"I think there's a mistake." Kim stood to her feet sharply. "I'm Kim!"
"Why would you choose this woman, she clearly had nothing to say, what has gotten into you?" His father banged his hand against the table aggressively.
"I got this email, I was supposed to get married to you! Are you just going to send me back like that?" Kim sounded like she was about to burst into tears.
"She's right. I don't understand how there was a mix up in the first place but sending her back is not the right option!" Their dad argued.
"I'll marry her then."
Silence filled the air and everyone turned to look at the owner of the voice, Adrian.
"What? Two marriages at once, it's not like I was ever going to find a wife anyways." He shrugged, unless of course, she has a problem with that." He was talking like marriage wasn't a big deal.
Kim eyed this nerd looking man. Sure he was tall with a few captivating features, still he looked so boring. But he was a Dalmian, too. It was him or nothing.
"I don't." She sighed in defeat and took her seat.
"So it's settled. Wait outside ladies, we will discuss in private." Their father said.
Lily and Kim stood to their feet. Lily swallowed when she caught Kim's glare. Something told her this woman would not like her.
"How did you get the email?" Kim folded her hands across her chest once they were out of the office.
"I don't know." Lily sighed, reaching for her ringing phone in her purse. "Excuse me."
"Mama Johnson, you will not believe what happened to me today." Lily did not miss any single detail, from the stains on her gown, to Kim's presence and getting married in two days.
"I can't believe this!" Mama Johnson gasped.
"Neither can I, isn't it fishy how rushed the…"
"All of my dreams have come true just like that!" Mama Johnson squealed.
"Seriously mum?" Lily rolled her eyes. "Applying for this was a mistake in the first place. Did you skip the part where I said his father hates me, or that the wedding is fucking two days away!"
"You are not saying no though, are you?"
"I don't know." Lily sighed.
"If you are making stupid decisions, pray you die before I see you again. Your sisters and I will inform our extended family and we can help you prepare." She warned her.
"Miss Johnson, miss Wilson?" Louise interrupted from behind. " You can go back in now."
"I'll call you back mum." She sighed and hung up.
"You did read the terms and conditions right?" Their father wanted to know.
"I did." Lily lied.
"Good so you know, you agree to getting married in two days."
"Yes sir."
"Our team will send you some assistants, they will take you wedding shopping, and fitting. Inform only your nuclear family, they deserve to witness it. Afterwards, our drivers will book a hotel for you…"
"Dad, we have twelve rooms, why do they have to stay in one hotel?" Adrian raised his brow.
Lily swallowed. That meant the family lived together and she would have to see their father everyday.
"I don't…" He began but sighed in defeat. "You will stay with us at the house."
"Go ahead." Roman nodded at Louise. "We can all head back to our various works and get things done." He gave Lily one last look before dismissing them. It was hard. It was hard to read this man and the thoughts he had going on.
She wondered if he ever smiled. He was nicer when he had stained her gown but even then, he'd had a stern look. When she saw the corner of his lips lift into a smirk, she realised that she had been staring at his lips. She looked up to meet his gaze and then she looked away sharply, holding her breath, "see you later then." She said and followed Louise and Kim out of the office.
"I'm sure you girls are super excited." Louise beamed.
"I'm kind of nervous." Lily admitted with an awkward laughter, oblivious to the turns they were taking on every step.
There was a driver waiting outside for them and they were escorted to the door by three men in similar suits. Louise waved them off at the exit and only one of the men went in the huge black jeep with them.
"Hi, I'm Anna, I'll take it from here. I'll be in charge of your fittings and shopping, nice to meet you ladies." A cheery voiced brunette with a high ponytail called from the passenger seat.
The driver took them to a bridal store twenty minutes away.
Lily was taken by awe at the sight of the expensive, beautiful gowns and she thought, maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.
*
By evening, they had selected and fit the gowns to their sizes and were now heading to the mansion.
