Business as Usual (6 page)

When we entered the wedding chapel I was met
with
oohs
and
aahs
by the
other couples. We made it just in time for our ceremony, with only two couples
before us. I was summoned from the bridal room after a half hour wait. I heard
the wedding song and peeked around the corner. Ethan stood at the other end of
the room with the minister designated to officiate our wedding. I took a deep
breath and marched down the aisle. Ethan had his shoulder length hair trimmed
and wore a tailored black suit. He was admittedly, strikingly handsome,
especially with a clean shaven face.

He watched with an air of cool as I marched
toward him. I carried a small bouquet of red Hypericum berries, roses, and
eucalyptus flowers that had been fashioned by the wedding coordinator with
Ethan’s strict seal of approval. After a march that seemed to take forever, I
made it to the other end of the aisle where he waited for me. The minister
presiding over the wedding asked us to join hands which I did without
hesitation.
How many times had Ethan held my hand today?
I was already
used to the feel of his fingers encompassing mine. We faced each other and
listened as the minister performed the ceremony. The man went on and on about
love lasting an eternity and couples making marriage work, enduring sickness
and health. The minister smiled like a doting grandfather…like he had been
truly honored in uniting a young couple in “love”. I felt like a fraud. When it
was time Ethan and I recited our vows on cue like all the other couples who had
gone before us. I held his gaze without apprehension for the first time,
staring into brown eyes with flecks of hazel in them. Ethan squeezed my
fingers, interlocking them with his own as the minister neared the end of the
ceremony and demanded he kiss the bride. I took a deep breath, expecting an
awkward peck on the lips.

Then with a feverish passion that took me by
surprise, Ethan pressed his lips against mine. I surrendered to the passionate
onslaught as one of his hands braced the back of my neck and the other pulled
me by the waist into his arms.
Heavens, what is this man like in bed?
With my thoughts racing, I released a breathy sigh as his tongue entangled and
played with mine. Ethan kissed like a man who liked to kiss and for a moment,
we seemed to forget about the business arrangement and our farce of a wedding.
With an irrational irritability I couldn’t explain, when we parted I blamed my
heated response to Ethan’s kiss on the moody Romanesque chapel, the flowers
adorning the pews, and the panoramic view of the city skyline. I’d simply been
swept into the moment. I brushed a hand across my lips. They were still warm…

Whistles erupted in the room and the bulb from
a camera flashed. I looked up, like a deer in headlights as a crowd slowly
filled the room. 

“You look beautiful,” Ethan whispered against
my neck. “I love your dress.” Candlelight flickered in his eyes. He brushed the
side of my hair with his fingertips.

“Who are all these people?”

Ethan sighed. “I was told by the wedding
coordinator that paparazzi hang around the courthouse looking for celebrities.”

“What does that have to do with us?”

Ethan glared at me like I was overlooking the
obvious.

“When Donald Trump’s daughter got married, the
press was all over it. The same goes for the daughter of Eugene Byron.”

I shook my head in near panic. “What? They can’t
do this. We’re private citizens!”

“Not anymore. You’re married to the son of a
multi-billion dollar land developer. The entire business world is watching,” he
whispered in my ear.

Flashing bulbs from the paparazzi nearly
blinded us as we pushed our way through the crowd to the waiting Maybach
outside of the chapel. Then I spied him...the man in the leather jacket, wire
dangling from his ear, gawking at us trance-like from the crowd. I looked away
as we scrambled into the car, just as an emboldened member of the paparazzi
asked where we were going for our honeymoon. Ethan told him it was a surprise
and kissed the back of my fingers like a doting husband.
The man deserved an
Oscar.

I pulled the train of my dress inside and the driver
closed the door. “Where are we going?” I asked, realizing Ethan was still
holding my hand. I tried to pull it away but he lifted my hand to his lips,
kissing the back of my fingers again. Then he dropped a bombshell.

“Your father flew all of your friends to Vegas.
They’re coming to our wedding reception.”

 “And you knew about this?” I gasped.

Once again, Ethan and my father were trying to
control my life, robbing me of the opportunity to tell my own friends about the
wedding. No doubt my best friend Claudia would be hurt that I had not only
gotten married without telling her, but that I’d broken our pact. The two of us
vowed we would never marry a rich man… especially men who reminded us of our
fathers. Claudia kept her end of the deal when she married Wayne, a city bus
driver a few years ago. But Ethan was a carbon copy of my father, only younger,
handsomer, and foreign. These billionaire playboys were all the same no matter
where they hailed from.

I bit my anger down, gazing out of the car
window at the string of street lights swirling by. A strong sense of decorum
prevented me from ripping his head off. I was a Byron, after all and Ethan was
still a client and business partner.

“I had nothing to do with it, if that’s what
you’re asking. You’ll have to take this one up with your father.”

“What did he tell them? Who did he invite?”

“He told them it was a private affair…that we
wanted to do it on our own.”

On our own?
What decision had I made, other than
saying ‘I do’? Ethan and my father controlled the event from beginning to end,
including our so called engagement, however short-lived that was.

“What about the honeymoon?” I fumed.

“I’m taking you to Aruba.”

I tried to hide my disappointment.

“We’re going to Aruba?
For how long
?”

“Three weeks. Just you and me,
Lau Po
.”
 

I slumped against the cool leather seats in the
Maybach, completely overwhelmed. And he called me “Lau
Poh
”.
I couldn’t complain this time because I was legally, Ethan’s “wife”.

