Episode 2: playing the fool

Emily had done it.

She had performed the most unthinkable of actions.

The woman was married!

Married to a man that she barely even knew at that!

It appeared she had seriously lost it after finding out about Jake's infidelity.

Maybe the woman needed to schedule an appointment with her old therapist because she really was going off the rails, no. She was travelling on a first class flight to Looneyville. Scratch that - she had Lindsay Lohan the heck out of this situation!

Right at the moment, she was sweating bullets as the marriage certificate in her hands seemed to burn her skin while she dragged her feet behind the broad back of the man before her.

From now on, he was going to be her husband.

Un-be-liev-able.

"We need to go over the details of this marriage because I'm honestly starting to get cold feet."

"Isn't that something you get before getting married?"

"Apparently, I have a knack for not doing things in the right order."

She nodded at his sarcasm. "Okay, let's do so. Where do you wanna talk?"

"There's a café nearby. We can go there."

She was hesitant.

Noticing her not following him, the man spared a glance behind him. "Is there a problem? Why aren't you coming?"

Emily wondered if bringing up the fact that she was scared to get recognized would make her sound big-headed.

Luckily, David came to the rescue. "I think it would be better for Miss Pinault to not be seen in public with you as yet."

It was only then Nicholas caught on.

"Okay then. Let's do it in the car."

The man headed straight for his white Cadillac Escalade. Emily looked at him as they sat face to face with each other. Her gaze told him all he needed to know of her eagerness for him to spill whatever he wanted to say.

In fact, she looked like she was late for some kind of appointment and couldn't wait to get this over with.

It actually got on his nerves to think of himself as a nuisance to someone else.

It made matters even worse when she beat him to it.

"I want to say thank you for marrying me. I don't know exactly how you'll benefit from this entire ordeal. I just overheard a few business concepts. But because of your sacrifice if you need anything, please let me know."

"You're telling me to ask you for favors?"

She nodded

His hands folded themselves, taken by what was going down between them.

"Shouldn't that be the other way around?"

Emily looked at him intently. "Why should it?"

Neither of them moved after that, watching the other's reaction like a hawk.

Nicholas broke the tension with a light chuckle.

"You're an interesting one." He said.

"I don't know if that's a compliment or not."

"Let's say it's somewhere in the middle."

His eyes twinkled as he fixed the shiny watch on his wrist. "Also, you don't have to worry about me asking for favors, no matter what form they may be."

She didn't know if she should have been offended or not because his voice gave nothing away.

"I actually think I'm the one who should be more concerned about who gets what out of this marriage."

Emily let out a scoff at that.

"What exactly are you implying?"

"Your goal." His eyes narrowed.

She swallowed at his sudden harshness.

"What is it?"

"I don't have any," she said.

He rolled his eyes.

It was so distasteful it made her jaw tighten.

"At least not the one you're thinking of."

"So you do have one? You just said you didn't."

"Did you bring me in your car to interrogate me, Mr.

King?"

He shook his head, amusement lingering in his eyes.

"Of course not, Miss Pinault. You can't blame me for being this way after marry ga complete stranger."

"The last time I recalled I never dragged you by your legs, kicking and screaming to do this with me."

"You're right," he acknowledged.

His eyes settled onto her own, a sedation coming from her reminder.

"So I'd appreciate it if you'd stop looking at me with a hint of suspicion."

"Am I?"

"You are."

He let out a deep breath. "I didn't mean to. I apologize."

"It's alright," she brushed it off quickly, thanks to him owning up to his mistake.

"You said you don't want any favors from me but I actually have one to ask of you."

"Say it." Nicholas urged before he tugged at the neck of his suit.

I knew I shouldn't have taken her word for it, he doubted her again.

"I don't want you to interfere in my personal matters."

"You're telling me to mind my own business?" His lips twitched with the realization.

Is that what she called a favor?

Emily opened her mouth to defend herself but when she thought it over, that's exactly what she was saying.

