Chapter 3 - The Secret Agreement
A sleek black Maybach was waiting idling in the private drive beneath the hotel's canopy.
Alexander opened the rear door himself, waiting patiently while Ava stepped inside, before sliding into the leather interior beside her. The dark tinted windows shut out the cold autumn rain and the flashing cameras of the paparazzi who had gathered outside the hotel gates.
Ava pulled his jacket tighter around her wet shoulders, staring straight ahead at the driver’s partition.
"Mr. Sterling," Ava began, her voice trembling slightly. "I... I don't know what just happened in there. Why did you tell everyone I was your fiancée?"
Alexander reached into a small console drawer, pulled out a clean, soft hand towel, and gently handed it to her.
"Because if I told them you were an employee, Damian Cross would have spent the rest of his career trying to make your life miserable," Alexander replied smoothly. "And because I needed a reason to crush him that wouldn't raise questions with my board of directors."
Ava paused, drying the champagne from her forehead. "You want to crush Damian?"
"Damian Cross is an arrogant, incompetent analyst who has been embezzling expense accounts at Sterling North Capital for three months," Alexander said flatly. "My forensic accountants completed their audit yesterday. I was planning to fire him on Monday. Seeing him humiliate you tonight simply moved up my timetable."
Ava looked at him, confused. "But why claim we’re engaged? That’s going to be in the newspapers tomorrow! My boss at Bellmere Events will think—"
"Your boss at Bellmere Events will give you a promotion and a salary triple what you make now," Alexander interrupted calmly. "And as for the engagement..."
He leaned back against the plush leather seat, crossing his long legs.
"My grandfather’s will states that I must be engaged to a woman of honest character before my thirty-fifth birthday in order to retain fifty-one percent voting control of Sterling Global," Alexander explained. "My thirty-fifth birthday is in three months. The board has been pushing noblewomen and heiresses like Victoria Langford onto my desk for a year."
He turned his deep grey eyes toward her. "I don't want an heiress who plays political games. I want someone genuine. Someone who understands what hard work actually means."
"You want me to fake an engagement with you?" Ava gasped.
"Six months, Ava," Alexander proposed, his tone entirely businesslike, yet laced with a subtle warmth. "Six months as my official fiancée. You will live in my Manhattan penthouse, attend three major galas by my side, and help me clear the board. In return, I will pay off your family's debts, give you a ten-million-dollar trust fund, and ensure Damian Cross never works in finance again."
Ava stared at the billionaire sitting beside her. It sounded like a fairytale, or a dangerous trap.
"Why me?" she asked softly. "You could hire an actress."
May you like
Alexander looked out the rain-streaked window, his jaw setting firmly. "Three weeks ago, I watched you stay behind after a corporate dinner at the Plaza Hotel. You spent two hours packing leftover meals and carrying them down to the homeless shelter on 8th Street when you thought nobody was looking."
He turned back to her. "An actress would have taken a limousine home. You have a good heart, Ava. And in my world, that is the rarest asset of all."
