"Tessa, where the hell have you been?! I've been worried sick!" Austin yelled the moment I got into the apartment.

I looked at him in disgust, wondering how I fell for him in the first instance place.

He was a deadbeat boyfriend who never took the initiative to treat me to something nice. All he had was excuses. He was currently unemployed and was living in the house I paid for, for free. Yet he had the nerve to cheat on me with my best friend.

I felt so dumb for letting myself cry over his sorry ass.

"Get out." I said coldly.

"What?"

"Get the hell out of my house Austin!!!"

"Babe, what's going on? Is there something wrong?" He asked innocently.

Me before yesterday would have fallen for his innocence.

"You have some nerve to stand here and act innocent." I spat bitterly.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I know you're cheating on me with Clarissa you bastard!"

He blanched, face turning white as the tiles in my bathroom.

"How could you?!" I shoved him in the chest when he had gone for several seconds without uttering a word.

"Babe... I - I can explain." He stuttered.

Shaking my head, I pointed towards the room.

"I don't want to hear it. Just pack your things and get out. I never want to see you again."

"Tessa, we can't just throw three years away."

"You should have thought of that before you started sleeping with my friend." I retorted.

"I'll break things off with her I promise. I won't speak to her ever again. We can live our lives peacefully," he sounded desperate.

I did not give a fuck. He could go and live with her for all I cared. I just never wanted to see him again.

I kicked him out of my apartment and threatened to call the police if he kept banging on my door like that.

I didn't confront Clarissa. I expected him to pass the message instead as I blocked both of their numbers.

Surprisingly, I didn't have any tears left to cry. So what I did was make myself a cup of coffee and just sit with my thoughts till I fell back in my bed and slept.

~

Days rolled into weeks and I settled into a soft rhythm.

I went to work, came back and sat on my couch every single day binging movies and series until I slept off. It was a boring life but at that moment I wouldn't have it any other way.

I didn't think about my ex much. In fact, I pushed him to the back of my mind and from what I'd heard via Sana, he was doing just fine going everywhere with Clarissa who was unapologetic about getting him.

I thought of the handsome man from my one night escapade every now and then. I wondered if he thought of me too but then that was most likely impossible. I was not his first rodeo so why would he think of me like I was special or something?

