Chapter 5: Perfect lies
1380 Words
I learnt something important about rich houses that morning.
Walls carried whispers faster than the wind.
I had just stepped out of my room, planning to go downstairs for breakfast, when two of the housemaids stopped me without even knowing it.
They were standing near the staircase.
Talking.
Quietly.
But not quietly enough.
“Did you see the news this morning?” one of them asked.
“I did,” the other replied quickly. “About Mr. Anderson.”
My steps slowed.
About Raymond?
“What about him?” the first maid asked.
“They said he was seen with a woman last night.”
My fingers tightened around the railing beside me.
“A woman?” the first maid whispered. “But he just got engaged to Miss Blessing.”
“I know,” the second maid said. “That’s why everyone is talking about it.”
My heart beat a little harder.
I stayed where I was, hidden behind the corner wall.
“They say the media caught him leaving somewhere late at night,” the first maid continued.
“With a woman?”
“Yes.”
“Ahhh, I didn't hear that part in the news.”
“It was in the news.”
There was a short silence.
Then the second maid lowered her voice.
“Do you think Miss Blessing knows?”
“I doubt it.”
“Well… if it’s true…”
Her voice dropped even further.
“That’s embarrassing.”
The word felt like someone quietly pressing a knife into my chest.
Embarrassing.
I stepped away before they could see me.
My footsteps were quiet, but my thoughts were loud.
Raymond.
A woman.
Late at night.
The image from yesterday flashed across my mind.
The parking lot.
The way the woman had run into his arms.
The way she had called his name.
Raymond.
I still hadn’t seen her face.
But I knew the way she held him hadn’t been casual.
I reached my room and closed the door behind me slowly.
The silence inside felt heavy.
For a moment I just stood there.
Then I walked to my bed and sat down.
“This is ridiculous,” I muttered softly.
This marriage wasn’t even real.
It was a contract.
A business arrangement.
Raymond had made that very clear.
So why does it bother me so much?
Why does it feel like something is slowly squeezing my heart?
I grabbed my phone from the nightstand.
There was only one person I wanted to talk to right now.
Naomi.
She answered on the third ring.
“Blessing?”
Her voice immediately sounded concerned.
“What’s wrong?”
I exhaled slowly.
“How do you always know something is wrong?”
“Because you only call this early when the world is ending.”
I almost laughed.
“Maybe it is.”
There was a pause.
“Okay,” Naomi said carefully. “Start talking.”
So I did.
I told her everything.
About the papers my father tricked me into signing.
About discovering they were actually marriage consent forms.
About the sudden engagement announcement.
About Raymond.
How cold he was.
How detached.
How he talked about marriage like it was a business negotiation.
Naomi listened without interrupting.
Until I said the last part.
“The night before yesterday,” I continued quietly, “I saw him with another woman.”
“What?”
Her voice shot up instantly.
“I didn’t see her face,” I said quickly. “But she ran into his arms like she belonged there.”
Naomi groaned.
“Blessing, please tell me you’re joking.”
“I wish I was.”
“And you’re still planning to marry this man?”
“I’m not planning anything.”
“Then stop it.”
“It’s not that simple.”
Naomi sighed loudly.
“Yes, it is.”
“No, it isn’t.”
My voice became softer.
“If I cancel this marriage, my father’s company collapses.”
Silence.
Naomi knew my family’s situation.
The risks.
The financial pressure.
Finally she spoke again.
“So basically you’re sacrificing your life for your father’s business.”
“That’s a dramatic way to say it.”
“But accurate.”
I leaned back against the headboard.
“Probably.”
Naomi didn’t sound convinced.
“Blessing… answer me honestly.”
“About what?”
“Do you like him?”
The question caught me off guard.
I didn’t answer immediately.
Because the truth was embarrassing.
Very embarrassing.
Finally I spoke quietly.
“I do.”
Naomi went silent.
“The first time I saw him,” I continued. “At that gala two months ago.”
I remembered it clearly.
Raymond standing across the room.
Tall.
Confident.
Completely calm while everyone else chased attention.
He hadn’t even noticed me.
“But he never looked at me that way,” I added softly.
Naomi sighed again.
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t marry him.”
“Maybe.”
“But?”
“But life isn’t always about what we want.”
Naomi was quiet for a moment.
Then she said gently,
“Just promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“Don’t fall in love with him.”
I stared at the ceiling.
“I won’t.”
I wasn’t sure if I believed that.
We ended the call a few minutes later.
The room became silent again.
My phone rang again suddenly.
I looked at the screen.
Raymond.
I hesitated for a second before answering.
“Hello.”
His voice came through calm and controlled.
“Good afternoon, Blessing.”
“Good afternoon.”
“I’ll keep this brief.”
Of course he would.
“Tomorrow morning there will be photographers outside your estate.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“The media wants photos of us.”
“So?”
“We’ll give them something simple.”
I sat up slightly.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll arrive at nine.”
“And then?”
“We walk out together.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
I blinked.
“You’re serious?”
“We smile for the cameras. Then I leave.”
That sounded less like a relationship and more like a press conference.
“Why are they suddenly interested?” I asked.
“Media curiosity.”
His answer came too quickly.
“Is something wrong?” I asked quietly.
There was a brief pause.
Then he said calmly,
“No.”
Just that.
No explanation.
No details.
Then he added,
“Try to look happy.”
Before I could respond, the call ended.
I slowly lowered the phone.
Try to look happy.
That sentence echoed in my head.
I laughed quietly.
He really did treat everything like business.
A performance.
A perfect lie for the public.
I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
“This marriage hasn’t even started,” I whispered.
“And I already feel like an outsider.”
My phone buzzed again suddenly.
Another notification.
I picked it up lazily.
A news alert.
Curiosity made me open it.
The headline appeared immediately.
“Billionaire Heir Raymond Anderson Seen With Mystery Woman Hours Before Engagement Announcement.”
My heart skipped.
I began reading.
A woman approaching him.
Witnesses claiming the two looked “very close.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
I kept scrolling.
Then the article showed a photograph.
I held my breath as it loaded.
The image appeared.
Raymond stood beside his car.
The same moment I had witnessed.
The same parking lot.
But the woman beside him, her face was completely hidden.
Blocked by Raymond’s shoulder and the camera angle.
Only her hair and silhouette were visible.
My chest felt tight.
The article continued.
Speculation.
Rumours.
Questions.
Then I reached the final paragraph.
I read it slowly.
Once.
Then twice.
My stomach dropped.
Because the article said:
“Sources have now revealed that the mystery woman seen with Raymond Anderson last night is none other than his fiancée, Blessing Gerald.”
I froze.
My mind went blank.
They thought…
The woman in the photo…
Was me?
I stared at the screen.
Confusion.
Shock.
A strange sense of dread.
Because I knew something the entire media world didn’t know.
- Writer
