THE CEO'S FAKE WIFE

Old Or Young

"Are you sick?" Beatrice put a hand to Luke's forehead, checking if he had a fever or something.

"Don't touch me!" Luke snapped, jerking her hand away from his face.

She took a deep breath,

"What's wrong with people these days? Why don't they see marriage as something sacred anymore? You and my father, you guys are the same!" she snapped then got up from her seat and walked quickly to her suitcase to get her make-up bag.

"Me and your father? So we had something in common? What was that mean?" asked Luke followed her inside and stood next to her.

"Oh forget it! You don't need to hear any further! I'm busy anyway!" she babbled, her hands were busy putting sunscreen on her face. She had to get out of there immediately if she didn't want to go crazy like the man next to her.

Luke whistled,

"Okay, looks like you've forgotten your apology, I'll sue you legally then, that's fairer isn't it?"

Beatrice glared, her hand that was busy putting lipstick on her lips immediately stopped moving, "You're really annoying! Okay fine! What do you want to know?!" she snapped in annoyance.

Luke grinned, his puffy eyes narrowed questioningly.

"My question earlier was why did you say that your father and I were the same?"

Beatrice took a deep breath, "My father wants to marry me to an old fart businessman just because he has a debt he couldn't pay, isn't he the same as you? You suddenly proposed to me for no reason," she said grimly.

Luke frowned, "So you'd rather marry that old fart than a young man like me?" he said in disbelief.

Beatrice was silent, secretly in her heart she confirmed Luke's words, but she bravely looked back at him.

"Because marrying you won't solve my problems and my dad will end up in jail anyway," she said tiredly.

"I'll pay off your father's debt. But you have to marry me. A two-year contract, after that you are free," Luke said as if he was bidding for a car in the showroom, light and carefree.

Beatrice looked at him uncertainly, "You said that because you don't know how much my father owes that old banker," she muttered, her intonation sounding disdainful.

Luke snorted with laughter, "You underestimate my wealth? So how much does your father owe that nasty banker?"

"Nasty banker? It's really nice to hear someone call the old fart with a name like that, well okay, you really wanna know how much it is? It's twenty million fuckin' dollars!"

"Okay just considered it done, so the answer is 'yes' right?" said Luke with his eyebrows raised high, his arms folded across his chest.

Beatrice snorted, "You think it's that easy? I don't even know why you suddenly want this kind of ridiculous marriage contract, explain to me why you want me to be your wife this soon?"

Luke took a deep breath and sat on the bed, "So in short, my father will soon step down from his position as CEO of our family company, but he will only give the position to me if I'm married already," he said casually.

Beatrice frowned, "That sounds so ridiculous, but why would he make that silly condition for his son?" she asked curiously.

"I don't know, but it looks like this is a competition about who deserves to get that position," he replied curtly.

"Competition? Do you have any brothers?"

"If you want to know more, you have to answer my offer first," Luke said as he got up and walked over to Beatrice who was standing speechless in confusion.

"Do you want to marry me? I mean to be my contract wife?" he asked with a hopeful look.

"Why me? Aren't you upset about what I did earlier?" asked Beatrice suddenly.

Luke snorted laughing, "You must have thought I was going to give a romantic answer as I fell in love with you at the first sight or that kind of stuff, but my reason is that you seem like someone who doesn't fall in love easily, I need that kind of woman to be my partner."

"Well I'll think about it first and give you the answer as soon as possible, now I have to go, there are many places I need to visit," slurred Beatrice not wanting to look like she was expecting too much from that offer.

"Really? Come on, how hard is it to say yes or no!" said Luke, stretching out his arms to prevent her from leaving the room.

Beatrice didn't care, she grabbed her bag and pushed through Luke's hand, and walked towards the door.

With an uneasy feeling she walked down the stairs, everything felt like a dream to her. Marrying someone like Luke might indeed be the answer to all her prayers. Didn't it seem like marrying a young man like him a thousand times better than marrying the old fart banker like Gary Martin?

When she reached the front of the inn she began to feel stupid because she had forgotten to put on her coat.

With a huff she went back into the inn, rubbing her hands coldly.

But on the stairs, she met Luke who was running down fast.

"What are you doing? Why are you running like that?" she asked curiously.

Luke held out something to her hand, "Your coat," he said flatly.

Beatrice accepted it hesitantly, "Why did you bother running down the stairs just to deliver this coat to me?" she asked suspiciously. To be honest she was a little flattered by Luke's concern for her.

Luke leaned forward, observing the look on her face up close that made her hold her breath in nervousness. "Do you think I did it because I care about you?" he hissed appraisingly. "Hey, weirdo! You're not thinking that way, are you?" he repeated again, waving his hand in front of Beatrice who stood frozen.

She didn't know why but she chose to lie and said "I was just worried for a second that you might fall in love with me or something because you're not my type at all," she said casually, she put on her coat and walked back to the door.

"Wait!" called Luke as he ran after her hurriedly.

"What else now?" she asked without looking at him.

"I want to join on your stupid tour," he said breathlessly.

Beatrice looked at him in surprise. "What? Why?!"

*****