Falling For His Fake Mate

6

Zane.

The room fell quiet and Jasmine’s jaw dropped, and I felt my spine stiffen. For what seemed like forever, I said nothing, then I finally spoke. “I’m sorry, what?”l

Lily smiled like she was doing us all a favor. “It was me your father asked for, right? I’m the Marchand niece, the one Matthew promised. Not Jasmine. So if anyone should be playing your little wife-for-a-year fantasy, it should be me.” she said.

Unbelievable! Was this woman all right at all, because this seemed to her like it was an unserious situation.

“This isn’t a game, Lily,” I said, voice low. “This isn’t some summer internship you talk your way into. This is a legal arrangement, a public-facing relationship with the future of something hanging in the balance. I need someone who can handle the pressure, someone who have the time when I call her. Not someone who arranged a meeting but couldn't honor it. Someone who can hold her own in a room. Who knows when to speak, and when to stay silent.”

“Exactly,” Lily said, without a hint of irony. “And that’s me.”

I looked at her, and then at Jasmine, waiting to see what she would say, but she said nothing. It was as if she agreed to what Lily had just said.

“And what if I wanted the woman I met that day instead of you?” I asked, squinting my eyes at Lily.

She lifted her shoulder in a shrug, as if I had just said something irrelevant. “I'm the one you were supposed to meet. If there's anyone you should play marriage with, it's me.” she said, speaking like the true unintelligent woman that she was.

She was acting smart, like she didn't care if she hadn't been the one to put in the work, but should reap the fruits just because it was meant to be hers.

Jasmine looked like she wanted to vanish into the floor. She still hadn’t spoken since, and she still hadn’t given her answer.

“Are you listening to yourself woman? This isn't a movie or anything.” I said to Lily.

She sat there like she was auditioning for the role of a lifetime.

“It's not rocket science. If I had shown up at the restaurant that night, you would have proposed that to me. I’m surely not letting Jasmine take the money you’re about to offer. I'm the niece Matthew talked about, so there's no way.” she said.

Oh, right. She must think that this was some kind of audition where I got to choose who I would be doing this with. But what she didn’t know was that the audition had already ended. I had made my decision the moment I looked into Jasmine’s eyes and saw that she didn’t want this… but she was still willing to hear me out.

That kind of integrity couldn’t be faked.

Plus, I knew these kinds of women, they wouldn't do what was asked of them, and would surely want more than you're willing to give them.

But I wasn’t going to play all my cards just yet.

“I don’t care whose name was for whose,” I said, my gaze still locked on Jasmine. “I made the offer to the woman who showed up. And that woman… wasn’t you, Lily.”

Jasmine’s eyes widened, and Lily’s mouth opened, her face twisting in offense.

“But…” Lily started to say something but I cut her off. I could see she was already offended that I wanted to choose Jasmine over her.

“I’ll give you one week,” I told Jasmine, cutting Lily off, “to think about it.”

She swallowed, nodded once. “Okay.”

Then I turned to Lily, leveling her with a stare that could freeze lava. “This isn’t up for debate.”

And with that, I stood up and started to walk towards the door, then I heard Lily speak. “I sure wouldn't let her take this.”

Turning back to look at her, I could see a serious look on her face. She had thought this through in the space of time she heard it, and she had decided she wanted whatever I was going to be offering to herself.

That was just wild. This was exactly why I certainly wasn't going to choose to do this with her.

She didn't know who I was, or she wouldn't be bold enough to talk to me like that. I walked back to the seat I was offered before. As calmly as possible, I asked. “Why exactly do you want this to be with you? Did you fall for me as soon as you met me?”

Lily gave a bark of laughter. “I wasn't talking about falling for you or anything. You mentioned you wanted her for the marriage, but I should be the one to do that. I mean, how do you explain to my uncle that you're marrying Jasmine if you met me, or you haven't thought about that?”

I let out a laugh; quiet, low, the kind that had no humor in it. “So let me get this straight. You don't want in on this because you care. You’re not even pretending to like me. You just want to claim something you didn’t earn, because it was ‘meant’ to be yours?”

Lily blinked, not even flinching. “Pretty much.”

The audacity of that just made me realize how shallow she was. If this were a wolf in front of me, I would probably have ripped one of her hands off, just to teach her how nasty it was to be greedy.

I glanced at Jasmine who was still quiet, her face pale. She looked like she wanted to disappear, like she hadn’t expected any of this, and sure as hell hadn’t signed up for the power grab happening right in front of her.

“And you think that’s enough reason for me to choose you?” I asked Lily, my voice sharp now, with the edge no longer hidden. “Because you’re the niece who was supposed to show up?”

She shrugged again, like logic was for other people. “Yeah, it is. That’s how these things work, isn’t it? You arrange something, someone shows up, someone gets paid. You don’t go falling for the girl who accidentally filled in. That’s not how arranged marriages work.”

I raised a brow. “And you’re an expert on those, right?”

“No, but I know enough to know that this,” she said, waving a hand toward Jasmine, “isn’t how it’s supposed to go. Jasmine shouldn’t even be in the conversation.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” I said, standing fully now, my posture towering. “She’s in the conversation because she earned her way into it. You didn’t show up. She did. You were too busy with your ‘business meeting’, remember? You had your chance. You passed it up. You don’t get to double back now that there’s money on the table.”

Lily’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Uncle Matthew will never go for this.”

“I’m not marrying Matthew,” I said. “And if your uncle has a problem with it, he can call me himself. But somehow, I doubt he’ll care as much as you think. This isn’t about duty. It’s business. And Jasmine already proved she’s more professional than you’ll ever be.”

Lily crossed her arms, eyes flashing. “So what… you’re going to just pick her over me? Just like that?”

I glanced over at Jasmine again, and this time, she met my eyes. There was no anger there like she had before towards Lily embarrassing her. And not even pride because I chose her still. Just that quiet fire I had noticed before. The one that said I didn’t ask to be here… but I’ll do what I have to.

“I’m not picking anyone yet,” I said. “I offered her a week to decide, and I’m sticking to that. But if you think for one second that throwing a tantrum is going to get you a better offer, you’re wasting your time.”

Lily snorted. “You’re making a mistake.”

“Maybe,” I said, grabbing my jacket from the back of the chair. “But at least it’ll be my mistake.”

I turned back to Jasmine. “One week. That’s all you get. After that, the offer expires.”

She nodded again, slower this time. “I understand.”

And maybe it was just the lighting, or maybe I was losing my mind… but I thought I saw the tiniest flicker of relief in her eyes.