I accidentally married a billionare

Chapter 6

Claire’s Point of view.

I slide out of the car, which is easy on the crisp leather seats. Tyler stands back and watches as I use my hip to close the door. My injured hand is now throbbing with pain.

The three of us walk through the emergency room door. The sounds of the place bombard our senses. There are screaming kids, wriggling to get out of their parents grasp. In one corner is a homeless man coughing his lungs out. A low murmur of noise fills the waiting room.

I walk up to the nurse at the desk. She doesn’t even make eye contact, but hands me the paperwork.

“Good evening. Take this clipboard, fill out all the information, and bring it back.”

“Thank you,” I say, as I grab the clipboard.

Charlie has found three seats for us. We are over in a corner away from the public. Tyler finds some hand sanitizer and rubs it all over the chairs. I watch on, amused by his little quirks.

“Hospitals harbor germs. I can’t get sick, and neither can you,” he explains.

I sit down, placing the clipboard in a precarious position on my lap. Tyler watches on.

“If you need help, all you have to do is ask,” he says.

I decide to test the waters and tease him.

“You might get sick if you touch the clipboard.”

He smirks at me. Once I have all the paperwork filled up and delivered to the nurse, I go back to the counter. She looks up at me after reading through all the documents, her eyes widening when she sees my hand.

“Oh, that is quite a bandage. Have a seat and we will call your name.”

I make my way back to the seat and sigh. The pain is getting to me now.

“You okay, kitten?” Tyler says, a bit of teasing in his voice.

“Kitten? Really?”

“I thought if we were to pull off this whole fiancee charade, it would be logical if we had nicknames for each other.”

“And you thought Kitten was the best option?” I say.

“We can workshop it.”

He pulls out his phone. I glance over, suspecting that he is playing a game, but he is answering emails and reviewing business portfolios. Although I was curious, I didn’t read any details. Charlie crosses his arms over his chest and closes his eyes.

I figure out how to get my phone out of my pocket. It has been buzzing non-stop for the last ten minutes. It’s James. He has sent at least nine messages, most of which are berating me and telling me I wouldn’t be in this situation if I was with him. Not once did he apologize for ghosting me.

It’s been two hours of sitting and waiting. Somehow, the waiting room has gotten fuller.

The pain in my hand is now searing. I press on the bandage a little, leaning forward and hoping that it will resolve some of the pain.

Tyler looks up for a moment.

“You okay?” he asks.

“Yeah, it’s really hurting now. I don’t recommend getting stabbed in the hand.”

Charlie, not moving from his spot, says, “Stab wounds are the worst. Searing and throbbing, and the bandage just adds pressure. Nightmare.”

My eyes widen with surprise. How does he know what it feels like to be stabbed?

“Is there anything I can do?”

I shake my head no.

As soon as we finish our conversation, his parents walk in. Well, it was more like a stomp than a walk. They avoid all the sick people making faces at them. I lean into Tyler’s shoulder. Without a glance away from his phone, he wraps his arm around me. His hand slides low on my body. His fingers creep up the underside of my shirt. My head fit into the crux of his chest.

“Tyler.” his father says. “Why are you waiting? YOU don’t wait.”

Tyler ignores his father.

“I’m not going away until you answer me.”

My hand hurts and I have no patience for them, not right now.

“Look, Mister. I am waiting, not Tyler. If he stays with me, then that is his choice. All these people were here first and some are sicker than me.”

Tyler is still on his phone, ignoring both of his now whining parents. I decide to do the same.

His mother whines, “come on, we should go. This place is a cesspool of germs.”

Both of them saunter off, whispering to one another.

I go to pull away from him, but he holds me close.

“Stay. They could come back at any time.” His tone is firm as he gives me a command. A surprising little wiggle builds in my core at the thought of him being in control.

My eyes flutter closed as I fall asleep in his arms. A few hours later, he wakes me.

“Claire, wake up. The doctor is ready to see you.”

I stand up and follow the nurse into a small curtained room. She gets me onto the bed.

“Who is this?” She says, pointing to Tyler.

Before I can respond he says, “I am her fiancee, and this is my personal security.” His tone leaves no room for discussion.

The nurse gets a chair for Tyler, placing it next to the bed. Charlie stands at the curtain checking the identification of everyone who enters. The doctor comes in and unwraps my hand. He stitches it up, cleaning it and placing a small bandage to cover the stitches.

“You got lucky. It looks like the stab just missed the tendon. Two weeks and the stitches come out. Make sure you move your hand like normal. The nurse is going to give you a shot for pain and I’ll write a prescription. You lost a lot of blood, so I want to observe you for the next few hours, then I’ll send you home.”

As soon as the doctor leaves, Tyler’s parents enter the room with a priest.

“Hello son.”

They ignore my presence.

“This is Padre Approw. He has agreed to marry you.”

Tyler clears his throat. “What the f**k did you say?”

The padre crosses himself at the cussing.

“I said this padre is going to marry you.” His mother says, giving finality to her tone.

“And what exactly are you going to do if I say no?”

His mother smirks like an evil villain in a movie. “Well then, I am going to use all my power and influence to destroy what pathetic life this b***h has.”

She points to me.

Tyler stands, his presence looming over the room.

“Did you just threaten my fiancee?”

This time, his father steps in. “Yes, yes, we did. Her name is Claire, she works at Nixdox in the accounting department and she lives at 4233 4th ave, apartment 231. She is a gold-digging nobody who is going to ruin your life. You marry this imposter, or you marry Serena.”

As Tyler steps closer to his parents, I watch Charlie go from his casual stance to high alert. It looks like Tyler is going to punch his father in the face.

“Babe,” I say, grabbing his arm with my free hand. “He’s not worth it.”

Tyler steps back, still standing next to me, almost as if his body is protecting me.

“You understand what they are saying. They want us to get married right now.”

“Excuse me, Elaine.” I remember her name from before. “Would you and your husband mind giving me and Tyler some privacy? There are a few things we have to discuss.”

Elaine gives me a fake smile and leaves, taking the priest and her husband with them.

Tyler relaxes back into the chair.

“Okay Tyler, it’s time to fess up. Why are they pushing your marriage so hard?”

He sighs, placing his hand on his face. “Once I get married, they inherit my grandfather’s money.”

My mind winds and churns. There is not much difference between marrying someone and being engaged to someone. Except for the obvious legality of it.

“Let’s do it.” I say, “The plan doesn’t change. We marry, your parents get off your back, and you come to the wedding with me. Then we get a divorce.”

“You would do that for me?”

“Consider us even. Quid pro quo. Isn’t that what you business types say?”

“So, what you are posing for is a contract marriage? Both of us get what we want. No feelings and no love.”

“Tyler, you can’t control how you feel. No one can. If feelings develop, we can talk.”

“What if I already have feelings for you?”

“You don’t know me, Tyler. It’s impossible for you to have genuine feelings without getting to know me. You want to f**k me, but then when it’s over, the two of us will still be strangers. That is lust, not feelings.”

“How do you know I want to sleep with you?” he says, questioning me.

“Because you keep undressing me with your eyes. And I felt your fingers sliding up my back.”

“I don’t trust people. I am not a nice person and I will choose to work over everything else.”

“Fine. I am independent to a fault, have a crazy ex-husband, and if you lay a finger on me, I’ll kick your ass. Oh, and we aren’t sleeping together.”

There is a silent pause that fills the room. He ponders what I had to say.

He smiles, “f**k it, let’s get married.”