FALLING FOR THE MARRIED BILLIONAIRE.

THE DEEDS.

Pierce made sure not to make eye contact with his wife who sat opposite him, from his rearview, he could see her eyes fixated on him. Thank goodness his daughter was next to him, he could exercise his focus on Frieda. His wife had prepared breakfast that morning for him, that alone was strange, the cook usually does all the kitchen work.

He'd spent a good amount of time thinking of what he could have possibly done to trigger her actions. He concluded that whatever it was, he would find out sooner or later, Caitlyn was not one for keeping things to herself, they always come to light.

And besides, he didn't have the liberty or time to engage in any operation with his wife, he had a cook-off to attend. So far he'd put the masquerade party shenanigans behind him, it was time to move on. Pierce could still see his wife glaring at him, he grew even more concerned.

* * * * * * * * * *

He took the last bite of his scrambled eggs and dropped his fork.

" What's wrong? ", Pierce finally locked eyes with his wife Caitlyn.

She gave him her 'up-to-something' smile. He knew right there and then that she wanted something from him. He was relieved that it wasn't something trivial, he was prepared to do anything to keep the peace at home.

" Oh, nothing honey. " Caitlyn answered, " It's just that Frieda is getting really bad at English. I want to hire a home teacher for her. "

" Oh, " Indeed he was relieved, " Is that all? " He turned over to Frieda who was almost done with her meal.

Caitlyn nodded.

Pierce brought out his checkbook from his left pocket and wrote her a twenty thousand dollar check and handed it to her.

" It's too much honey. "

" You can get whatever you want with what's left. " Pierce patted Caitlyn's hand as he prepped to leave.

" Daddy, " Frieda called.

" Yes honey, " Pierce answered with a cheer.

" Is she going to be nice and pretty? " She said exposing her broken incisors.

Pierce chuckled and caressed his daughter's cheeks, " I hope she is, your mom has nice taste, just trust her. "

Frieda nodded with a tender smile on her face. Pierce's heart melted, there was nothing he loved more than putting a smile on his daughter's face.

He lifted Frieda from her chair and into his bosom and twirled her around. The cackling laughter that ensued made him even more pleased.

" What do you want from daddy later? " He asked her with his eyes on hers.

" A huge chocolate and strawberry cake! " Frieda exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.

" Consider it done! " He tickled her lightly and kissed her on the forehead.

" Okay Sunshine, let your dad go to work. " Caitlyn chipped in.

Pierce placed Frieda back down on her chair and adjusted his clothing.

Caitlyn got to her feet and catwalks to Pierce and began placing his tie in order. She made several glances at his face as she did her job. She could tell that he was edgy, he always is when she is that close to him when he has a REASON to be. She had gotten used to her husband being uncomfortable with her presence, but that didn't mean she wasn't rooting for a change.

She didn't care if it would come forced, it had to come. He was hers and she was his. What he felt about that made no difference. When she was done with his tie, she moved to his collar, making him even more anxious. To put the icing on the cake, she move closer to him, and with tippy toes, her face met with his. She sniffed him harder than a dog would, running her nose around his facial skin and inhaling his scent for a reason only she knew.

" Honey, " Pierce cleared his throat as he shifted his gaze to Frieda who was trying hard to focus on her breakfast, " Riley is right here, can we do this later? "

Caitlyn smirked, " Of course. " She kissed him on his lips and slowly caressed them.

" Take care. " Pierce needed to get out of there.

" Good luck with the competition! " Caitlyn yelled behind him as he disappeared from the house.

Caitlyn turned over to Frieda who appeared sad as her father left.

" Sunshine, please don't give me that face again. We can't be doing this every morning your father goes to work. "

Frieda slowly nodded.

" You did a good job though, what can mommy get you? "

Frieda seemed a tad happy as light resurfaced in her eyes.

" Can she be nice?... like super duper nice? "

Caitlin arched a brow, " Are we talking about the teacher? "

Frieda eagerly nodded.

Caitlyn rested her chin on her hands as she sighed deeply, " I don't know sunshine, but I hope she is... I hope she is. "

* * * * * * * * * * *

Pierce was glad to get out of his home environment and into his workspace. He had a moment of silence where he did a mental rundown of his daily activities. He did this routine to clear his thoughts and to make way for fresh ones, he couldn't affect, mix or relate his work life and his personal life, there had to be a balance.

