SIX
1642 Words
“Do you want to be my husband?”
He choked on absolutely nothing, coughing like my words physically attacked him. Good thing he didn’t spit it out in my face—because I swear, I would never forgive him. That would’ve been… disgusting.
“What?!” he blurted, making my eyebrow shoot up.
“I want you to be my husband,” I repeated calmly.
“Are you f*****g serious?”
I chuckled the moment he cursed.
I nodded casually. “I am f*****g serious.”
“W–Why me?” He pointed at himself like the idea personally offended him.
“No reason. You’re just… interesting, I guess?” I leaned back on the sofa and crossed my arms again.
“Is this some kind of prank?”
I shook my head firmly. “No. I’m serious, Mr. Fontanilla.”
“Why do you even need a… husband?” he asked, clearly not convinced.
I sighed loudly. “Well, my grandfather wants me to marry this guy right here”—I pointed at Isaac—“but I don’t want to marry him.”
“And what? You want to marry me instead?” he asked, confused.
“Uh… yes?”
“Nellie—Miss Ongpauco—I want to marry someone I love wholeheartedly. Not just for the sake of marrying,” he protested.
I let out another small laugh. “Oh, I forgot to mention, it’s a fake marriage, Mr. Dwayne Fontanilla. You won’t be marrying for real.”
“And why don’t you just marry that guy? Why choose a man you barely know?” he asked.
I raised a brow. He actually sounded… hot.
I glanced at Isaac, who immediately widened his eyes at me, silently warning me not to expose his real gender.
I looked back at Dwayne and lifted my pinky finger. “Because of this.”
His brows furrowed. “Your pinky? A promise?”
I scoffed. So slow. Instead of explaining, I pointed my pinky finger toward the center of Isaac’s body.
“Small,” I said plainly.
“What’s small abou—oh.”
He paused as realization finally hit him. He let out a light chuckle, and I couldn’t help but smile.
Isaac, on the other hand, looked horrified, only understanding the conversation after a few seconds. His eyes nearly popped out of his head as he glared at me like I committed a crime.
Truth is, I’ve never seen his “thing.” Gross. And knowing his real situation? No thank you. I might magically turn him straight or something. Kidding. I have zero plans of sleeping with him. Isaac is like a brother… or sister. I really just couldn’t think of any other excuse on the spot.
Mamang Ichi cleared her throat. “Uh… the truth is, Dwayne, Nellie’s grandfather is getting older. He wants to see his great-grandchild from this girl before he—”
“My grandfather is not dying, Mamang Ichi,” I cut her off sharply.
She immediately understood and nodded. She knows I hate that topic.
“But yes,” she continued, “the old man wants Nellie to get married. He set her up with Isk—I mean, Isaac. They both refused, so Nellie accidentally told him she already has a husband in Manila. And her grandfather believes every single word Nellie says. So now he wants us to bring her husband to the hacienda.”
“Wait. Hacienda?” Dwayne asked, confused.
“You can search me up online. There are articles about me,” I said proudly.
“Nah. Too lazy,” he replied casually.
I raised a brow. Wow, he’s comfortable now.
I sighed. “Fine. I am Nellie Ongpauco, from Batangas. We own a hacienda. Our business revolves around growing sugarcane.”
He nodded slowly. “Ah. The one used for sugar.”
“Exactly. So most of the sugar you put in your coffee? Comes from our plantations,” I added.
“That’s cool,” he commented.
I agreed with a nod. “Anyway, can I continue explaining our deal now that you officially know who I am?”
He nodded.
“All right. Like I said, you don’t need to worry about getting married. I’ll just have a fake marriage certificate made. It won’t be registered.”
“Nellie, what if your grandfather finds out it’s fake?” Isaac asked.
“He won’t. My word is enough for him. And besides… don’t you trust me, Isaac?”
Isaac sighed heavily. Of course he trusts me. He wouldn’t have told me his secret if he didn’t.
Dwayne cleared his throat. “So… what exactly do I have to do?”