Kim had chosen a short body hugging gown. She couldn't believe how quick her dreams were coming true. She had no interest in the man she was about to get married to. The only thoughts that flowed in her head was that she would be a Dalmain in two days, and her career was going from zero to a billion.
Lily watched as they drove past busy cars and roads. She pulled her phone out to call her sister. She had not planned on not sleeping at home and she didn't want her cats to be lonely. Good thing the wedding was on a Sunday, that way she could go back to work and everything would be fine.
Lily gasped at the sight of the mansion in front of her. It looked like the scene from a Hollywood movie.
There were tall grasses neatly shaped and trimmed, lining the path that led to the entrance.
"Are you seeing this Kim?" She whispered to her colleague' taken by awe.
Kim stared at her with irritation and didn't respond.
There were maids waiting for them in the living room - one of the living rooms.
Anna said her goodbye from there and the maids took it forward, showing the girls to their bedrooms.
Lily expected that the men were not back from work yet but if this was their home, then it was no surprise why they lived together. It was heaven here.
The couches looked like they were too expensive to sit on, everything smelled so elegant and flowers lined almost every part of the house.
They took a flight of stairs to the second floor and each lady was given a bedroom to herself, rooms side by side.
"Thank you-" Lily leaned forward to read the name tag on the maid's uniform. "Elizabeth."
"Of course ma'am. If you need anything, just ring room service." Elizabeth pointed to a telephone on the desk and took her leave.
Once the room was empty, Lily took it as her cue to bounce on the king sized bed with at least eight pillows. It had cream coloured sheets and a golden headboard.
The room had black marble floors and the walls were painted white, not one stain on them. The ceiling to floor curtains shielded a window with the view of the garden and there was an empty closet across from it.
When she'd had her satisfaction with looking around, she did a video call with Mama Johnson and her sisters who could not stop screaming.
"Bitch, how has your life changed in just one day? You are literally getting married to one of the world's most famous people, are you kidding me right now?" Her oldest sister, Amy, commented.
"I know right?" Gaby said. "For once, boy, am I glad to be your sister!"
Lily wanted to respond when a knock came on her door. "Come in?" She said with doubt.
It was Elizabeth. "Dinner is ready, miss." She informed her.
"Look who is giving queen vibes." Gaby chuckled. "Tell us when we will be coming over."
"Thank you Elizabeth." Lily called and turned to look at her phone, "someone will come pick you up tomorrow I think. I'll call you later, I don't want to be late for dinner." Lily teased and got off the phone.
She was halfway down the hall when she thought it would be a good idea to change her outfit for dinner. She had another gown in her bag that Anna had gotten for her.
Turning around, she made her way back to 'her bedroom'.
She opened the door and closed it behind her.
She gasped when she saw Roman standing in the centre of her bedroom shirtless. He seemed to be changing out of his clothes.
He cocked one eyebrow upwards, his blank face in place.
"What are you doing in my room?" They said simultaneously.
"Your bedroom?" Lily looked around, wearing a look of confusion. Her face dropped in realisation, she was standing in his room."Oh my goodness, I'm not used to these halls yet so I-" she stopped, taking steps backwards after realising that he was taking steps towards her."Wh- what are you doing?" She swallowed."You didn't tell me the interview you were heading for was to be a wife." He said in a low bass voice."You didn't tell me you were the interviewer either." She tried to sound unaffected by his words but her voice was breaking her heart and deserting her.Something about him just seemed to terrify her. Was it his higher class? Or his expressionless
A knock on the door interrupted and Lily wondered what the hell had just happened.Roman pulled away slowly and cleared his throat before proceeding to speak, "come in." He called with a look of doubt on his face.It was another maid.Lily doubted she would be able to keep up with so many people."Your sister is here, sir." She announced.Roman shrugged. Emily was a celebrity. Not that the rest of them weren't famous, but she was in the entertainment industry and she was always away working."The whole family will be here for the wedding?" Lily wondered.