"If you want to take it that way, fine."

He almost laughed because of how bold this woman was.

"Do you have any more requests, Your Majesty?"

She ignored his sarcasm.

"I expect a level of respect where exclusivity is involved. Not to the whole world but between us.

We're married so I won't get involved with someone else during this time. I also expect you to do the same." Her eyes were earnest as she spoke very clearly.

Her short yet impactful requests had Nicholas flashing an unnerving smirk her way.

"Okay, I promise you those two things. Is that all?"

She nodded.

"Are you sure? I thought you'd ask for something else."

"What? Like your Cadillac?"

The woman looked at him piercingly.

Usually, she wasn't this type of person but he really was riling her up.

What else could he possibly be expecting her to ask for?

Her heart got lunged in her throat when he skillfully slid over to her, the addictive scent of his cologne filling her nostrils.

"No need to have an attitude. I was just asking."

"I would have told you if there was something else."

"Are you sure there's nothing?"

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Why are you-"

"Nothing with regards to...kinship?" He trailed a lengthy finger against her creamy skin, causing goosebumps to raise on the surface.

"U-uh.." Emily swallowed feeling as if her throat was suddenly sandpaper.

Regardless of how little she knew about Nicholas King, apart from him currently reigning over the kingdom of the entertainment industry, Emily had no intentions of entertaining him with the idea of bedding her as his "wife".

This was all fake so she didn't think it would reach that point anyway.

Plus, the woman didn't think she was close to accepting the possibility of that.

It made tears well at the corners of her eyes thinking that Jake wouldn't be the one to share that pleasure with her after all like she had always dreamt of.

Nicholas' keen eyes noticed the moisture that gathered at his bold words, and he leant back against the leather seats, thinking maybe he had been too forward in his approach.

He cleared his throat loudly.

"I will give you some time to take care of the current issues that you are facing, especially with your hopefully soon-to-be past relationship with your fiance. However, after four months, I have to publicly announce our marriage. It is not within my plans to give you more time than that. After all, that's the reason I got married in the first place."

"Thank you." Emily nodded enthusiastically.

Her smile faded afterwards when she realized just how much her excitement was weird.

Reckon the lady was out of her mind, but a man strategically marrying you isn't something that calls for a celebratory dance.

"Also...I think it would serve us more benefits to live together. It will be much more convenient during this period. You can have all your belongings be moved to my place. My assistant will be in touch with you whenever you indicate to me that you're ready. He will also assist with the entire move to where your new home will be."

Emily thought this was kind of ridiculous.

Why did she have to move in with him if all of this was supposed to be fake?

However, she remembered that immersing yourself into a role only allowed you to play it better.

So she obediently nodded her head while replying,

"Okay, I'll let you know."

It wasn't like she had any personal liabilities of hers holding her back anyway.

Speaking of which, even though Jake didn't know it as yet, he had been officially cancelled from her life.

As a fiancee and also a person.

Speaking of which, even though Jake didn't know it as yet, he had been officially cancelled from her life.

As a fiancee and also a person.

She wanted nothing to do with him unless it was entirely business, or not at all.

But before that, she had some things to sort out.

Emily needed to be rest assured that Jake will face regret for his actions against her.

"Good."

After that, Emily left Nicholas and his assistant's company.

David went in the driver's seat and looked through the rearview mirror while starting up the engine,

"Sir, where are we headed to now?"

"Do you trust her?"

His assistant blinked rapidly.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Because I don't." Nicholas said, answering his own question.

David felt very concerned about all of this.

"If I were to offer my two cents, I think it would be appropriate to clear any worries that you have by keeping track of her."

"You mean stalking her?"

The man's eyes widened. "That's not what I meant-"

"I think that's a good idea. Let's follow her to see exactly where she's headed now." Nicholas demanded as his eyes followed Emily reversing her car.

Suddenly asking him to marry her right then and there, how convenient of her! There must be a catch somewhere in this on her part.

