13. Jane

After a month of living with William, I realized that there was a chance I wouldn't survive the whole year. One of two things would happen.

One, I would kill him before the year ran out.

Two, I would be hopelessly in love with him before the end of this month.

I groaned into my pillow. There were times when William was so annoying I wanted to pluck out every single hair on his perfect head. And other times, he was so sweet, I couldn't bring myself to even hate him.

He'd made it a habit of driving me to and from work every day. He also made breakfast for me whenever he could. He even bought me a pack of hair ties because I mentioned in passing that the one I had got lost in the move. He was thoughtful. So thoughtful that I often had to remind myself that this was William. He was the enemy. I hated William.

Or at least I was supposed to.

I groaned into my pillow again.

"Jane, are you alright?" I heard William's voice on the other side of my room door followed by a series of soft knocks.

Why was he here? It was bad enough that I was feeling confused, I didn't need to see him right now. I stood up and threw on the robe that hung from the chair in front of the mirror.

"William," I said as I opened the door. I frowned when I saw him. He looked tired. Dark circles sat below his eyes. His jaw was covered with stubble and his hair was a mess. It was strange to see him so disheveled. I knew he worked from home weekends but he looked like he hadn"t slept since Thursday night. It was Sunday afternoon.

"I was passing by when I heard you groaning. Are you in pain?"

"I'm fine. What happened to you?"

My hand itched to touch him. I wanted to caress his cheek and smooth the worry lines on his forehead. The voice in my head told me to keep my hands to myself but I couldn't. I reached out and placed a hand on William's cheek. He didn't push me away so I stroked softly.

"What happened?"

He smiled. "I'm fine. I'm just overwhelmed with work stuff."

What kind of assistant had I been if he was this overwhelmed?

"How can I help?"

"You can"t help with this, Jane," he said as he pulled away from my touch. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

With that, he walked away. I stood in the doorway for a while before I finally walked back into my room. I tried to take my mind off him but I couldn't help worrying about William. I wondered why he looked so drained. Maybe it was the deal he was working on. I knew he was planning something that would help him keep the CEO position but I didn't know much else.

The sound of my phone ringing brought me out of my thoughts. I walked over to my dresser and smiled when I saw who was calling. It's been a while since I spoke to my best friend. I missed her.

"Hi Sky," I said as I sunk into my bed. "What's up?"

"Did you hear the news?" she asked, skipping the formality of greeting. I knew that meant something serious had happened. I shot out of bed, worry coating me with sweat. What was it this time? Has another article about me been published? That was what happened the last time Skylar sounded this urgent. I'd been checking online often so I would be the first to know but I forgot to check today.

I was too busy thinking about William.

"Logan Media just shut down."

"What?" Logan Media was the news outlet that released the article about me before my wedding. They hadn't released anything else since then so I assumed they lost interest in me. I never expected them to shut down.

"They shut down. At first, the company declared bankruptcy and now they're shutting down. Everyone is talking about it."

I put Skylar on speaker so I could check what she was saying. True enough, the media giant was shutting down. I was so shocked. Logan Media was one of the biggest companies in the city. I couldn't imagine who or what was powerful enough to make them shut down.

Back when I worked at Bella's Elite, there were a few projects that required me to visit Logan Media for assistance. They were always willing to lend a hand to other media companies but it came at a price. Several media companies owed them debts that they could cash in on at any time. It surprised me that not even that could save them.

"What happened?" I asked.

"William Aldaine happened."

"I don't understand." I took Skylar off speaker and brought the phone to my ear. "What does this have to do with William?"

"I heard he was the one behind it. He sued Logan Media for every penny they had. The straw that broke the camel"s back was when it was revealed that the CEO had an affair with the wife of one of the board members. The whole company is a mess now. There's no way they can survive the lawsuit or the scandal so they're packing up."

I didn't know what to say. Was it really possible that William had destroyed one of the biggest media companies within a matter of weeks? "Why would he do that though?"

"For you, obviously. He…"

Skylar was still talking but I had stopped listening.

For you.

William did that for me. He sued Logan Media for me. I shot out of bed. "I'll call you back, Skylar."

I rushed out of my room. I knew William would be in his office. That was where he spent most of his time. I didn't bother knocking. I was too on edge. I needed to speak with him.

"Jane."

"Did you sue Logan Media?" I asked as I approached him.

William visibly stiffened at my question but he answered without missing a beat. "Yes, I did."

"For me?"

"Yes. For you."

I felt the air leave my body in a breath of disbelief. "Thank you. I don't know what else to say. Just… thank you."

"Of course."

"I'll leave you to get back to work then," I said, biting my lip to keep from saying anything else. I wanted to ask him why he did it. Does this mean he cares about me? William wouldn't do that for just anyone. He risked a lot by defending me. I turned to leave but my desperation forced me to turn back. "Why?"

