MARRIED TO MY ENEMY

THE UNRAVELING

We booked the next flight back. At 6 p.m. at the airport, Daniel bought two bottles of water, came back and sat next to me. I was scrolling through the news to pass time when my chest went cold.TRENDING: #NICHOLAS&ANDREW.MARRIAGE

The first post was from a gossip blog, 2 hours ago. EXCLUSIVE: Is the Nicholas-Andrew merger a LIE? Sources say Amara Nicholas and Daniel Andrew's marriage was NEVER LEGALIZED. No marriage certificate filed. Was it all a PR stunt to save their failing companies?

Below it were photos of us at the wedding, but the officiant's signature was circled in red. FAKE, Us at the press conference with the caption: Actors? As we left the warehouse that night after meeting Nia with the caption: Secret meeting.

The comments were worse. "I knew it. Their fathers paid them." This is why the stock is dropping. People who always admired us at every gala, people who thought of us as a strong couple.

My hands started shaking. "Daniel," I whispered. He looked at it, his face went blank, then angry.

Another post popped up, it was a video of Brad at a charity event last night.

"I'm so happy for the young couple," he said to the camera. " Though I do hope they took time to do everything properly, marriage is sacred, isn't it? We wouldn't want the public to think it was just.... business," he continued and the video ended.

After watching the video, I knew he planted the doubt. My phone buzzed, it was my dad. He had called me 12 times and I didn't pick any because I knew what he wanted to ask and which I wouldn't know how to reply. Daniel's phone buzzed too, his dad and the board kept calling.

Then another text from Brad. See? People want proof, real proof of marriage, real proof of love. Maybe you should come home and show them--B.

He couldn't beat us with evidence, so he attacked the one thing we couldn't prove in court. Our marriage

"If we don't go back now, the merger will be dead, our fathers will be forced to denounce us and Brad will automatically win," Daniel said.

"And if we go back?" I said, looking at him. "Then we fight on his turf, with nothing but togetherness."

On the flight back home, I didn't sleep, neither did Daniel. We just held hands under the blanket and stared at the cloud, not for the cameras but because it was the only real thing we had left. We had totally forgotten about the rules, not because we couldn't remember but because it was the last thing we could think of.

When we landed, the airport was full of reporters. Is the union real? Where's the certificate? Did your father force you? Was the marriage was for the merger? And at the back of the crowd, standing with his hands in his pocket, was Mr Brad and smiling as usual.

Daniel squeezed my hands, his hands were warm, and he held me tightly, protecting me from the flashes from the camera."

Let's go home," he said. Home, to a lie that was staring to unravel and to the man who started it. The car ride from the airport was silent. Reporters followed us all the way to the gate, drones hovered above the car, hashtags were already trending before we got home. #fakemarriage #Nicholadandrewlie #whereisthecertificate.

Inside Andrew's house, the living room felt smaller. Mr. Andrew was pacing while Mr. Nicholas was sitting with his head in his hand. Both of them looked up when we walked in. "Where have you been?" Mr. Andrew snapped. "Ghana," Daniel replied.

"Ghana?" Mr. Nicholas stood up. "While the world is saying our children's marriage is fake? While our stock is going down 18%?

"We're looking for proof about Brad, I said. "Proof?" Mr Andrew said bitterly, "The only proof people care about right now is a marriage certificate! Which we don't have!" The room went quiet because he was right.

When we were forced to marry, it was a traditional engagement and a court ceremony done in secret with small invited crowds. There was paperwork somewhere in a file in the drawer with a stamp that never made it to the database. "We can file it now," Daniel said. "Too late," Mr. Nicholas said, "If we file now it will look as if we're covering, and the internet has already decided we're lying."

"We will hold a press conference tomorrow morning," Daniel said. Both fathers looked at each other, 20 years of hate, and in one second they were on the same side.

"The truth? What truth? That we were set up? We have no evidence, It will only make us look worse."

"Then we tell the truth, that the marriage was real, that we chose it," I said. Daniel looked at me. "For the first time, let's tell them the truth about us," Daniel said quietly. Mr. Andrew rubbed his face. " Fine 9am tomorrow, but don't mention Brad, and you don't mention Ghana, you don't mention anything we can't prove."