The driver took us directly to the Marcy’s, the
club hosting our wedding reception. Dance music filtered through the club’s
open doors, its pulsating beat vibrating through my body. We were still holding
hands when we walked in, our hearts aflutter, not quite sure what to expect
when we saw my friends. It was the first time I’d ever seen Ethan look nervous.
The club was a two story loft in a large building designed to look like a
warehouse. The environment was loud with flashing red lights and a deejay, who
announced us as we walked in.

“What do we do now?” I asked.

“We’ll say hello to your father, and then I
guess you can explain what happened to your friends.”

“Dear heavens, what am I supposed to tell
them?” I shrieked, in near panic.

“Explain what we agreed to tell them earlier...
we’ve been having a secret love affair for months and decided to get married. I
guess from there you’ll need to make it up as you go along.”

“This is so infuriating! You and my father
thought of everything else, but can’t figure out how to explain this to our friends
and family.”

Ethan shrugged. “Let them think what they
want.”

“It’s not that easy,” I sighed. “These people
are important to me. We could also get in trouble, or have you forgotten about
that?”

“Then let’s talk to your father and see what he
says.”

“No. I’m not speaking to him right now.” I was
tired of the man. Tired of him controlling my life.

At that exact moment someone tapped me on the
shoulder, but as I turned to see who it was, I was swept into an embrace. I
squirmed and pushed away until I realized I was in the arms of my best friend
Claudia.

“You’re here!” I exclaimed, grateful to see her
friendly face.

“You okay?” she asked, searching my eyes.

“Congratulations,” she said, grimacing as she
looked over at Ethan. “You’re a very lucky man.”

“Thanks.” He gave her a dry look. “I’m sure the
girls at the office will have plenty to gossip about at the water cooler on
Monday.”

“Don’t be rude,” I pleaded with Ethan,
wondering what the exchange was all about.

“I’ll go over and have a word with your father,”
he said, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek.

Claudia rolled her eyes as he turned away.

“Your lips are smiling but your eyes are
pleading for help. Don’t say a word, I already know.”

Claudia hugged me again.

“I knew they were up to something!” she
exclaimed, gazing at me with wild eyes. Claudia stood about 5’1” and wore her
hair in a short dark pixie cut. But she was massively intimidating in her way,
because she was never one to mince words.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“The whole thing reeks of a farce! That’s what
I mean. How could your father ask you to do something like this? Shame on him!
I’m so pissed right now. But I had to come and see you for myself.”

No longer forced to lie to my best friend, I
felt like a giant weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

“Can we talk?”

“Of course, dear! Let’s find a quiet corner,
but make sure you say hi to everyone first. Diana is here, Patty, Gloria,
Cheyenne, and your Aunt Bev. Your father invited some of Ethan’s friends and a
few other relatives I haven’t seen before. He told me to make arrangements to
fly everyone out on his private plane this morning.”

Claudia worked as my father’s executive
secretary. Like Eugene, her father was also a wealthy businessman, but he
disowned her when she agreed to marry Wayne. I convinced my father to hire her
as his secretary when Claudia ran out of money and could no longer make ends
meet.

Claudia and I made rounds as quickly as we could,
talking to friends and relatives who all seemed genuinely happy for me and
Ethan.

To them, nothing seemed amiss other than the
fact that the relationship and wedding had been kept a secret. Ethan joined us for
a spell and I introduced him to anyone he hadn’t met before. Everyone seemed to
like him…
everyone except the bride
.

Soon,
Claudia and I were alone, out on the rooftop, breathing in warm Vegas air. I
told her about my father’s situation, and how Mr. Yu wanted Ethan to oversee
the project in the U.S.

“I think I need a smoke,” she said, lighting a
cigarette. “You don’t have to say a word. You could get in trouble for
this…sometimes I don’t understand your father. He gets into the dumbest
scrapes. I think they’re after your father’s company. How else do you explain
your father coercing you into marrying Ethan Yu like that?”

I shook my head, sighing. “How’d you figure it
out?”

“I work for the man, honey. I knew something
was up a few weeks ago when Ethan and his father came to the office. They were
in and out almost every other day for weeks. Then they finally came back with a
couple of high powered attorneys one day. Your Dad invited the same lawyer who
worked on his divorce from your mum. I was curious, so later that day when he
left the office, I peeked into a folder that he left on his desk and saw the
prenuptial agreement for you and Ethan.”

“And you didn’t tell me about it?” I shrieked.
“The only person who didn’t know I was getting married was me! Claudia, this
really pisses me off.”

“I know
hun
... I
didn’t say anything because I figured you were in on the plan. I had no idea
they would ambush you the way they did.”

“You said you think they’re after my father’s
company. That can’t be right,” I groaned.

“Why are my suspicions so farfetched? Why would
your father insist on getting the two of you together? You told me he was in
trouble, right?”

“He said we were a match and Ethan’s a good
guy. Besides, there’s a flaw in your argument. Who would trade a multi-billion
dollar business venture for me? No woman is worth that much to anybody.”

“There’s more…” Claudia continued,
enigmatically. “This morning, Hammond Industries, transferred millions of Byron
Energy stock to your father. He was about to lose his control of the company,
but this put him back on top.”

“That can’t be right. He didn’t tell me he was
losing control of Byron Energy…”

“Hammond’s an American company. What does this
have to do with Ethan?”

“I don’t know, but it’s worth looking into.”

I pondered this information some more as I
peered over the roof at the street below. It had to be a coincidence…

“What do you think of Ethan? Is he nice?”

“He’s cute but he’s exactly what you think he’s
like. The man is a spoiled brat! He’s just like my father, but worse. He’s
extremely controlling and acts like it’s a real marriage.”