"Because you're my wife, Jane. No one disrespects my wife."

I nodded. It felt strangely incredible to have him refer to me as his wife. I knew I shouldn't be feeling this way but I couldn't control it. I forced myself to leave his office. When I returned to my room, I buried my head in my pillow and tried to stop thinking about him.

I couldn't think about William like that. I would only hurt myself because he would never feel the same way about me.

I shifted my focus back to the investigation. I still didn't know who framed me for stealing at Bella's Elite. That was the whole reason I married William. I just needed to focus on that and keep my feelings out of this marriage.

The Jasmine Ball was a yearly event that took place at the largest hall in the city. Every year, wealthy and influential people from around the world would be in attendance. And every year, I would hear about it in the news or from Mirabel who was popular enough to be invited.

This year, I would be attending the Jasmine Ball. The thought made my insides lurch and for a second I thought I was going to throw up. I took a deep breath and walked into the living room where William was waiting for me. He was staring at his phone when I walked in. I didn't say anything but he must have felt my presence because he looked up.

"Wow," he said as his eyebrows shot up. "You look beautiful."

I bit my lip as uncertainty washed over me. To say I was worried about tonight was putting it mildly. The Jasmine Ball would be full of rich elegant people and then there was me, a poor orphan girl who was temporarily married to a billionaire.

William could sense my apprehension. He walked over and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. "Don't be nervous. You'll be the most beautiful woman there."

He pulled out a small box from his pocket. It was a ring box. William opened it and slid the ring onto my finger. "You should wear this."

It was an engagement ring. I'd never gotten one. Everything before the wedding was so hectic that we didn't have time to buy an engagement ring. We had our wedding rings but this was different. A gorgeous princess-cut diamond sat at the center of the ring band. It was stunning.

"I didn't know if you would like it because I don't know what kind of jewelry you like but if you don't like it then we could just…"

William was rambling. His cheeks had a slight tinge of pink. He was nervous. Against my better judgment, I reached up and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "I love it."

He smiled and offered me his hand. I lifted my dress so I could walk better before taking William's hand and following him out of the building.

I'd been reading about the Jasmine Ball for years. I"ve seen pictures and videos. I'd spoken to people who were in attendance. But nothing compared to experiencing it for myself. Glittering lights hung from the ceiling illuminating the stunning decorations. The men were clad in debonair suits and the women wore exquisite dresses that shone under the twinkling lights.

I tried my best to keep calm. I wanted to pretend like I wasn't excited like this wasn't the most incredible thing I'd ever seen. But honestly, it was. Never in my life had I been surrounded by such luxury. I saw celebrities, CEOs, ministers, and royalty. It was overwhelming to be in the same room as these powerful people.

My eyes landed on a familiar face and I froze. William turned to me. "Are you all right?" He followed my line of sight. "Who is that?"

The red-haired woman laughed at something, causing the diamond earrings she wore to jingle. I'd helped her pick out those earrings for this very event. "Mirabel," I said as pain lanced through me.

I would be lying if I said I was over what happened. I was still hurt by how Mirabel treated me that day in her office. She turned her head and our eyes collided. I expected her to frown or simply look away but instead, she smiled. It was a bright, warm smile. The kind that gave the illusion that there was no bad blood between us.

She walked towards William and me, her purple hugging her hips as she swayed from side to side. "Jane, darling," she said. Her smile was even wider now that she stood before us. "Mr. Aldaine."

William curtly nodded before dipping his head to my ear. "I'll let you two talk."

"Hi Mirabel," I said after William walked away.

"How are you, Jane?" She spoke before I could answer. "You don't have to tell me. I can see you're doing great. After all, you're an Aldaine now. Look at you. You went from being my assistant to being married to one of the most eligible bachelors around. Well done."

I smiled awkwardly. "Thank you?"

If Mirabel heard the question in my tone, she did not show it. "So I was wondering if you wanted your job back?"

"What?"

"I know you're on a different level now but I could really use you back at the company. Just think about it, okay?"

Mirabel didn't wait for me to answer. She spotted someone else and walked away. I stood in shock as I watched her. William returned a few minutes later. He handed me a glass of champagne which I gladly took. I needed a drink after what just happened with Mirabel.

"What did she want?" William asked as he sipped his champagne.

I watched his throat work with a swallow before focusing on his question. Mirabel wanted me to come back to Bella's Elite. She was offering me everything I'd wanted several months now and yet I couldn't bring myself to accept her offer. Going back to work for her would mean quitting my job at William's company. It would also mean that we wouldn't go to work and come home together.

It was stupid but I realized that I didn't want that. I didn't want to be away from William.

What did that mean?

He looked at me expectantly and I bit my lip. There was no point telling William about Mirabel's offer since I planned to reject it. "Nothing. She just wanted to ask what I was up to these days."

William nodded. Maybe it was wrong of me to lie to him but I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth. This was for the best.