Those with an innocent looking face like hers were always the most deceitful.

As the CEO of an international entertainment agency, of course, he had heard of Emily Pinault before.

Once a famous actress in the industry, two years ago she suddenly went into hiding after winning her first Golden Globe Award. She made the mistake of offending the director of the top entertainment agency, FG, resulting in her being blacklisted. All of these incidents were following her announcement that she would be signing with her second agency, Starz Entertainment, and became a hot topic after her relationship became public with the boss, Jake Mallion.

Meanwhile, Emily was driving on the surprisingly not as busy street and trying to come to the terms of how things were goine to on mom now on.

She felt like her entire life would be under renovations from this point onwards.

The image of Nicholas King flitted across her mind and she sat there stunned.

He was a gorgeous man indeed.

With a face like an angel, a very distinctive part of him screamed devil.

His reputation very much so preceded him based on his cold attitude when dealing with her.

Emily made a mental note not to do anything that could possibly offend him.

He was still kind enough to marry her without knowing what her true intentions were.

Truthfully, Emily herself had no clue of what they were.

Her cracked phone lit up with the monotonous ringtone. The impulse to stiffen at the name of that traitor, Jake, couldn't be helped.

She took a deep breath trying to compose herself before she answered.

"Hey."

Paying no attention to Emily's one-worded greeting that was so unlike her, he asked impatiently, "Where are you right now?"

"Leaving the Civil Affairs office."

"Good."

Good? She thought.

"I need you to attend a very important fashion showcase for Stella today. She's not feeling well. I'll have the makeup team prepare a costume for you so that no one will know."

He was shameless.

No "I'm sorry" after calling off their marriage registration nor even the presence of an apologetic tone in which he spoke. Demanding and insensitive, he was just spewing out orders as if she had to do whatever he told her to.

Emily's hands tightened around the steering wheel.

"I don't want to." The baffled woman spoke up.

She couldn't believe him!

Jake froze at what she just said.

He quickly shushed Stella that was wrapping her warm hands around his waist in bed. She pouted and hopped out of the bed and went to the bathroom.

He signed when she was out of sight as he focused on Emily.

Had his ears been deceiving him? Did Emily just deny his request?

"You what?" He blinked, astonished.

"I don't want to," Emily said, her voice wavering a bit,

"I already told you that the last time would be the last time I go out in public pretending to be Stella. I have my pride too, you know, Jake."

"This isn't about pride, Emily," he sneered at her,

"You're just being selfish. Stella needs this right now.

She has been hospitalized and all you're thinking about is your stupid pride? I am so disappointed in you."

Usually hearing such harsh words from Jake would have made her on the verge of crying. Maybe she would have even broken down.

But now they brought nothing more than fury to her bones.

"Jake..." She drawled calmly, holding onto her last piece of sanity.

"Listen, Emily. You don't have a choice in this anymore. You're gonna go as Stella tonight and that's final. Make sure to put in highlights, Stella has a few blonde strands in."

Then the line went dead in Emily's ears.

The traumatic sound rang in her ears.

Consequently, she had almost missed the light turning from red to green.

The cars behind her honked loudly as their drivers spat words of derision at her.

Still pretty much in a daze, Emily drove past the light but pulled over to the curb. She sat there for a moment as the words Jake said floated across her mind, before the girl flung open the car door and then the contents of her meagre breakfast was coming up on the pavement.

Nicholas watched closely from his car, partially sympathetic, as she spilled her guts on the street.

David's face was washed with concern as he asked,

"Sir, don't you think we should go and help-"

"Shhh."

Nicholas' dark eyes zoomed in on Emily's puffy face.

Her mascara runned down her face in a messy trail as she hiccuped. It took her a while to calm down and stop crying, all throughout Nicholas bared as a witness, feeling his heart unknowingly ache for the woman.

He couldn't understand why he had such a strong reaction though.

Before today, he never gave her a second glance much less went as far as tying himself to her for life.