“You just need to pretend to be my husband whenever my grandfather or our relatives are around. We won’t stay long in Batangas, anyway. You can continue your life here in Mani—”
“I don’t have a life here anymore,” he cut me off.
My lips parted slightly. “You really got kicked out?”
Dwayne sighed. “Because of you. Remember?”
“Well, that’s true. I’m really good in bed so—”
“Nellie, censor your words,” Mamang Ichi scolded.
I pouted. Fine.
“Anyway,” I continued, “just decide. What matters is we need to act like we’re really together.”
“For how long?” Dwayne asked.
“Uh… six months? Maybe? Then we’ll just say we separated because you didn’t want kids and—”
“I want to be a father,” he cut me off again.
“Obviously my grandfather will be mad if I say I don’t want kids,” I pointed out.
“Nah. I don’t like that excuse,” he said.
“Okay then. Let’s say you cheated on m—”
“I don’t cheat.”
I glared at him. “So what? Should I be the one who cheated? My grandfather will disown me!”
“Then what reason do you want?” he asked.
I pursed my lips. “Fine, let’s just say you’re infert—”
“Excuse me?”
I glared harder. “Can you just agree with me for once?!”
He shrugged coolly. “Nah. You need me here, Miss Ongpauco. You need me more than I need you.”
I gave him a death stare. “Then what do you want me to tell him? That I’m the one who can’t get pregnant? What if I suddenly get pregnant one day? What then?”
A playful smirk curved his lips. “So you want a round two?”
I rolled my eyes. “That is not what I meant. I mean, what if I get pregnant by one of my guys? What ar—”
“Nellie, you can’t flirt with other men while you have a husband,” Mamang Ichi cut me off. “One of your relatives might see you.”
I stared at her, offended. “And then what? You expect me to settle with him for six months? Only him?!”
Mamang Ichi nodded calmly. “It’s only six months, Nellie. Stop the drama.”
I exhaled harshly. “Fine! Ugh, gross! No flavor of the month? Just him?!”
Mamang Ichi shook her head at me. She knows monogamy isn’t exactly my thing.
I sighed again. “Fine! Fine!”
“You, Dwayne? Are you okay with not seeing any other women?” she asked him.
He shrugged. “I’m not a playboy, so I don’t mind.”
My jaw dropped a little. Yeah, right. The man danced with half the girls at the party when we first met.
“Oh good,” Mamang Ichi said. “Wait—did you even agree already?”
“I’ll think about it,” Dwayne replied politely.
I raised a brow. “I need your answer by tomorrow. We’re going home to Batangas.”
“Already?” Isaac asked.
“Why? You wanna party?” I shot back.
He almost nodded before freezing the moment Mamang Ichi glared at him.
“Give me your home address or condo address. We’ll pick you up tomorrow. And your phone number too. Make sure it works,” I said, handing him my phone.
He typed it quickly and returned it.
My brows furrowed. “You live in a house? I thought you lived in a condo?”
“I moved out a month ago,” he replied casually. He didn’t even ask how I knew that.
“All right. You can go home now. Isaac, bring him home. He clearly didn’t bring a car.”
Isaac nodded eagerly. “Sure.”
“Mamang Ichi, rent a hotel room for you and Isaac,” I instructed.
“Ha? We’re not sleeping here?”
I rolled my eyes. “Mamang Ichi, my condo unit is too small for the three of us.”
“I have spare rooms at home. You two can stay for the night,” Dwayne offered.
“Really?!” Mamang Ichi and Isaac asked together.
I rolled my eyes again. Flirts.
“No. They’ll book a hotel. We still need to talk,” I said firmly, ignoring their betrayed looks.
“Are you sure?” Dwayne asked.
I nodded.
“Isaac, bring him home. And come back here after, or you’re not going back to Batangas,” I warned.
Isaac glared at me, and I only smiled sweetly.
He followed orders, leaving with Dwayne. I flopped onto the sofa with a yawn as Mamang Ichi remained in the unit.
“So… what are you planning to do now?” she asked.
“Just some things,” I answered vaguely.
“Like?”
“Like preparing the documents so I can officially become Mrs. Fontanilla by tomorrow morning.”
- Writer
