6. William

"Bring the folder over there," I said. I watched as Jane mindlessly walked to the table and returned with the folder.

Alright, that confirmed it. Aliens had definitely taken over her body. The Jane I knew would have never done anything for me if I didn't ask nicely. She was all about politeness. She once ignored me in an important meeting because I forgot to add please. I'd asked her to pull up a slide, and she stared back at me like I hadn't even spoken.

Now she was obeying commands without batting an eyelash. Something was definitely wrong. She'd been acting weird all week. Specifically, since she came back from her lunch break on Tuesday. I wondered if it was about the pillow but that didn't add up.

I'd given her the pillow so she would be more comfortable not so she would become this strangely compliant zombie. Honestly, I was starting to worry about her.

I should be happy. I finally had the assistant I needed. She did everything I wanted without asking questions or making snarky remarks. But this wasn't Jane. This was some strange robot who looked like Jane.

This version of her barely smiled. Not that Jane smiled at me often. She mostly gave me smirks of triumph but I would take that over this impassive android standing beside me.

"Would that be all, Mr. Aldaine?" she asked as she tilted her head.

She sounded so devoid of emotion. It was like something was broken inside her. I felt a strange urge to hug her or comfort her in some way even though I didn't know what was wrong. Maybe nothing was wrong. Maybe she'd just decided to be more serious about her work. That was a good thing… right?

Jane coughed slightly and I realized I hadn't answered her question.

"Yes, thank you," I said.

She walked out and I made a mental note to check on her later. For now, I had something else on my mind. It had been plaguing me since the moment my grandfather told me.

If you don't get married soon, then you will have to forfeit your role as CEO.

His words played in my head, bringing back all the anger I'd felt when he said them. My hand gripped the edge of the table until my knuckles blanched. Bernard Aldaine had backed me into a corner that I couldn't come out from. I'd spent the past week thinking of a solution and came up short.

Get married or lose the CEO position. I chose neither.

I wasn't ready to get married. The last thing I needed was to tie myself down to some woman who only wanted me for my money. Or worse someone who loved me. Love was a pointless endeavor. One that only ended in pain. I'd watched my mom's pain when my father died and I had no desire to recreate that.

I wasn't ready to get married but I couldn't give up the CEO position. Certainly not when my grandfather planned to hand it to Bolton. I'd rather chew glass than see that man take over my family's company. The very thought made my blood boil until my ears felt hot.

I leaned back in my seat and glared at the ceiling. I was between a rock and a hard place. And I needed to figure something out fast before things got even more out of control. I spent the next few hours thinking of a solution.

Finally, it occurred to me. My grandfather wanted to see me married. That didn't mean I actually had to get married. I just needed to find someone to play the part with me. Bernard would want to see a marriage certificate though. That meant we would have to legally commit but we could just break it off shortly after. Once I gain the trust of the board members, I'll get a divorce. That way my grandfather wouldn't be able to take my position from me even after the divorce.

I just needed to find someone who would—

The sound of my door opening brought me out of my thoughts.

Jane walked in with an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry. I knocked a lot but you didn't respond."

I must have been so deep in thought that I didn't hear her knock. "What's up?"

"I'm going for my lunch break and I wanted to ask if you wanted anything," she said. She still spoke in the same robotic voice that she'd been using all week.

I decided that now was as good a time as any. "No, thank you. But could you come in here for a second?"

Jane hesitated by the doorway before walking into my office. I gestured to the chair opposite me and she took a seat.

"I'll order us some lunch," I said as I brought out my phone.

"Why would you do that when I can just—

"Because we need to talk."

Jane tried to speak again but she paused when I lifted a finger to silence her. I needed silence so I could speak to the restaurant owner I'd called. Louis was an old friend. He owned one of the most exquisite restaurants in the city and he typically didn't do deliveries. I was the exception.

Whenever I wanted to eat one of his delicious meals but couldn't make it to the restaurant, he would have it delivered to me. That was our dynamic and I paid him good money for it.

"For two," I said, and I could practically hear Louis" smile.

"For two? Really?"

"Shut up," I muttered, and he laughed out loud. I expected that. Even when I came to his restaurant I was always alone. I preferred it that way.

"You will receive your food shortly, William. And greet the lovely lady for me, will you?"

I held back the expletives that sat on my tongue. Louis was well aware of my views on love and marriage. But that never stopped him from trying to set me up. He was worse than my mother and grandfather.

"What do we need to talk about?" Jane asked the second I ended the call. A bit of her usual fierceness was back. She clearly wasn't pleased about the finger in her face. I was surprised she didn't storm out of here when I did that.

I couldn't help the small smile that played on my lips as I looked at her. Her brows furrowed, her lips parted and pouting. She looked like a younger version of herself. Filled with mischief and a strong desire to do the very opposite of what she was told. That had always been Jane. If she didn't like what she heard then she wasn't going to do it. At least that's how she was with me. She was always more pliant around other people.