The security men seemed to hold him back like he had done something wrong until Fred stood from where he was seated and chose to intervene. "Hey, what's happening over there?"One of the security men came by his side and whispered a few things into his ears.After a few seconds, he pulled away to talk to Kim, "this man here claims to know you or something like that?"It was evident from his tone that he wasn't a fan of things like this happening."Yes, he's my older brother." Kim lied, glaring at James and hoping he would play along.James knew that whatever was going on, the only way he could get to talk to his girlfriend was if he played along
After the ceremony, when Adrian had gone to attend a meeting, Kim had hurried to seclude James from the rest of the party, not wanting to raise any suspicions.She knew Fred was not happy with her on this and she especially didn't want to get on his bad side. It was bad enough she had paid someone to be her father today, it would be worse if they found out she was in a relationship, or at least used to be in one."What are you doing here?" Kim whispered once they were out of hearing and sight."What am I doing here?" James had bloodshot red eyes. "Kim, you are fucking getting married while we are in a relationship, and you're asking me what I'm doing here? The fuck?""I know things look weird but I can explain." She
Warning: mature.Lily thought she would pass out from the way her heart was thudding, asking to be let out of its cage. For some reason, she couldn't look away from his dangling manhood. She had not been privileged to see one so close up before."My eyes are up here." Roman cut her thoughts short."How do you expect me to look at them when you're naked? What are you even doing here?" She managed to direct her eyes to his."Taking a shower?""Okay but I'm in here?" Lily read the lines out, he was acting so oblivious, it was starting to annoy her."And I'm not complaining?" Roman walked towards a cupboard beside the
Lily took a long bathe and when she went back to the bedroom, she was relieved to find that Roman wasn't there. She didn't think she could face him now after what had happened between them. What had she even been thinking in the first place? Fucking him?She changed into a pair of warm pyjamas and hit the bed, she would go to work as early as possible to avoid him the best she could.*Lily's dreams of going to work early were shattered when she woke up to Roman dressing up. His body was silhouetted so she knew it was still early morning hours. The lights were out except for a few night bulbs.He was doing the buttons on his shirt when she sat up with a stretch."You are going to work with me." He said, not turning around to look at her. He must have sensed her movement and figured she was awake."What?" Lily frowned, breaking her yawn off."You are going to work with me." He repeated, tucking his blue shirt into his pants and s
Roman held her so tight, she began to feel choked but that did not take half of her worries away. She kept shaking him as if her efforts would bring him to wake up but it didn't."Help!" She yelled, thinking she sounded dramatic. But then, what if he wasn't actually sleeping and was having trouble waking up because of an underlying health condition? The thought of it made her even more determined and she called in a louder voice, "help, somebody!"Suddenly, he snapped his eyes open and sprang up.He turned to look at Lily still breathing heavily."Are you okay?" She expressed her concerns. Her face was twitched into fear and her breathing pattern was odd."Should I get you some water or something to drink?" She wondered, attempting to get up and do just that but he held her hand to stop her movements and then he pulled her into a tight hug."Please, don't go." He muttered under his breath.Lily nodded again at his shoulder and p
Kim stepped out of the car to the feeling of warm air. She closed her eyes and inhaled the beautiful scent that accompanied their arrival."Don't you think you are filming too much?" Adrian pointed out, coming down after her.She set her phone down and shrugged her shoulders. She had no interest in having any conversation with this man especially after his behaviour last night and so she just proceeded to meet the rest of the family where they were alighting from their cars. "Coming from someone whose sister films everyday of her life for millions of strangers to see." She muttered.She narrowed her eyes and folded her hands across her chest. "Where's Roman's ride?"The attendants were offloading their luggage from the truck on the other hand.Fred was in a vintage shirt and a pair of shorts. He took his sunglasses off as if that would help him see much better and looked around, noticing for the first time that his son's car was actually nowhere to