He couldn't comprehend what she was doing and feared what she will do to him in the future with those glossy bambi-looking eyes of hers that reflected her pure heart.

Frustrated by this emotion unbeknownst to him, Nicholas told David to head back to the office and stop trailing Emily for the day.

He had seen enough.

...

Emily's manager, Talia Shaw, was fuming at the calm and collected appearance of her boss as she had the finishing touches of her makeup applied.

"Does Mr. Mallion really want you to do this scheme for Stella again? Why does he always jeopardize you to save face for her? Did he forget that without your mentoring she wouldn't even survive in this industry?"

"Stop it, Talia." Emily replied, almost discouraging her impactful words.

That only riled the woman up more.

The manager ran a hand through her short, afro hair and started to pace the length of the room.

If her skin tone had been a little lighter than the chocolate complexion she had inherited as an African-American, the anger in her face would have made her resemble a damn tomato.

"Are you taking his side?" She reiterated with a face of disgust.

Her manager was about to blow the roof off this place.

Emily and Stella were both actresses signed under Starz Entertainment, but because of Emily's decision to retreat at the peak of her career, her manager had become a laughing stock and ridiculed alongside her.

During it all though, Talia stayed by Emily's side - which she was eternally grateful for. With reference to her manager's sacrifice and rebuke because of her mistakes, Emily had to pay the woman back for all these years she spent investing in her.

Emily knew Talia would have been vocal about her injustice in role-playing as Stella, again, in public.

Reassuringly she responded, "I'm not taking his side, Talia. I'm not stupid."

Her manager's interest peaked at that, "So what exactly are you doing? Because it sounds like that to me."

"You off all people should know I'm not the impulsive type."

"What do you mean?"

"We're going to have to take our time when dealing with this issue. I'm gonna make sure Jake never has the guts to ask me to do something like this again. better yet, that he doesn't have the liberty to."

Now she was talking.

"Tell me how I can help." Talia implored.

She was willing to do anything for her.

After all, they shared the same goal; to make that imbecile Jake pay for continuously using her.

"It didn't take me long to realize how much is at stake for Stella this evening. Why would she be so desperate to convince the media that she's attending this show despite the news of her illness?"

Talia kept silent as the question hung in the air.

"It's because she doesn't want it to impact her eligibility for the upcoming Best Actors & Actresses of the Year Awards."

"Are you serious?"

Emily nodded then asked the favor she was waiting to, "Visit Stella tomorrow for me. Jake claims she was admitted into the hospital. I will send you the details about which one it is."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

She gave a humble smile.

Talia's eyes widened.

"You want me to get evidence that she was still at the hospital during the show and reveal it to the public!" The manager guessed excitedly.

However, the actress surprised her by shaking her head.

"No, I found out something even better. Stella's pregnant...and the child is... Jake's. Hold onto that piece of information for later. As of right now, I need you to prepare a statement that says Jake has used me multiple times to substitute Stella during her public appearances. You're still friends with Reporter Smith, right? Ask him to do you a little favour with this."

The manager was completely dumbfounded.

That piece of shit Jake had cheated on her boss?

How dare he!

Talia wanted to recite to Emily how she had told her many times before that she was way out of his league, but she didn't want to be that friend that said "I told you so!".

That would only make Emily feel worse than she already was.

Now Talia understood the sudden change in Emily's attitude, especially with the way she called Jake's name laced with so much hatred.

Such a shameless cheating couple!

Not to mention they also had the balls to take advantage of Emily, on numerous occasions at that.

Imagine how stupid they must have thought she was.

Poor Emily.

All she did was love with all her heart and now this was what she received in return.

Life sure was unfair.

"Don't worry Emily. You know that I've got your back. I'll make sure they regret the day they ever hurt you."

All Emily did was nod in gratitude.

There was no way these two were gonna play her like this and come out unscathed!

Hell would have to freeze over before that happened.

