Her Fake Lover

Chapter 16

Emmeline walked into her office. She still continued to feel the fresh morning air inside. The greetings of several people were heard, and she responded in a friendly manner. Karfis & Vin's head office looked as dynamic as ever.

"Miss Karfis!"

"Hi!"

"Good morning, Miss Karfis."

"Morning."

Emmeline kept walking, and—

“Aaa, Miss Karfis!" This time, it was someone who often knew more things than the other staff, who stood to greet her. They passed right in front of Emmeline's room. The girl bent her body while half extended her hand towards Emmy's room. "Please come to your room, Miss."

Emmeline shook her head. But of course she then went into her room. The girl who greeted her who was her assistant, immediately followed, and entered the room, then immediately closed the door tightly.

"Ah, how's it going, Emmy? Did last night's dinner go well? Come on, tell me," Chloe asked.

"It went well, Chloe. The plan went smoothly," Emmeline replied as she sat down in her chair, then rolled her eyes slightly, "too smooth even. Ah, the important thing is that our plan works."

"Ah, thank goodness for that. But what exactly do you mean by 'too smooth'? Can you tell me the full story?"

"Don't you have a job right now?"

"Ah, no, Emmy. Come on, just a minute. It would be very unfair to keep me curious while I've done so much to help you with this."

Emmeline glanced, "Shh! Don't be so irritable!" Emmeline smiled. "Well, of course, Chloe, I managed to show Darren the things he was skeptical about at first. He could have been adamant, but he's seen evidence that I meant what I said the other day at the party."

"Ah, that was fun. I don't care about your mission about Darren, but I do care about my work, honey. Ah, then how did Corbin carry himself last night? because your fake statuses will last until Lea's marriage, right?"

"Yes. And he looked very impressive."

"Oh, he listened to my directions then. By the way, who did he introduce himself as? I told him he's free to choose any false identity for this game. And I let him decide for himself so that it's easier for him to remember. We only had a little time yesterday."

"Oh, he didn't really listen to you then," Emmy said. Chloe raised her eyebrows and stared in disbelief. "Well. We did give him a choice, and apparently what he did was," Emmy glanced at Chloe for a moment, remembering a glimpse of last night's play, "he introduced himself as Corbin. He used his real identity, and he even ..." Emmy remembered when Corbin also told them about his family, "ah, just like that. He made everyone believe in him, and Darren, I don't know exactly what he was thinking, but he couldn't do anything about it, could he?"

"Ah, I have a strong guess he must be upset."

"Apparently so. He tried to set Corbin up with some weird questions in the middle of dinner, and by the time the dinner was over he got into a bit of an argument and almost even got into a fight with Corbin—but luckily it didn't happen. But one thing was certain, what appeared before his eyes left him no choice but to believe, or be forced to accept. So I can tell you that—well, the results of our efforts were quite satisfactory."

"Oh," Chloe shook her head, "that's amazing. But why did he almost get into a fight with Corbin? What happened then?"

Emmeline glanced at Chloe for a moment without making a sound, and before she could answer the question—which she also found it a pain to explain—a message notification beeped from her cell phone. Emmeline opened her phone screen. She slightly raised her eyebrows, and seemed to focus on what was on the cellphone screen.

Chloe was curious. She got up from her chair and approached Emmy without permission to watch, then her mouth dropped slightly for a moment.

Covering her mouth she said, "Oh, these are cute pictures. You guys really look like a real couple. You and Corbin while Darren and Lea. Oh, my God. Corbin is really welcome to your house." Chloe chuckled.

Emmeline gasped. She turned off her phone screen and put it down while straightening her back. Yes. It was indeed the result of last night's photos. Lea sent them to her. Emmy said honestly, "Yes. That's how it happened. Corbin was very well received in my house."

"Oh, my God. I don't know what to say about this. If he looks too bad he could get your parents to kick him out the second they see him, and that's bad because the fake relationship has to last until Lea's wedding, but he's performing too well, he's going to make your whole family have too high expectations on your relationship. Why doesn't he play in the middle?" Chloe was still chuckling. Meanwhile, Emmy glanced up with a thoughtful expression.

Emmeline still didn't say any further, when Chloe asked again, "Then how are you going to continue this game if it turns out that your family really likes Corbin? Ah, do we need to make a written contract for him?" Chloe was still holding back the rest of her laughter.

"Stop kidding. Nothing will change. Like I said yesterday, Corbin will be free after accompanying me to dinner. So now, he's free. I told him that last night. He can return to Italy if he wants."

"Oh," Chloe seemed thoughtful, "are you going to stick with the plan to pretend to be in a long distance relationship with him?"

"Yes."

"If Corbin really let go, wouldn't it be troublesome?"

"No problem."

"But if your parents want to meet—"

"Chloe," Emmeline snapped.

"Ah, fine. But that means, you are very hard on your parents."

Emmeline glanced critically at Chloe, and since Chloe noticed it, she quickly said, "Em, then I'll excuse myself. I have something to prepare for your meeting today. Oh yes, Mr. Piers told me that, you called him to see you, this morning? We passed each other earlier."

"Yes, that's true. Soon, Chloe, after this. You're right, go back to your desk and do your chores. In the meantime, let Mr. Piers face me."

"All right then, Miss Karfis. I will return to my desk."

Chloe, step aside from Emmeline's presence. Emmeline took a deep breath for a moment, taking a pause to make her concentrate more on what she was going to do instead of going back to last night, because she had just told Chloe about it.

There was a knock on the door, and soon after, a senior jewelery designer of Karfis & Vin, whom Emmeline had been waiting for, appeared to emerge from the door, with calm steps and demeanor. He was a charismatic old man, with a fatherly countenance. His body was sturdy, and his skin was dark.

Mr. Piers, is a senior designer, having worked with Karfis & Vin since its inception, and even Emmeline respected him.

"Miss Karfis," he said politely.

"Mr. Piers," said Emmeline with a smile. "Please sit down," Emmeline beckoned.

***