A knock on the door pulled him back to reality, and it was his stepbrother Ethan.

" Good morning my man! " Ethan sounded cheerful as always.

" Morning, Ethan. " Pierce answered under his breath.

" Cheer up bro, everything is in order. "

Pierce arched his brows and gestured for Ethan to give him the envelope that contained the lineup of events and he handed it over to him.

" Decided how the finals are going to be yet? " Pierce asked.

" Well, we decided that the final is going to be blind judging. "

Blind judging meant that the judges won't be able to visibly profile the contestants, causing them not to be able to identify the owners of the dishes. It aids in extremely fair and coordinated judging. The winner will emerge from the final round and of course, would be broadcasted on the food network.

" Sounds exciting right? " Ethan smirked.

Pierce rolled his eyes as he contemplated telling his brother what he felt about the decision. He found it exciting but he knew that the idea didn't come from Ethan. He decided to keep his findings to himself to once again, keep the peace.

Even though his father left his step-family out of the business, Ethan wanted them to be a part of it. Pierce had every right to go by the book and keep everything for himself, but he didn't. Being the man that he was, he let everyone who wanted to be a part of the business into the business. And that included his stepbrother Ethan who was an okay guy but lacked knowledge and zeal for the business.

Pierce needed to get to the bottom of why Ethan was in the company in the first place if he couldn't do things right. Then there was the fact that Ethan DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. Perhaps he had other aspirations, but what could Pierce know? he didn't want to keep his siblings from their father's establishments even though their father wanted that.

Aside from the fact that Ethan was clueless about the job, he was an understanding guy. Pierce could tell that regardless of their underlying occurrences, Ethan genuinely cared about him. Pierce couldn't say the same for Soraya, his stepsister. Soraya was the opposite of Ethan, she despised him, and what's worse that she didn't hide her disdain.

Soraya never fails to remind him that she will do whatever it takes to get the company back, as she feels like it belongs to 'her' family. Pierce understood her plight and has done everything possible to stay out of her way. He also let Soraya into the company, which was a dangerous move, seeing that she would destroy him with every opportunity she gets.

Pierce saw the bigger picture and is still doing just that, even when nobody understood. He strived to keep the peace even when things crumbled right in front of him, he believe he could be the bigger person. Perhaps his father never saw a future between all his children but Pierce did. His father was the one for family togetherness and love, but maybe he could be a figure for that.

Soraya had a daughter the same age as his, he wanted his daughter to familiarize herself with her cousin and possibly grow a strong bond. A bond that he never had with his father, his siblings, or even his late mother.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Pierce placed back the papers in order, " Thank you, Ethan, I think that's a fantastic idea. " He wore a forced smile.

Ethan appeared pleased with himself, he nodded.

" Give me a sec, I need to freshen up. " Pierce replied.

" Sure bro, " Ethan tapped Pierce on the arm, " I'll go check on how the final process is going. " Ethan headed for the door.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

(Beth's POV)

Beth checked her surroundings a couple of times before she felt at peace to accomplish her goal. She was on edge for a lot of reasons and it wasn't the time to contemplate them, she had to act and act fast. What she was about to do was wrong and she was aware of that fact, but she needed to do it anyway.

She couldn't sit idle and watch Lori slither her way back into her life, not after what she did. Beth had come to terms with the repercussions of what she was about to do, should the truth come to light.

As she walked further into the room, she spotted the baskets that were already prepared for the finalists. Beth hoped she wouldn't have to come to this, but Lori had passed both the first and second rounds, just like she feared. Now it was time to take matters into her hands.

Beth already had a heads-up on how the final stage is going to play out, which included the key ingredient. She strolled over to the tables where the baskets sat and ran her eyes through them until she made contact with Lori basket.

She had a short moment of silence where it appeared like she was rethinking her stance, she briefly walked down memory lane. But all that came to an end when she brought out Lori key ingredient, the yogurt, and prepared to lace it with salt.

* * * * * * * * * * *

" What the f**k do you think you're doing? "

Out of the blue, Ethan walked in on her.