Like always, I discarded the thought, not realizing I was in for a surprise.

~~~

There was a knock on my door on that Saturday morning. I stepped out of the kitchen where I was making breakfast, wiping my hands on a napkin as I approached the door.

I assumed it was Sana because she said she was going to be here to pick up a pair of shoes for the event she had to attend today.

My face paled the moment I saw him.

"How did you find me?" I blurted out immediately.

He raised a brow. "I married you, of course I should know where my wife lives."

"What?"

"You heard me."

I stepped aside for him to come in as my eyes followed him. He was dressed in a designer suit, he smelled of expensive cologne and looked out of place in my small living room.

"Don't tell me we actually got married that night." I said as his words interpreted themselves in my brain.

"We did." He said, unsmiling.

I wanted him to tell me that he was joking.

"You're not kidding?" I asked just to be sure.

"Does it look like I have all the time in the world to crack jokes? This isn't a comedy."

He was the grumpy type that's for sure.

"Gee, you have to calm down." I said with an eyeroll as I leaned on the door. "How soon can we get an annulment?"

"Who said anything about an annulment?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, standing fully on my feet as I stared at him in confusion.

"Let's finish what we started."

"Look, mister..." I trailed off. I didn't even know this man's name.

"Owen Carter." He completed it for me.

"Owen Carter?" I repeated.

He didn't respond. He just stared at me with the same bored expression he came in with.

"Wait, you're the CEO of Carter Groups??!"

"Yes," he answered coolly.

I gasped. My mind was blown.

The company I worked for had been trying to pitch to him for months and we hadn't been able to secure a meeting and now he was standing right in the middle of my living room.

I pinched myself. This had to be a dream.

"Ow," I exclaimed softly.

This was real after all.

"I'm Tessa Hayes," I introduced myself, choosing to maintain my composure instead.

He shook my hand, his grip firm.

"Nice to see you again, wife."

I flinched slightly at the mention of the last word.

"How did this happen?"

"Pretty simple. We were drunk, we found ourselves in the registry and got married."

He brought an envelope out of his suit jacket and handed it to me.

I took it with shaky hands, opened and saw for myself the marriage certificate with our names on it. Stamped and sealed.

"Oh lord." I whispered.

How did I let myself get so reckless?

I turned to him and frantically said, "We have to fix this."

"On that note, I have an offer for you Ms Hayes."

"You said no?! Why?" Sana yelled that evening.

We met up for drinks at a downtown bar and I recounted the events of that morning.

I frowned. "I don't want to be married."

Wasn't that already obvious? It was a spur of the moment thing which was not supposed to happen anyways. I had simply gotten carried away by it.

It didn't help that I could only vaguely remember what happened that night. How did we go from wanting to have some fun to getting married and eventually ending up in bed? I couldn't understand.

Before he left my apartment, Owen sat me down and gave me his offer.

He needed a wife for business reasons. Someone to help him look responsible while he gunned for a deal and also to get his parents off his back for a while.

"Why don't you just pick one of your wealthy friends' daughters or something? Won't I look like a gold digger to the rest of the world?" I asked.

"Ms Hayes, the media can easily be manipulated. Everyone loves a good love story." He said.

I wasn't sure about that but I let him continue.

"You will be duly compensated after one year when we get divorced. And during the time period, I'll ensure you're properly taken care of." He'd said.

I thought about it for less than ten seconds before I shook my head.

"I can't do it." I said immediately.

He rose to his feet. "Don't be in a hurry. Think about it first."

Dipping two fingers into his breast pocket, he brought out his card. The same one he left on the bed side at the hotel weeks before.

"Call me when you've really given it a thought." He said with emphasis.

I took the card and nodded even though I already knew my answer.

Sana's yelling brought me back to reality. She shook me by my shoulders as she spoke.

"It's just one year! Think of the benefits. You're married to one of the most eligible bachelors in America. You can help your company secure the gig and get a huge promotion and by the time you both part ways, you have enough money in the bag to fund the lifestyle you want."

To be fair, the offer seemed tempting. But being in the public eye was not what I wanted for myself. I liked to lurk in the shadows. Which is ironic because I belonged to the marketing department in my company.

"You don't even know how much he plans to give me." I pointed out in my defense.

"It's way more than your annual salary. That's for sure."

"Sana..." I laughed.

"Girl I'm being for real!"

I shook my head. That was not enough to convince me.

"I can already picture your wedding. It's going to be lit." She grinned.

"Technically we're already married." I pointed out with a shrug not minding the ridiculous dreamy smile on her face.

"Even better but there has to be..." she trailed off.

"Oh. My. Goodness." Sana's eyes were as wide as saucers as she looked behind.

"What is it?" I tried to turn but she held me in place.

"Don't look. Austin and Clarissa just walked in."

"What the actual fuck?" I cussed.

I had been doing great without seeing them and now they just had to be here.

"Play it cool. Clarissa's approaching."

I glared at Sana like she was the culprit.

The smell of Clarissa's fruity perfume reached my nostrils as she got closer.

"Hi Sana," she grinned.

Sana forced a smile back. "Hi bitch,"

Clarissa was unmoved by it. "Easy now."

She faced me with a saccharine smile. "Hello Tessa,"

I gave her a once over. She was glowing. She looked happy. All dolled up and ready to gloat about the man she stole from me.

This was my chance to say the meanest things but when I looked at her all I could feel was the sting of her betrayal.

"Ten years. Ten whole years of friendship and you chose to do this to me?" I asked.

I saw a flash of guilt in her blue eyes but it was gone as soon as it came.

She shrugged instead. "It just happened."

"There are thousands of men in this city and the one person you decided to go for was my boyfriend?" I was even more aggravated but her nonchalance.

Speak of the devil and he appeared. Austin was next to her within few seconds.

"Babe, I just got us a table."

"So you're capable of planning dates?" I asked with a sarcastic chuckle.

The last time I saw him, he felt guilty for his actions but now he seemed cocky about it.

"I found a woman who deserved it."

"Yet you were sneaking around with her for the longest time." Sana cut in with a sneer at both of them.

I felt a pang of hurt in my chest. Yes I was over the relationship, it wasn't worth my time anyways but my friendship with Clarissa ending on a note of betrayal was so blindsiding. I would never have expected in a million years. But here we were.