The venue for the show was crowded as Emily got there, completely disguised in an oversized hoodie and a baseball cap.

She met up with the makeup artist arranged by Jake.

This woman was also Stella's personal assistant and her trained dog.

Louise was a sly character and liked to trick people with her fake smile and baked goodies.

Of course, Emily never called her out on it with her thoughtful personality and the fact that Louise was reasonably polite to her. Even though she was no longer famous, the Pinault family was still not one to be looked down upon.

"Was there a lot of traffic? You took a while to arrive," she greeted amicably, "Let's hurry and get your makeup done. The show's about to start and we're already behind time."

"Is the showcase today important?" Emily asked in a casual tone as she was ushered down the hallway.

"It's not that big of a deal. Just do what you always do." The assistant replied dismissively.

Yeah, right, Emily thought.

In fact, it was actually a jewellery show for the famous French brand, Janel.

Stella was set to sign on as Janel's newest ambassador. She would have ruined her chance of doing so due to a failure to appear tonight because of her supposed illness, but Jake had his brilliant idea of letting Emily play dress up one more time.

Emily had already been given a rundown of today's show and how it was one of the biggest events to bring a closing to the year.

Stella's assistant, Louise, had deliberately lied to her.

"Jake has already arranged your makeup. Your act is wearing this piece of jewellery at the grand finale. It is the main item you'll be highlighting today. You don't have to do anything. Please, don't do anything.

Just stand on that stage and look pretty while showing it off." The assistant explained as she pointed to the jewellery on the stage.

She then ordered the makeup artist to start getting Emily's disguise done.

The victim at hand was bitter in her thoughts.

Did Jake really think that by covering her up people wouldn't be able to recognize her?

He had a next guess coming.

After getting her makeup done, Emily sat there as Stella's assistant stared at her, utterly gobsmacked by the outcome.

She was a sight to behold.

Wearing a black long dress that accentuated her curves, Emily made her completely speechless. Her face was adorned by a beautiful silver mask, giving off a mysterious aura. Her brown hair, that had highlights per Jake's request, was tied back away from her face in a smooth ponytail.

Louise couldn't take her envious eyes off her.

This woman was absolutely stunning.

No wonder Stella felt constantly threatened by her.

Emily didn't have to do anything, just by looking like this with the jewellery placed around her neck she'd bag that contract!

Her eyes settled on the necklace that sat daintily around Emily's neck. The item of the night was something of its own kind. It was coiled in the shape of a snake and was encrusted with diamonds and colored stones. It shone against her flawless, tanned skin and gave a tease as it rested on the top of her plump breasts.

As much as Louise hated to admit it, Emily Pinault was in a class of her own.

Washed out actress or not, her beauty surpassed the most popular celebrities to date.

Too bad it was going to be hidden by the mask.

Emily stood up on her feet.

Although what she had in mind was quite extreme, she was going to give the cheating couple a surprise of a lifetime.

"I'm ready." She announced.

Louise nodded.

The assistant found a staff member to direct them in the direction they were assigned to, and Emily followed behind Louise to under the stage where she would be elevated into the center. She took a seat in the silver chair with the necklace attached to her and struck a sophisticated pose.

"That's great, Stella! Keep it just like that!" The director said as he showed up out of nowhere.

They prepared to lift Emily, no, Stella upwards.

The show was in full run and the models already had their time.

There were loud cheers from the crowd as the announcer brought up Stella's name.

Emily chanted at herself to keep her composure.

Getting angry at the moment would do her no good.

Getting angry at the moment would do her no good.

Only after she got this done then she'd revel in her anger all she wanted.

"I'll leave it to you, Stella." Louise said, staring straight in Emily's hazel eyes warningly.

The girl hidden behind the mask was compliant.

The assistant left quickly at her acquiescence which she took for a silent affirmation, all the while missing the evil glint in Emily's eyes.

The most awaited act of the night smiled sneakily to herself.

Let the show begin.

***

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***