Fake Marriage: The CEO Wants to Go Public Every Day

Raindrops streaked down the towering glass windows of the office, blurring the city lights into a haze of gold and gray. Emma stood by the desk, gripping the edge of the polished surface as if it were the only thing keeping her grounded. Across from her, Nathan’s figure loomed—sharp suit, sharper gaze, and an aura that made it impossible to breathe normally. “You’re really going to do this?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Her fingers trembled slightly, clutching the contract she had read a hundred times but still couldn’t fully comprehend. Nathan didn’t answer immediately. He reached for the contract and placed it gently in front of her, as if offering her a choice and a challenge at the same time. “Every day,” he said, his tone calm but with an undeniable edge. “I want the world to see us as married. Every single day.” Emma froze. Every day? Every day she would have to face cameras, interviews, gossip columns, the entire company, even the entire world? Her pulse quickened, but she forced herself to speak. “That’s… isn’t that a little too much?” Nathan stepped closer, his eyes locking onto hers, ice and fire mingled in their depths. “It’s part of the agreement. And it’s also your protection,” he said quietly. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. But I want people to know that we are husband and wife.” Her chest tightened. It was absurd. Ridiculous. Yet… somehow, looking at him, feeling the sincerity—or was it his stubbornness?—in his gaze, she felt a strange pull. A pull that made her consider saying yes before her mind had the chance to protest. Emma drew in a shaky breath and glanced at the contract. The words seemed to glow under the harsh office lights: “Fake Marriage Agreement: Duration One Year, Terms Confidential.” She had read them, understood them, yet the weight of reality still hit like a freight train. Nathan noticed her hesitation and extended a hand, smooth, confident, commanding. “Sign it,” he said simply. “Not because I’m forcing you, but because I know you want this, too. Deep down, you do.” Emma’s fingers hovered over the pen. Her heart was a riot—fear, disbelief, and… anticipation? She clenched her jaw and finally pressed the tip of the pen against the paper. The sound of the ink scratching the contract felt louder than the storm outside. Click. The pen sealed their agreement. Fake marriage. Daily public appearances. A year-long lie that would bind them together in front of everyone. And yet, in the silence that followed, neither of them moved. Nathan broke the quiet first, leaning back slightly with a rare, small smile. “You know,” he said, voice softening, “this is only the beginning. And Emma…” His gaze lingered on her face, unreadable, intense. “…you’re going to get used to being in the spotlight. With me.” Emma wanted to protest, to tell him she wasn’t ready, that this was insane, but words wouldn’t come. Instead, she simply nodded, her mind racing with questions she didn’t dare voice. What did this mean for her life, her career, her heart? And what did it mean for Nathan—the man who looked at her like she mattered more than the world itself? The rain tapped relentlessly on the window, a rhythmic reminder that their story had already begun, even if neither of them knew where it would lead. And in that office, with the city sprawled below and the storm above, two people bound by a contract took the first tentative steps into a life that would blur the lines between pretense and reality, between fear and desire. Emma realized, with a mixture of dread and excitement, that this fake marriage might be far more real than either of them had anticipated.