HEIRS OF DISDAIN(They never wanted this.)

Chapter 5

Alison

I woke up to the sound of my phone being blown up by notifications. Most of them were from my family members, my mother to be precise. She was probably bothered about how the scandal would affect her reputation—and a little about the company, but mostly her reputation.

Seeing as I wasn't replying to texts, she switched to calls. After about three missed calls, I decided to answer the phone.

"What is your relationship with Alex Dragovich?"

Straight to interrogation. No exchange of pleasantries. Typical.

"Good morning to you too."

Sarcasm dripped off my comment, but she paid no mind to it. My usual way of talking to her was the least of her worries.

"What is your relationship with Alex? You never told me you were with him."

I just rolled my eyes at her persistent interrogation.

"Well, to be fair, you never asked. Plus, we didn't know if we were serious enough to get married given our history with the Dragovich family. I didn't think it was a good idea." I lied through my teeth.

My family and the Dragovich family aren't really on bad terms enough to be called enemies, but still not partners. They were one of our biggest competitors.

"But still, you should have told us. It might have prepared us for this situation. 7pm, Jameson mansion. You and Alex must be there." Then she hung up.

I immediately called Alex, who picked up on the second ring. I immediately heard his low baritone voice through the phone.

"I think I might actually get used to you calling me every day." He teased, but my heart didn't get the message and started doing backflips like that of a love-struck teen. I really need to destress. I guess coming back here has finally made me go crazy.

"You wish. I just called to inform you my parents fell for it. Dinner at their house, 7pm."

"Fine, I'll pick you up."

"Wait, why?" He groaned at my obvious question.

I guess my brain decided to ghost me at that moment.

"We're pretending to be a couple. Don't you think it would be suspicious if we came separately?"

"Ohh," I said, widening my eyes and nodding in realization. He muttered something incoherent and hung up on me.

---

Alex

I'm currently in a meeting at work discussing some major issues. Some of my employees have been laundering money and hiring incapable people under my name.

I love beautiful women and flirting as much as any guy, but that should be outside work. If I only hired pretty women, do you think I'd be here?

I had fired half of the people attending the meeting and was raising hell and demoting people. Just then my phone flashed with a name I longed for.

Since last night, I haven't been able to get her off my mind.

A picture of her pale, flushed skin with my jacket draped over her shoulders flashed in my mind several times. She had taken over my mind, but I wasn't going to let her know that. I wanted to let it ring for a while, but I couldn't stop myself and picked up on the second ring. I couldn't resist teasing immediately.

"I think I might actually get used to you calling me every day."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the call before she retorted, "You wish."

I almost chuckled at her statement. If only she knew.

"I just called to inform you my parents fell for it. Dinner, 7pm at their house."

The thought of having dinner with her instantly made me smile.

"Fine, I'll pick you up."

"Wait, why?" Her voice came curiously from the other end.

I faked an annoyed groan and explained it would be suspicious if a supposed couple didn't arrive together. I heard her say "ohh" in realization.

"One of these days, you'd drive me crazy."

I thought out loud without realizing it and immediately hung up the phone. I just hoped she didn't hear that.

Only after hanging up did I remember where I was and what I was doing before she called. The whole time I was smiling like a fool.

I looked at the shocked gazes of my employees, which was quite understandable. Even I found it weird. To make the situation less awkward, I cleared my throat and spoke.

"Meeting adjourned."

They immediately scurried out of the meeting, probably afraid I'd dock their pay any lower.

—————————

After that awkward situation with my employees, everything else went well except that I kept getting weird gazes from them. I'd either confirmed mine and Alison's engagement rumors, or I'd proved I needed psychiatric help. But that didn't bother me. The thought of seeing Alison in a few hours kept me looking at my watch every ten seconds.

This girl had finally driven me crazy. She had literally taken over my mind. As soon as the clock struck 5pm, I went home, further confirming my mental illness rumors.

I drove home, took a shower, wore one of my favorite gray tailored suits, styled my short blonde hair for the first time in a while, applied cologne, and was finally done by six. I drove to her house, which was a 30-minute drive, and rang the doorbell. Unlike last time, Alicia didn't answer the door.

She did.

And God, was she stunning. She wore a long black dress with a slit that ended at her mid-thigh, exposing her slender legs, and her hair cascaded down her shoulders. I had the urge to run my hands through it.

If me from two weeks ago heard my thoughts right now, he would be more than shocked. I knew this path I'd chosen to take would probably end terribly, but I was too greedy to stop myself.

Suddenly I lost control over my mouth, and my thoughts slipped out.

"Beautiful..."

Realizing what I'd done, I quickly corrected myself. "Putting in effort like that would make the dating rumors believable."

When I said that, something flickered in her eyes that looked like disappointment—or I could just be seeing things, especially given my questionable attitude recently.

"Let's go." She snapped me out of my thoughts and walked past me to enter the shotgun seat.

I immediately followed behind her and drove off. The whole drive was silent apart from Alison filling me in on some background information—like how we met, how long we'd been together, and some necessities. I just listened to her talk, chipping in once in a while.

In a few minutes we got there and got out of the car. It was the first time I was coming there, so I wasn't really familiar.

This relationship may be a lie, but I was going to make the most of it.

I took her hand right after we got out of the car and entwined my fingers with hers. Those few seconds felt like heaven.

We walked in to meet the eyes of her family: her mother, father, and aunts, which I knew, and some others. In their eyes I noticed hostility, hatred even. Doesn't seem like the kind of emotion one would have for a family member.

---

Alison

Alex and I arrived at my house by 6:30. I had on a long black evening dress with a slit that started at my thigh, just to spite my mother. She always hated dresses with slits because they are immodest, apparently. I opened the door for Alex, just for him to take my ability to breathe.

I had to admit, this time he had outdone himself. But I wasn't going to tell him that and give him something to gloat about for the next few days.

My eyes met with his seemingly dazed eyes, and... "Beautiful," he said, almost a whisper. A word I never thought he'd use to classify me. Not that I wasn't beautiful. He'd usually refer to girls as hot or sexy, and as in 'girls,' that included me. Well, until now.

"Nice. Putting in effort like that makes the rumor seem believable."

He just had to open his mouth again and ruin everything. Not that I was disappointed. I wasn't. Okay...

I walked past him, not bothering to comment on his backhanded compliment. "Let's go."

The entire ride I filled him in on the family lore—well, the ones that needed mentioning—and a few fake background details on our "relationship." So in summary, I talked all through the ride. Alex would sometimes chip in for like three seconds, but the rest was all me. Anything to keep my strange attraction to my said enemy at bay.

We finally arrived at my house, but for some reason, unlike the last time, I wasn't nervous or tense. I didn't take any dramatic pause or anything of that sort.

Probably because my hands were tightly clasped in Alex's.

We took quick strides towards the dining and sat with my quietly welcoming family. The dinner was quiet for about two seconds before my mother opened her mouth.

And so the interrogation begins.

"How did you two meet, and how long have you been together?" my mother asked. It wasn't a surprise that was her first question.

Focusing intently on my plate, which suddenly became so interesting, I answered in a lazy tone. "He's Alicia's cousin, so we met through her. And it's been about two months."

"Why didn't you tell us about your relationship?" My aunt asked this time with curious eyes.

I set down my fork and looked up fiercely. "I never realized I needed your approval to date. Plus, I already explained it to your sister." I said with a smile on my face.

"So who loved who first?" An overly enthusiastic relative who clearly couldn't read the room beamed at me.

Like all the other questions, I was about to answer when suddenly he spoke.

"I did."