The Romance Of Lies

TO PROTECT SHAME

Opal had no choice but to smile stiffly. Henry Steele? Wasn’t that a name she had made up? Was that not the fake husband she had created?

Could it be it was a real person? She almost went crazy but tried to seem calm.

“I will be awaiting a call from your husband,” he said and she managed a smile and answered, “Of course, let us meet another time,”

Mark nodded, genuinely pleased. “Opal. Let’s do that.”

Opal left Mark’s office holding back the need to scream. How did she dig herself into this hole? She wanted to stop and cry. She had thought if he heard her out first, then she could explain she was not married. But by the looks of it, if she refused, he would not even look at their project.

What now?

As she walked out of Mark Kent’s office, she consoled herself; she had, after all, secured a cooperation with Mark Kent. Now she had to find her husband. How hard could it be?

She hailed a taxi and got on then she pulled out her phone and called her friend Riley.

“Riley, I am dead, come and collect my corpse.” Opal blurted out as soon as Riley answered.

“It is not a good time to die, the economy has not been good on coffin prices,” Riley answered.

“Can’t you at least worry if the mortuary is too cold for your friend’s body first?” Opal asked.

“Okay, spill the tea, Opal, who killed you?”

“Mark Kent and my big mouth joined hands and plotted this murder,” Opal cried.

“ Is this about the big project?” Riley’s voice crackled with curiosity on the other end of the line.

“I don’t know anymore. Mark Kent promised to join my project if I introduced my husband to his project,” she said.

Riley almost choked. “Husband? What husband? You got married?”

“If you ask me, who should I ask? I don’t know about any husband. I don’t know how it spread that I am married to Henry Steele. It was only one lie. He probably heard back at the hotel,” Opal said.

“Hotel? What hotel?” Riley asked.

“I came back from work two weeks ago and found that Andrew was having an engagement party with Erica and I got angry got drunk and stayed out,” Opal explained.

“Andrew and Erica? Slow down. What about the husband?” Riley asked frantically.

“I met Andrew, Erica, and her flying monkeys and they provoked me so I said I was married to Henry Steele,” Opal explained.

“Who is Henry Steele?” Riley asked.

“I don’t know. It was a made-up name. Now I walked into a meeting with Mark Kent and he wants a favor from my husband Henry Steele. Who the Hell is Henry Steele?” Opal screamed.

“Then what did you say? You explained right?”

“How could I? But my big mouth went along with it to secure this deal. If I fail to get Mark on board my boss will kill me,” Opal said in frustration.

“I knew your mouth was going to be the death of you someday” Riley muttered

“Now he’s expecting me to discuss this with my husband,” Opal explained, “where am I going to find this Henry Steele?”

There was a brief silence before Riley spoke, “This sounds like the Telenovela my mother was watching yesterday,”

“I always knew I was meant for the big screen,” Opal mumbled.

“But it means your husband exists, you just don’t know him. Want me to find your husband? I can ask Millie. She is a reporter, right? I will just ask her to help find a Henry Steele. I won’t tell her you married yourself off,” Riley joked.

“Please, he has not been home in days,” Opal said dramatically playing along.

“Alright, I’m on it. I’ll find out where Mark got this information and who he assumes is your mysterious husband.”

“Thank you, Riley. I need to figure this out before my corpse gets cold. Let me know if you uncover anything unusual.”

Later that night, Riley appeared at Opal’s apartment. Opal only slightly opened the door when Riley dashed in, taking off her shoes in haste and jumping on the couch. Opal had a bag of late-night snacks in hand, and shut the door as she followed Riley behind.

Seeing her reaction, Opal knew she must have found something about her husband. She hurried after Riley and settled beside her.

Just then, a call interrupted them. Opal picked it up and frowned. She did not know this number.

“Who is this?” she asked the moment she placed the phone on her ear.

“You don’t even have your grandmother’s number?” an elderly woman on the other end asked, her voice filled with disapproval.

Opal froze. Why was she calling?

“Mrs. Grey, last I recalled, I told you not to call yourself my grandmother again,” Opal said and Riley frowned and paused with her drink halfway to her mouth.

“What a badly raised child. Did your mother teach you to be so rude?” the woman asked. Opal sneered. Her mother was already dead, but they would not let her go. They blamed her for everything.

“What do you want? I don’t have time to deal with you. Talk or else I am ending this call,” Opal answered.

“Your cousin and Andrew are getting married next week. Come back and attend,” the woman ordered. Opal’s face instantly grew a sneer.

“Mrs. Grey, is it that you are just bored or you want chaos? Maybe you don’t want this marriage to hold and you are using me as a weapon to cause trouble that day. Or else, why would you invite me? What does it have to do with me if that community toilet and low-budget Buddha get married?”

“You dare call your cousin a community toilet?” The grandmother’s voice exploded from the phone.

“I did not mention who was the toilet and you still managed to figure it out. I had thought you were just some stupid old lady when I was growing up, but it seems you are quite smart but was just turning a blind eye to every time I was bullied. So what if I call her a community toilet? What kind of woman crawls into her cousin’s boyfriend’s bed?” Opal asked.

“This is all in the past. Let it go!” her grandmother ordered, “Erica will be marrying into the Stone family. You have to go there to show that you give them your blessing. This is not only a matter of family face, but also about the reputation of the Stone family. Mutual friends will be there. They will talk about your cousin and her man. If the Stone family is embarrassed that day, the family business may suffer,” The old woman said and Opal almost laughed.

“What does your family business have to do with me? Are you prepared to hand over my mother’s shares? People are going to talk? When Erica was behaving like a free-use power bank, why did she not think that people would talk? When you dared take her side after she slept with my boyfriend, even held a banquet for them, why did you not think that people would talk?” Opal spat bitterly.

“This is not a request. You better be back two days before the wedding or else, don’t blame me for what I will do next,” the old woman threatened.

“Fine! I want to see your ability!” Opal scoffed and ended the call. She and Riley immediately acted as though the call did not happen. They were not going to give energy to irrelevant people.

“Opal, arise from the dead, you married well,” Riley said dramatically, and she raised a brow.

“You found who he is? Who is it? Who is it? Tell me so that I can return to eternal rest.”

“There was no need to call Millie. I just searched for him on the Internet. You are impersonating the wife of the one and only Henry Steele. CEO of Steele group” Riley grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her.