My Fake Marriage To Mr. CEO

Sue Baby

SUE

I do not know how long I sat on that floor. Long enough for the light outside to shift from afternoon to evening. Long enough for my legs to go numb underneath me.

I finally forced myself up and did the only thing that made sense. I made a list.

I could call my old college roommate in another state and ask to stay with her for a few weeks. I opened my banking app first, my thumb hovering over the number in my savings account. David had drained most of it before I even realized what he was doing. What was left would not cover a plane ticket and a month of rent somewhere new.

I called the roommate anyway. She did not pick up. I tried a second friend. Straight to voicemail.

My phone buzzed in my hand, and for one stupid second I thought it might be one of them calling back.

It was David.

I almost didn't answer. Then I did, only because some old habit told me I needed to know what he wanted.

"Sue, baby, listen," he said, his voice smooth in a way that made my skin crawl. "I know things got messy. I've been thinking, maybe we rushed the whole breakup thing. I need to talk to you. Also, I might have left my watch at the apartment, the gold one. Can you check?"

I almost laughed out loud. Two days after I found him with another man, and he was calling about a watch.

"Don't ever call this number again," I said, and hung up before he could answer.

I sat with my phone in my lap for a long time after that, staring at nothing.

I thought about running. Just packing a single bag and taking the first bus out of the city, disappearing the way I had disappeared once before. But I had done that once already, and I remembered exactly how much it cost to build a life from nothing. New name. New job. Three years of looking over my shoulder every single day.

I was tired of running.

I thought about the letter sitting on my counter, the single line I had already read so many times it was burned into the back of my eyes. I thought about the photograph on Volkov's desk. I thought about Rocco's name coming out of a stranger's mouth like it was nothing.

If Rocco already knew where I was, running would only slow him down, not stop him.

Volkov could stop him.

I hated that this was true. I hated that a man who had blackmailed me in his office that same morning was somehow also the only wall standing between me and whatever Rocco intended to do when he found me. But hate did not change anything.

I did not sleep that night. I sat at my kitchen table with the lights off, staring at the roses until their smell made me sick.

By the time the sun came up, I had made my decision. Not because Volkov had won, but because I refused to let Rocco win instead.

I got dressed, took the private elevator up before my nerves could fail me, and walked into his office without knocking.

He looked up from his desk, unsurprised, like he had known exactly which morning I would show up.

"I agree," I said, the words scraping against my dry throat. "I will marry you. But you protect me completely, starting today. Not starting after the wedding, today."

Mr. Volkov sprang to action immediately, like he had been waiting with a plan already built and ready to run.

Within the hour, he led me down a private hallway I had never noticed before, one that opened straight into an underground parking garage below the building. No cameras, no lobby, no chance for anyone outside to see us leave together.

"You will move into the estate today," he said as we walked. "Your old apartment is no longer safe. I already have people packing your things."

"You went into my apartment?"

"I sent a team an hour ago. Do not worry, they are professionals." He said it so casually, like sending strangers into my home to box up my life was a completely normal Tuesday.

I wanted to argue. I did not have the energy left.

The drive to his estate took almost forty minutes, most of it in silence. I kept replaying his words from the day before. That is a conversation for another day. I still did not understand why, out of every woman he could have chosen, it had to be me.

"Why me?" I asked again, watching the city thin out into tree-lined roads. "You never answered."

He kept his eyes on the road. "My grandmother has opinions about who I marry. Strong ones."

"That's not an answer."

"It is the only one you get right now." His jaw tightened slightly, just enough for me to notice. Whatever the real reason was, he clearly didn’t want me knowing.

My phone buzzed in my bag. I checked it out of habit and felt my stomach turn.

It was David, again, from a number I did not recognize this time.

I read the message once. Heard you got engaged to some rich guy fast. Funny how that works. Maybe I should tell people how fast.

“The news of our engagement is already out?” I asked, surprised at how fast David heard.

“Yeah. Everything alright?" Volkov asked, glancing over.

"Fine," I said. It was not fine, but I was not about to hand him one more piece of my life to hold over me.

Two days later, he told me we were going to his family home so he could introduce me as his fiancée.

The car ride to the Volkov estate was silent and tense. When we arrived, the house was a massive, historic stone mansion surrounded by iron gates. Mr. Volkov stepped out first and came around to my side, wrapping a firm arm around my waist before I had even fully stood up.

"Smile," he said quietly. "Whatever happens in there, you smile."