"Understood," we both gave the response together.

...

We didn't sleep almost all night, we spent the night in Daniel's office, going over what to say and what not to say. Writing them down. At 3am Daniel pushed the paper away. "I'm scared."

"Me too," I admitted, "What if they don't believe us? We keep telling the truth until dey do?"

Daniel nodded silently and reached across the table, he held my hand, and didn't let go till we slept off.

At 7am, a car came for us. Both fathers were already gone. Andrews tower was packed by 8:30am. More cameras this time, more phones, and more noise. The energy was different due to yesterday's curiosity. Brad was in the front row again, the same seat, he wore a Navy suit and held a glass of water he never drank. He saw us and nodded as he looked away.

The MC introduced us, and the room went quiet. " Good morning," Daniel said, his voice didn't shake. "I know why you're all here."

"The rumors, the post, the question about my marriage to Amara."

"I'm not going to show you a certificate today, because the truth is that we never filed it publicly. Our fathers arranged this marriage to save their companies and we said yes."

My heart dropped, that wasn't the plan. We were supposed to lead with "We love each other," So many flashes from cameras looked like lightning. The crowd murmured. "But, what started as an arrangement stopped being an arrangement a long time ago," Daniel continued. He turned to me." Amara and I didn't choose each other on day one, we fought, we hated being in the same room, we followed rules designed to keep us apart."

I took the mic, my hands were sweating." And then we found out we'd both been lied to, that someone made it happen," I said.

I didn't say Brad's name, I couldn't because there was no proof. "But on finding that out, we found each other not as Mr Nicholas's daughter and Mr Andrew's son but as Amara and Daniel."

I looked at him. "And yes, the marriage started as a business, but it's not business anymore." Daniel stepped closer to me.

"We're not asking you to believe us because of a paper, we're asking you to believe us because we're here together, and we're not going anywhere," Daniel said.

Then there was silence for three seconds. No one talked. All of a sudden, the questions all came at once. "Is there a certificate ?" "Who lied to you for 20 years?" "Why did you go to Ghana?" "Did your father force you two?" We didn't answer.

Brad stood up in the middle of it. The room went quiet. "One question," he said, voice smooth and loud, "If it's real, why did you fly to Ghana in secret? What were you running from?" The room gasped. "We were looking for answers for our families, answers we couldn't find here."

"Convenient, very convenient," Brad said and smiled, then he sat down. By 11: 30, the MC was cutting us off. " That's all for today, thank you." We walked out to more flashes, more yelling." Is it real?" "Where's the proof?" "Mr Andrew! Mrs Andrew!"

In the car, I put my head in my hands. That was a disaster," I whispered. "No," Daniel said. He sounded sure. " That was honest. For the first time, we told the truth without hiding."

"Honesty doesn't stop the internet," I said. "#realorfake is number one again." Daniel reached over and squeezed my knee. "Then we keep going no matter what." We got to Andrews house at 12:15 am. The house was empty. Both fathers were at the emergency board meeting. I went upstairs and showered, trying to wash off the cameras. Daniel stayed downstairs, answering legal email about failing the marriage.

At 1: 03 p.m. my phone buzzed on the kitchen counter. It was an unknown number. My stomach turned. Brad again? I picked it up. Another new message from Nia, no preview, just the notification. My heart started pounding. Daniel knocked on the door. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I called out. But my voice shook while staring at the screen. Nia?, after a week of nothing?, after Ghana? After everything?

Daniel opened the door, "Who is it?"

"Nia," I whispered. His eyes widened. I looked at Daniel, his eyes were already locked to mine. I hadn't opened the message just yet. "Don't," Daniel said quietly. " Not here, not with the cameras everywhere. Wait let's get to our home before we read it."

I nodded, my thumb hovered over the notification. Whatever was inside, that message would be the first thing we'd had in weeks. It will be the first real lead. And I had the feeling it was going to change everything. I locked the phone and put it face down. We said nothing and ignored the text. Outside, the hashtags were still trending, while inside we had one unread message. But soon tonight, we're going to find out what Nia sent.