🌸signed for his name🌺

The gala

The red dress felt like fire against her skin.

Lola stood in front of the mirror at 6:45pm in the huge bedroom. The silk hugged her waist and fell to the floor in one clean line. The diamond necklace was cold on her neck and heavy.

It wasn’t hers. None of it was. The dress, the shoes, the jewelry. All borrowed for one night.

Mrs. Cole adjusted the strap at the back. Her fingers were quick and cold. “Smile tonight, Miss Adeyemi. Photos will be everywhere tomorrow. The board needs to see a happy couple. A stable CEO.”

Lola nodded. She practiced a smile in the mirror. It looked real. It felt like a lie.

The car was waiting downstairs. Black. Tinted. A driver stood with the door open like they were in a movie.

Elijah was already inside. Black suit. Black tie. His phone was in his hand but he wasn’t looking at it. He looked up when she entered and then looked away fast. Like seeing her in red did something to him.

“You look... fine,” he said. His voice was low.

The word landed wrong. Not ugly. Not beautiful. Just _fine_.

“Thank you,” Lola replied. She sat on the other side of the car and stared out the window at Lagos passing by.

The drive was silent. Ten minutes that felt like an hour. The only sound was the tires on the road and her own breathing. She could smell his cologne. Expensive. Clean.

The gala was in a hotel ballroom downtown. Crystal lights hung from the ceiling like stars. A string quartet played low. Hundreds of people in suits and gowns moved around with champagne glasses. Cameras flashed the moment they stepped out of the car.

“Mr. and Mrs. Sterling,” the host announced into the microphone. His voice echoed through the ballroom.

Hands reached for them immediately.

“Congratulations on the wedding.”

“Beautiful couple.”

“So happy for you both. When’s the honeymoon?”

Elijah’s hand found the small of Lola’s back. It was warm through the silk of the dress. He smiled. A real smile. Not the cold one from the office. This one reached his eyes and made him look younger.

Lola copied him. She had practiced this in the mirror for an hour.

They moved through the room together. He introduced her as “my wife” to CEOs and investors and old women in pearls. Every time he said it, her chest tightened. Like the word was both true and not true at the same time.

Halfway through the night, a woman in a gold dress stopped them. She was tall, with red lips and eyes that looked like they knew too much. She smelled expensive.

“Elijah, darling.” She touched his arm. “And this must be the new Mrs. Sterling.” She looked Lola up and down. Slow. Judging. From the shoes to the necklace. “Interesting choice.”

“Ms. Daniels,” Elijah said. His smile dropped instantly. “This is my wife, Lola.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “Well. I’m sure it’s a love story for the ages.”

She walked away without waiting for a reply. Her laugh followed her.

“What was that about?” Lola asked quietly when they were alone again.

“Nothing,” Elijah said. “Ignore her.”

But his jaw was tight. And his hand on her back pressed just a little harder.

Later, they stood on the balcony for photos. The city lights were behind them. Lagos stretched out below, bright and loud and alive. The photographer kept clicking.

“Closer,” the photographer said. “Act like you’re in love. Like you can’t stand to be apart.”

Elijah turned to her. For a second his guard was down. He looked tired. Human. Like the CEO mask had slipped and there was just a man underneath.

He leaned in and kissed her cheek. Not lips. Cheek. But it was slow. His lips lingered for half a second too long. And the cameras caught it from every angle.

Applause from the crowd below. Someone shouted “Beautiful!”

Back in the car, the silence was different. Heavy. Not empty, but full of things neither of them said.

“Did I do okay?” Lola asked. Her voice was small.

“You did perfect,” Elijah said. He was staring out the window at the passing lights. “The board is happy. The investors are happy.”

Lola nodded. She should have felt relieved. She did her job.

But his hand had been on her back all night. And she couldn’t stop thinking about how natural it felt. How right.

At the house, Elijah went straight to the third floor. No pause at her door tonight. No “goodnight.” Just footsteps going up.

Lola took off the jewelry and the dress. She hung it carefully on the hanger. It still smelled like his cologne.

On her phone, the photos were already online.

Headline: _Billionaire Elijah Sterling Marries Mystery Woman. Couple Looks Deeply In Love At Gala._

She was now Mrs. Sterling to the whole world.

Down the hall, Elijah saw the same photos on his tablet in his office.

He zoomed in on one. Her in red. His hand on her back. The kiss on her cheek.

Six months, he told himself.

No feelings.

Just business.

But for the first time, he wasn’t sure he believed it.

---

The house was dark when they got back from the balcony photos.

12:30am. The driver opened the door and Elijah stepped out first. He didn’t offer his hand. Lola followed him inside.

The red dress felt too loud for the quiet house now. She wanted to take it off immediately.

“Goodnight,” Elijah said at the foot of the stairs. No eye contact.

“Goodnight,” Lola answered.

He went up to the third floor. She went to her room on the second floor.

The dress came off. The jewelry came off. The makeup came off.

Underneath it all she was still just Lola. The girl with hospital bills.

Her phone buzzed. 10 messages. Friends. Cousins. People from her old job.

Screenshots of the gala photos.

_“Is this you???”_

_“You married a billionaire???”_

_“Girl explain!”_

She didn’t reply to any of them.

At 1:15am she heard footsteps again. Down the stairs.

Not up. Down.

A knock on her door. Soft. Three times.

Lola froze. “Yes?”

The door opened a little. Elijah stood there. Suit jacket gone. Sleeves rolled up. Hair messy like he’d been running his hands through it.

He wasn’t smiling. But he wasn’t cold either.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

Lola’s heart jumped. “Um. Yes.”

He stepped in but didn’t sit. He looked around the room like he’d never been here before. His eyes stopped on the red dress hanging on the chair.

“The photos,” he said. “They’re already everywhere.”

“I saw,” Lola said quietly.

Silence.

Elijah exhaled. “Ms. Daniels from tonight. She knew my ex-fiancée. That’s why she looked at you like that.”

Lola didn’t know what to say. “Oh.”

“She spread rumors before. About me. About women in my life.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t want it to touch you.”

It was the longest sentence he’d said to her outside of business.

“Thank you for telling me,” Lola said.

Another pause. The house was so quiet she could hear the clock downstairs.

Elijah looked at her. Really looked. No contract. No cameras. Just them.

“You did good tonight,” he said. “Better than good.”

Lola nodded. Her throat was dry. “You too.”

He almost smiled. Almost.

Then he seemed to remember himself. His face went blank again.

“I should go,” he said. “Board meeting early.”

“Okay.”

He turned to leave, then stopped at the door. Without looking back he said, “Sleep well, Lola.”

And he was gone.

Lola sat on the bed for a long time after.

Sleep well, Lola.

He used her first name.

Upstairs, Elijah poured another drink.

Six months, he told himself.

But tonight he had called her by her name.

And he meant it.