A Convenient Marriage Of Secrets

Alexander Carrington seated himself behind his desk; the city lights of Los Angeles were visible through the window. He wasn’t focused on the financial reports in front of him; instead, his attention was drawn to an unopened email marked Personal Matters: The issues raised should also be considered critical owing to their sensitivity and the fact that they are potential barriers to the implementation of health reform. The subject line was a list of what he was missing, and it was something he could no longer afford to run away from.

He sat back in his chair, glancing at the board’s recent demand with a sliver of suspicion in his veins. It was not only about earning the next massive revenue stream. They demanded that he ‘positively spin’ the brand image to portray the company as stable and family-friendly-oriented. They wanted him married.

His train of thought was arrested by the sound of the door to his office flying open. William Davenport, his rightful and long-time friend and advisor, came in without permission. He was a man in his fifties; he had silver hair, and he was important-looking. He sat at the desk facing the Corrientes office, and under the buzzing striplighting, his hair looked silver and his face was grim.

“Alexander,” William started immediately, business-like as he usually is, “we have to discuss the deal.”

Alexander sighed, pushing apart the reports. “You know that, too. The board has not been very ambiguous about it. They just want a wife, not just figures.”

“Well, they are right,” William stated, thumping down in the chair across from Alexander. ‘It’s important who you are and what you look like, especially when you are doing a deal of this size,’ said the investors.

The investors wanted to see that Hughes was not just a cutthroat capitalist.

“I’m not interested in bringing home some trophy wives,” Alexander said tersely. ‘They have to know what it means to play for the job, to play for the win without interfering with the play.’

William exhaled, and his ability to assess people told him youth was present even if the boy lacked the common courtesy afforded to strangers. ‘You need someone like Victoria Sinclair.’

Alexander looked more carefully at the man and nodded—he knew his name. The startup founder? What gives you the impression she would consent to this?

She’s driven, and her firm is right on the cusp of becoming hugely profitable; she just lacks the capital to push it over the top. She might comprehend the worth of such a trade.

Alexander considered this. He had always had respect for those who respected the importance of a deal, and if William believed that Victoria could be such a person, then it was worth a shot. His eyes narrowed, and he pushed forward. “Organize a meeting. Watch if she is quite pragmatic, as you have expected.”

Victoria Sinclair could not anticipate what lay in store for her as she got into the shiny black car that arrived at Carrington Tower. When Chloe Bennett, her best friend and the person she shared all her secrets with, said that Alexander Carrington wanted her to meet him, she thought it was over the new funding round in her company. But now she felt afraid as she crossed the car and walked to the door of the building.

“Are you sure about this, Vic?” Chloe's voice sounded low over the phone.

’There are so many things that I don’t really know,’ Victoria said this and looked at the large building. But if he is willing to commit money to the company, I ought to at least listen to him.

Chloe’s tone softened. Lie low, okay? This man is not a nice guy, from what people are saying about him.”

There, she forced a smile—it was small and did not extend to her eyes at all. “I will be alright, Chloe. I have faced worse situations.”

As she entered the store and while getting through the door, she felt the shift in temperature; the inside was so conditioned. Victoria straightened her back and fixed her blazer to be prepared for anything that Alexander Carrington did to her.

Alexander looked as Victoria came inside his office with full body confidence. She was younger than he expected, with long green eyes, and her eyes looked straight at him without any shame. She was not frightened, which was an unusual trait for many women, as far as he was concerned. Having reached her side, he got up slowly from the chair and offered her a handshake.

"Welcome, Ms. Sinclair, and thank you for accepting such a short notification.

As for the man before her, 'Hello, Mr. Carrington’, Victoria said as she offered him her hand to shake and shook his hand firmly. I would like to know what this is all about. Chloe said that you wanted to discuss something business-like with me.

Straight to the point. He liked that.

“Yes, I do.” Alexander replied and signaled here to take a seat. He then returned to his post at the chair behind the desk, looked at her for a moment, and then proceeded to speak. “This is where you come in, Ms. Sinclair,” he said. “You’ve created a promising startup company, but to grow it to the next level, it would require cash.”

Getting no response from the expression on her face, Victoria nodded slowly, still looking wary. “That’s true. Do you want to invest?”

He speaks quietly, getting to his feet. ‘I am about to suggest something that I think you would not expect, but I think it could be a win-win. ’

Victoria was not a fool, and immediately she felt something was wrong with the situation that Chloe had talked her into. "Go on. "

Alexander did not take long before giving the speech: “I don’t require a wife, Ms. Sinclair," I said hastily, “but I do require a wife. A wife for marriage of convenience, and in return, I will be furnishing you with the capital you need to take your company to the next phase.”

For a moment of time, Williams did not utter a word, and for the same reason, there was an eerie silence that could be felt in the room due to Alex's shocking statement. Then Victoria’s lips opened slightly, and she looked at Alexander in disbelief. "You’re serious."

‘Deadly serious’, Alexander responded effectively, sustaining an official tone. ”The board needs stability, a ‘family’ look," he told me. “I need someone who fits into that requirement without any problem.”.

Victoria’s lips curled into a thin smile, a glare of disbelief in her eyes. ‘And you think I am that person?’ "Why me?"

“Because I know that you understand what is on the line and because you are fired up by ambition just like I am,” Alexander said steadily. ’No, this has nothing to do with love or passion; this is about a transaction—two people getting what they want.’

It took Victoria a few minutes to digest what was said, and she relaxed in her chair. Her mind went into gear, going through the possibilities of the situation, the consequences, and the benefits she would get out of it. It was insane. It was brilliant. It was, of course, the polar opposite of everything she had ever imagined.

‘And what if I say, no?’ She asked him in a very low tone this time.

Alexander didn’t flinch. ‘Then you step out and both go back to our normal lives,’ he said, though he well knows that you understand that this one shot can alter your life and our destinies forever’.

Looking into his eyes, she looked for any hint of a con, for any twinge of anything other than the desire to serve her in the best way he knew how. But there was no reading of Alexander Carrington; he was as impassive as ever.

And then she said something, and her tone was controlled and enquiring. I need time to think about that.

Alexander had to nod his head; he understood the considerations they needed to have. “I do. But don’t do it for much longer, Ms. Sinclair.”

Victoria started getting up from the seat, and as she did so, her head was full of bizarre ideas and feelings. This was more than she had anticipated she would undergo. But when she stood at the door, she glanced over her shoulder at Alexander and asked a question that still hung in the air.

“Why do you think it will work?” she asked,

and her voice was not aggressive, but rather, it was like she had opened up a secret about herself: fear

Alexander’s answer came like lightning, and there was no warmth in his tone now, only conviction. “Because we both know what we desire, and we are prepared to go to any length to have it.”

With this, Victoria’s heart was racing. She gave her head a single, curt nod, then got up and walked out of the office, the door closing gently behind her.

Just when the doors of the elevator were about to shut, Victoria looked up with an expression of mild surprise and saw her own reflection reflected in the shiny surface of the closed doors of the elevator. She had a face that did not betray a thought, even to herself, so she sat expressionless. But just as the doors closed, her phone rang in her pocket as well.

Victoria was not surprisingly startled by the message from Chloe: It was a message from Chloe, but the preview on the screen sent a chill down her spine:

I just got wind of something about Carrington. Call me. It’s urgent.