"I noticed that you've been… sad, lately. I wanted to ask if everything was okay," I said.

"Do you do this with all your employees?"

I frowned at her, suddenly missing the Jane who answered my questions without sass. "Just the ones I care about. And I care about you, Jane. You're Ryan's sister and I… Wait, did something happen to Ryan?"

I hadn't spoken to him since last week. We spoke over the phone and he'd pleaded with me again not to tear out Jane's hair. We'd laughed and made plans to hang out sometime. We were both so busy these days that we barely had time to go out. Did something bad happen to him in the week since we spoke?

"What? No. Of course not."

I sighed with relief. "Then what is wrong with you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on Jane. I can see that something is bothering you and you need to talk about it." I typically wouldn't pry this much but Jane was bottling something up. I could tell. It was the only explanation for her recent behavior. She needed to let it out before she exploded. "Just tell me—

"She got my job!" she shouted suddenly.

The pain in her voice washed over me. She sounded heartbroken. Again I felt the urge to hug her and comfort her but I stayed in place. Right now, all she needed was someone to listen.

"What job? And who got it?"

"Skylar, my best friend. We worked at a fashion company called Bella's Elite. We were assistants to the CEO. I'd been working there for over a year when my boss, Mirabel, told me she needed an extra set of hands. I assured her I could handle it. I told her to just let me handle it but she said she didn't want to burden me."

Jane paused to catch her breath and I thought about everything she said. I'd heard about Bella's Elite. I knew they published a magazine that focused on everything related to fashion, pop culture, society's elite, and stuff like that. I also knew that I'd featured in their magazine a few times under the ‘eligible bachelor' section. What I didn't know was that Jane had worked there.

"I remembered that Skylar told me she was looking for a job so I recommended her for the position. Mirabel liked her and just like that I was working with my best friend. It was great." She sighed and I knew the bad news was coming.

"About two months ago, I got to work expecting to be promoted. I'd worked for Mirabel for three years and she told me the day before that we had something important to discuss. I was stupid enough to think she was talking about promoting me. I thought I was going to become Senior Editor." Jane released a dry laugh.

"I was sorely mistaken. Mirabel called me into her office and accused me of stealing from her. Me? The person who had been by her side since she became CEO of Bella's Elite. The one who stayed with her when she had late nights and brought her coffee. I don't know, I guess a part of me thought that made us friends. Maybe not friends but I thought it meant she would never treat me the way she did. I would never steal from her and I thought she knew me well enough to know that."

There was a soft knock on the door. Jane's head snapped back. She moved to stand up but I shook my head. I walked to the door. The delivery guy stood on the other side of it with packs of food in his hand. I thanked him and took it. I placed the food on the table and returned my focus to Jane.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," I said. I had no idea that was the reason she came to work for me. Ryan only told me that things didn't work out at Jane's old job. He didn't go into the specifics and I didn't ask.

"Thank you. Anyway, I found out on Tuesday that Skylar was promoted instead of me. She's now a Senior editor at Bella's Elite and I just don't know how to feel about that. On the one hand, I'm angry and jealous. That was supposed to be my job. I worked hard for it for three years and they gave it to someone who had only been there for half the time. On the other hand, I feel guilty for thoughts like that. I shouldn't downplay Skylar's effort. She's worked hard this past year. She deserves the promotion. I know that but I just…"

"I understand. It's completely normal for you to feel jealous. It would be weird if you didn't," I said.

Jane sighed. "Thank you for saying that." Her gaze dropped to the food on the table. "This smells delicious. Where's it from?"

"A friend of mine owns a restaurant. Louis Brasserie. It's not far from here."

I opened the package and handed Jane one of the plates. We ate in peaceful silence. She seemed lighter now. Her shoulders were higher like she'd shed whatever burden she was carrying. I know she still felt bad about what happened but talking about it had definitely helped her.

"If you ever lose your job as CEO, you should consider being a therapist," Jane said.

I laughed, even as the truth behind her statement stabbed at my heart. "I just might."

"What?"

"Nothing. Tell me, what do you plan to do about what happened?"

She sighed again. "I'm trying to uncover who actually stole from Mirabel. If I can prove that I didn't do it then maybe I could get my old job back."

"Itching to leave me already?"

"I've had that itch since the day I walked in here."

I laughed and she joined me. At that moment, I realized this was the first time we'd had a civil conversation. No fights, no glaring, no cake smearing. Just civil. It was… nice.

A thought suddenly occurred to me. It was so crazy I was tempted to have my food examined for narcotics. I couldn't possibly be thinking what I was thinking and yet here I was. The thought cemented until I couldn't get it out of my head. It was crazy but it just might work.

Jane would make a perfect fake wife.