"Oh well. We actually came here to celebrate some good news."

"Austin finally got a job?" Sana said sarcastically.

I fought back a snort. This girl was always so direct.

Clarissa seemed offended. "We're working on that. But..."

She flashed an engagement ring in our faces.

"We're getting married!" She squealed like a little girl.

Few months prior, I would have been over the moon that my best friend was getting married and I would inevitably be the maid of honor.

But today she was telling me to my face with such audacity that she was getting married to a man that was mine for three years.

I was angry. For three years, he never thought to propose, he didn't even plan dates, yet he was doing all that for her in a few months. I was pained that he had wasted my time when he knew I was not the girl he wanted.

With a forced smile I said, "Congratulations to you both. It's wedding season after all."

Sana and I exchanged knowing glances and smiled. "It certainly is." She agreed.

Clarissa frowned. "What's all that smiling about?"

"Oh I'm getting married too."

Austin's smile immediately wiped.

Clarissa scoffed. "Right. Like you could find a man so soon."

"Oh, you'll see." I said, grinning wider.

They definitely would.

I paced my room with the card in one hand and my phone in the other. This was a bad idea.

Why did I have to succumb to pressure so quickly?

Sucking up air, I picked up my phone and called him.

"Ms Hayes," his voice reached my ears. My heart stuttered for a bit.

"I'll do it."

"You'll do what?" He asked.

"I'll be your wife for a year."

"Smart choice." He said smoothly.

"But I have a condition,"

"And what might that be?"

"I want a wedding ceremony."

He went silent for a bit. "Is that necessary?"

"Yes. I know we're already married technically but I have my reasons for wanting a proper wedding ceremony."

"Hmm," he hummed. I believed he was contemplating my condition.

"Is that all?"

I thought about my company's deal. Would it seem like I was being a gold digger if I wanted to make him give us the contract?

I immediately decided against it. Him funding a wedding was enough trouble.

"Yes that's all."

"Good. Hire a wedding planner. Do what you need to and send me the bill." He stated.

"Thank you." I smiled in relief.

"One more thing. Tessa?"

I liked the way my name rolled off his tongue. It was almost endearing.

Focus. I reminded myself.

"Yeah?"

"We're having dinner tonight. See you at seven."

He hung up before I could respond.

That was when it dawned on me that I had just agreed to be fake married to a stranger I had a one night stand with.

My life had to be the prelude of a cliche romcom. Only thing is this was real life and there was no way this would work out.

I thought about calling Sana to let her know about my decision but then I eventually decided that it was best to let it wait until after dinner with Owen. It wasn't finalized just yet.

I went about the rest of my Sunday, rounding up some work that came with me for the weekend.

Catching a break, I scrolled through social media and felt air knock out of my lungs when I saw pictures of Clarissa and Austin on my news feed.

She was announcing their engagement and she had the audacity to tag me! I was seething.

I definitely should have blocked them on all my socials.

I saw that she had locked the comments. Apparently, people who knew about Austin and I commented on their confusion and to save face, she stopped the comments from rolling in.

The downside is that most of these people were sending dms to ask what was going on.

I didn't have it in me to respond so I closed the app immediately.

Sana's call came through just then.

"You saw it?" She went straight to the point as always.

"Yup." I said, popping the 'p.'

"That girl is such a bitch. I can't believe you were friends with her for that long."

"She was there for me at a time nobody else was." I muttered.

"But you should have known when to end the friendship. I saw through her fake ass, as soon as I met her."

Sana has been my friend for two years. Clarissa has been my best friend for eight years at the time. They never really got along and I never understood why. I guess I saw it now but it was too late anyways.

"I'm having dinner with Owen tonight," I said, changing the topic.

"Ooooh!" She squealed so loud I had to take the phone away from my ear.

"Jeez calm down." I chuckled.

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I'm telling you now."

"See you in twenty." She said and hung up.

What was it with everyone hanging up on me today?

Exactly twenty five minutes later, my doorbell rang.

"You drove down here to get deets because I said I was having dinner with Owen Carter?" I was amused.

She snapped her fingers and pointed her long nails at me. "That name right there, that's more than enough reason to fly across the country just for deets. However, that's not why I'm here."

"What then are you here for?" I asked in confusion.

"To get you prepared. Duh."

"I don't need to-"

"Shhhh!" She hushed me quickly. I clamped my mouth shut. "Fairy godmother Sana, is here to save the day,"

"Don't tell me you brought the toolbox." I sighed.

She grinned. "You know I did girl."

"Oh lord," I muttered.

This was going to be one hell of an afternoon.

If there was one thing Sana was known for, it was going all out for beauty purposes.

Over the next few hours, she gave me a whole spa day. Did my nails, styled my hair, picked out my dress, heels and jewelry and of course did my makeup.

Even with the hours of head start, she still managed to make me a few minutes late when Owen's driver came to get me that evening.

I looked down at the car in the building's parking lot. It didn't look like he was in there.

"Now that's a fancy car..." Sana whistled.

"I know right." I sighed.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" She asked.

"I'm nervous. I wish you could come with me."

"Trust me Tessa, you got this. You're looking like a snack and I'm sure he can't wait to rip this dress off you tonight."

My nose scrunched up. "Ewww. That was one night."

Her loud laughter made me feel a little at ease. "Who says it can't happen again? I know you enjoyed it."

"I can barely remember it." I muttered, fighting back my blush.

"You were sore in the morning. That's a good reminder." She winked.

"You're unbelievable." I laughed shaking my head at.

"Go on," she pushed me out the door. "Have fun!"

When I got downstairs, the chauffeur was waiting for me.

"Good evening Ms Hayes." He said as he opened the door to the backseat for me.

"Good evening," I said as I slipped in.

I wasn't used to this kind of treatment. I didn't even think it would ever be possible for me to ride in a chauffeur driven vehicle on my way to a 'date' with a billionaire. It was crazy.

The drive was silent, except for the faint sound of soft music coming from the radio.

I stared out the window, letting the beautiful night pass my sight.

About half an hour later, he parked in front of this fancy restaurant.

I felt nervous all of a sudden as I was led to the rooftop.

When the door opened, I let out a gasp.