not like it a bit. This man was too smart for this arrangement, but they had already entered the arrangement by signing the non disclosure agreement, and now it was too late to back off from this deal.

Reading the liability agreement, Brian quickly signed both the copies.

“This is some good paperwork. I tip my imaginary hat to you madame,” Brian complimented Rebecca as he looked at all the remaining paperwork on the table.

“And what do we have here?” he started reading another document, “Pre-nuptial agreement? Smart! Though there is no possibility of us getting married, but this.. is smart.”

With another quick signatures, Brian moved onto the next set of papers.

“Okay!” he read. “So I will have to pay 3 million US dollars to you if I fail to follow the given instructions.. Phew!”

Janet was sure that Brian would try his best to get out of this one, but she was in for another shock.

“Alright! I hope this is the last one,” Brian said while he signed the document.

Janet, Rebecca and Kitty were surprised to see Brian signing the last document without any opposition. “You did not have any problem with the last one?”

“The one with 3 million dollar fine?” Brian chuckled. “Naah! It’s actually fair that you are protecting your interest, and I respect that.”

Janet heaved a sigh of relief.

“But, there was a problem in that contract. You forgot to define the instructions specifically. There are so many loopholes a smart man could take advantage of. So in a way, that last one was kind of useless.”

With a fake smile, Janet turned to Rebecca who had “Fu*k!” written all over her face.

Kitty on the other hand could see what this man was capable of.

“So I believe we are lovers now. At least by this paperwork!” Brian smiled at Janet. “Anything else?”

Janet looked at Rebecca and Kitty and shrugged after they did not remind her of anything else.

“Good! I am off to bed then. If you would please direct me to the room I am supposed to sleep in.”

Janet pointed towards one of the rooms.

Brian stood up and smiled at all three of them. “Thank you ladies. I shall see you after my nap. I will bring my stuff in the evening. Enjoy your afternoon.”

Nobody spoke a word until Brian entered the room and closed the door behind him.

“What the fu*k was that? I thought you said that the paperwork was air tight! He just laughed in our faces reading your last contract.” Janet quietly burst out at Rebecca.

“Sorry!” was the only thing that Rebecca said.

Janet waited for her to say something else, but Rebecca made sure not to make eye contact with her.

Frustrated, Janet then turned to Kitty who knew her number was up.

“And you forgot to tell us that he is a fu*king lawyer? How did that happen?”

“My sources failed to mention it to me.” Kitty lied through her teeth to save herself. She knew if she would tell the truth right now, a lot of things would unfold.

“Did you know what just happened here?” Janet asked Kitty. “We were thinking this was a gullible man who was doing it only for money, but now I think we are dealing with somebody who is smarter than my lawyer and assistant combined.”

Rebecca wanted to say something but she remembered that she was in no position to do so.

“What else is he hiding?” Janet looked at Brian’s room. “Now I have a complete stranger living in my house and I am not sure whether I have control over him.”

“Don’t worry, we will fix this.” Rebecca tried to calm Janet down.

“And how exactly are you going to do that? Please tell me.”

Rebecca had no answer at the moment, but she quickly thought on her feet. “We must look into his background. I am going to hire a PI to run a thorough background check on him.”

This alarmed Kitty. She knew a background check on Brian would reveal everything about him and it would open a can of worms.

“Are we sure we want to do that?” she asked Janet and Rebecca.

“Why not?” Janet asked.

“Well, by running a background check on him, we are involving a third party into this arrangement. And so we will be increasing our risk of getting exposed. What if Brian’s information lands in wrong hands?”

Kitty had a point, but Janet really wanted to know who this man really was.

“Alright, lets keep it open for discussion for some other time. Right now, I want to get some rest.”

“Do you want us to stay here?” Rebecca asked.

“No! I can take care of myself. You guys go home.”

Kitty and Rebecca exchanged glances before getting up.

They all bid each other farewell and soon Janet was all by herself in her main hall.

“Who are you?” she said looking at the closed door.

*****

Brian and Janet stood together by the pier in the golden hour. Janet was looking at the horizon while Brian seemed a little confused.

“May I ask why are we here?”

“It’s a part of our public appearance,” Janet replied.

“I thought it would have photographers and some people asking us questions.”