07. Duck Meat

Ashlynn's POV:

"I'd be having the Island Duck with mulberry mustard and the lady would be having the same." Julian placed his order and the very kind elderly, waitress with a brunette bob jotted it down with a smile.

"Anything else?" The sweet lady asked.

"I didn't say I wanted the Island Duck with mulberry mustard." I spat at Julian. Why would he suddenly assume I wanted that, and who the fuck eats duck meat? Isn't it like, illegal to kill ducks?

"I'd like to place a different order." I turned to the lady, smiling and she nodded, ready to take down my new order.

"No, you won't. You're having the Island Duck." Julian immediately retorted and the waitress's face crumpled in confusion.

"I'm not eating a fucking duck!"

"You will eat it, Ashlynn."

"No, I won't. I'm vegetarian and I can't have meat." I lied. You should see me at 3am gnawing on the innocent flesh of deep-fried peppered turkey legs. I just desperately didn't want Julian to have his way.

"I'm ninety-nine percent sure you're not."

"Fine, I lied. But I'm not eating that. I want something different." Our voices were getting loud and were attracting concerned stares from people around us, but I couldn't keep it low since Julian wanted to be a controlling jerk.

The waitress was probably fed up with our bullshit but she masked her frustration up with a nervous, uncomfortable smile, "Please can you both lower your voices? This is a serene environment." She stated, still sweetly.

"You are getting the Island Duck with fucking mullberry mustard on it and I won't be repeating myself again, Ashlynn." He placed his elbows on the table, leaning in closer and told me in a low but very menacing tone.

"You can't tell me what to eat."

"I can leave and come back later when you both are done deciding on your order. " I knew the waitress was done with our bullshit, but she still managed to be so sweet about it.

"No, there's no need for that" Julian told the waitress, and then turned to me. "And yes I can tell you what to eat, Ashlynn, because I'm the one paying for the meals. Understood?"

Wow, that was a low blow. He really was petty.

I said nothing in reply which translated that I had given up and let him have his way. He then gestured to the waitress and said in an almost commanding tone, "Get the orders." She bowed, and left.

I was unhappy with the fact that I had lost another argument with Julian and over fucking duck meat. I huffed, folding my arms as I sagged into my seat.

"Jesus, you are so stubborn. Making a scene over damn duck meat." Julian hissed as he reclined unto his seat as well.

"I didn't want to be here in the first place." I fired back.

"Well you are. So let's make it worthwhile, shall we?" I rolled my eyes.

"As you know already, my name is Julian Kings. I am the sole inheritor to my father's multi-billionaire company, and as cliche as this may sound, he wants me to get married before he hands over anything to me."

"Apparently, he and my mother think I'm irresponsible after a certain theft incident— which was kind of my fault, that had cost our family something very precious." He paused to take a sip off the complementary wine the restaurant offered us. "They think I'm unfit to handle the company and the old geezers actually believe that if I got married to a good woman, she'd put me in check." He scoffed in sheer mockery.

He was right, it sounded so fucking cliché and sitting here listening to him talk about it made me feel like some character in a cliche young adult fiction book.

"So this is where I'm supposed to come in?" I questioned and he nodded in affirmation.

"Precisely. I like that you're catching on, Ashlynn." He praised and I rolled my eyes yet again.

"My parents haven't been happy with my choice of women over the years, they said those type of girls would ruin me but truthfully, I was the one ruining them in bed because all I ever did was fuck them. There were no emotional connections." The words bounced off proudly from his perfectly symmetrical lips, and I rolled my eyes again at him and at myself for staring at his lips, both for the umpteenth time today.

"T.M.I." I huffed.

"Anyways, my father's opinion of a good woman is completely absurd and I'm not marrying any of those ladies." A sour scowl fell on his face as he explained the disdain he had for them and I couldn't help but chuckle, mentally picturing images of the women Julian found unattractive.

"But he nagged me to death constantly and I was so sick and tired of it so I hopped on my private jet and flew down to Vegas to unwind and my father followed me down here."

"That time at the club when we were arguing, he had just told me that he was going to sell his company off than leave it in my unreliable hands if I didn't get married to a good woman who'd keep me in check."

"I didn't want that happening, for obvious reasons. So when you came by, I kissed you then told him you were my fiance. And the rest as you know it, is history."

The ever-smilling waitress returned at that moment with our plates of fancy duck meat and placed them on our table. I had mentally told myself not to take a single bite out of the dish just to piss Julian off.

Julian on the other hand started eating, he dug his fork into the meat and swirled it around the mustard before he carried it into his mouth. He swallowed and said, "So, I want us to sign a contract and get married for a year. Within that period of time, my father and I would've settled about the company. Afterwards, we'll have a divorce and you'd get your share of everything plus a very huge sum of money, depending on the agreement."

I couldn't help but shake off the thought that I was just going to be a mere pawn on the fucking chess board and I was going to be used and richly dumped. Contract marriages are just fancy words for gold-digging, and I was very angry at Tristan for being a golddigger and that's exactly what I want to become.

Tristan.

I can't lie, I was still in love with him. Despite the fact that he was a cheating, gold digging bastard and I had a fucking smile on my face when I killed him.

I wanted to heal. I wasn't just going to say yes and dive right into this rollercoaster ride of an offer. I had a life to live, I didn't want to play pretend marriage with handsome jerk over here for a year. He infuriates me do damn much and for some reason, I felt like I was betraying Tristan.

We were meant for each other so I wasn't going to be with anyone else and neither was he, that's why I rammed that knife into his chest so I didn't have to share him with anyone. If I couldn't have him to myself, then no one could.

And yes, my one night stands do not count in this scenario. Shut up, subconsciousness.

"So what do you say, Ashlynn?" Julian questioned and it instantly jolted me away from my thoughts and I was face-to-face with those green eyes again.

I couldn't do it. I was going to say no. Well if I did, he'll just rope me into some annoying exchange of words and I'll loose and he'll have his way. So instead of that happening, I picked up my bag and sprinted out of the restaurant without saying a word.