CHAPTER 2

Finding Her Husband

Emerald, buzzing with a mix of excitement and trepidation, couldn’t wait to share the day’s events with her best friend, Emily. Emily was an investigative journalist who had been her friend since middle school, they had been inseparable ever since despite the fact that they were opposites of each other. She dialed Emily’s number, her fingers tapping anxiously on her bag while waiting at the bus stop.

“Emily, I am dead, come and collect my corpse.” Emerald blurted out as soon as Emily answered.

“It is not a good time to die, the economy has not been good on coffin prices,” Emily answered.

“Can’t you at least worry if the mortuary is too cold for your friend’s body first?” Emerald asked.

“Okay, spill the tea, Em, who killed you?”

“Mark Hartley and my big mouth joined hands and plotted this murder,” Emerald cried.

“ Is this about the big project?” Emily’s voice crackled with curiosity on the other end of the line.

“Partly, Mark assumes I’m married and wants my husband to invest in his new venture. Not only am I married, he can even invest in movies,” she said

Emily’s urgent voice sounded after that. “Wait, he thinks you’re married? How on earth—was there a mistake?”

“If you ask me, who should I ask? I don’t know. But my big mouth went along with it to secure his involvement in my project,” Emerald said in frustration.

“I knew your mouth was going to be the death of you someday” Emily muttered

“Now he’s expecting me to discuss this with my fictional husband,” Emerald explained.

There was a brief silence before Emily spoke, “This sounds like the Telenovela my mother was watching yesterday,”

“I always knew I was meant for the big screen,” Emerald mumbled

“But it means your husband exists, you just don’t know him. Want me to find your husband?” Emily joked

“Please, he has not been home in days” Emerald said dramatically playing along.

“Alright, I’m on it. I’ll find out where Mark got this information and who he assumes is your mysterious husband.”

Relieved by Emily’s determination, Emerald sighed, “Thank you, Em. I need to figure this out before my corpse gets cold. Let me know if you uncover anything unusual.”

Emerald cleared her mind and returned to work with a determined spirit. She might have dug her grave, but she was determined to enter in a jade coffin.

As she entered the office, Lucy her professional rival, shot her a curious glance. Emerald couldn’t help but notice the query in Lucy’s eyes. She wanted to know, everybody wanted to know, so without missing a beat, she approached Lucy’s desk and confidently announced, “Mark Hartley is on board for the project. We’re collaborating on this.” Everyone in the office paused, then looked at Lucy with pity.

Lucy’s expression tightened, and a flicker of jealousy flashed across her face. “How did you manage to convince him?” she asked, her tone laced with skepticism.

Emerald, relishing the moment, simply replied, “It’s all about building the right connections and understanding what each person values. It’s a talent, Lucy. "Not everyone had it,” her face full of righteousness.

Their Director, overhearing the conversation, called Emerald into his office. Shocked that she managed to do it, he asked, “Emerald, how did you succeed in securing Mark Hartley for the project? This is a significant win for our firm,”

Emerald's righteous smile that threatened to unseat Buddha bloomed on her face. “Well,” she said solemnly, “Sometimes you just have to find the right ring to unlock the door to collaboration, or dig a grave for your jade coffin,”

The Director paused at her words but still nodded. As long as Mark has promised to join them. He dismissed Emerald and began working. As Emerald left the office, Lucy watched her with a mixture of frustration and disbelief. She felt Emerald was hiding something and she was going to uncover it.

Later that night, Emily appeared at Emerald's apartment. Emerald only slightly opened the door when Emily dashed in, taking off her shoes in haste and jumping on the couch. Emerald, had a bag of late-night snacks in hand, shutting the door she followed Emily behind.

As Emily settled into a chair, she couldn’t contain the excitement that had driven her every step to Emerald’s doorstep. “Em, arise from the dead, you married well,” Emily said, and she raised a brow.

“Who is it? Tell me so that I can return to eternal rest.”

“It took some digging, but all roads lead to one man; he is called Matthew Reeves, Chairman of the board at IM Group, Em your fictional husband is a real man with flesh and blood!” Emily grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her.

Emerald’s eyes widened, “Matthew Reeves? IM Group, the IM Group I know?” she stared at Emily with a mix of surprise and disbelief before collapsing on the carpet. “I am done. I am impersonating the wife of the chairman of IM Group,”

“Wait, who said you are the one claiming to be the wife of the Chairman of IM Group? He is claiming that you are his wife,” Emily said, and Emerald paused and broke into mad laughter.

“Did you drink before coming?”

“Matthew Reeves has said multiple times that his wife is none other than Emerald Jackson. The description he provides matches you,”

“He manufactured me. Am I real?” Emerald asked, looking round the room.

“This is a chance. Matthew was the one that did wrong in the first place. You only got mixed up in it. Think about it, shouldn’t he compensate by putting a contract under his silk pillow for stealing your identity?” Emily asked

“The CEO’s pretend wife: hubby, sign the contract. What an amazing book title,” Emerald said dramatically.

“It is either you are not real and he invented you or you know him. What kind of coincidence to describe someone so accurately, even to what you do for a living?” Emily said, then she thought of something and paused.

“I’ve never met him before. What does he gain from claiming to be married to me? Can I milk this situation?” Emerald questioned, her mind whirling with possibilities.

“That’s what we need to find out, something is going on, and we can’t let this slide” Emily replied.

“Hurry and get the shovel and dig out my coffin, I am not dying again.” She stuffed a piece of chicken in her mouth.

Just then, a call interrupted them. Emerald picked it up and frowned. She did not know this number.

“Who is this?” she asked the moment she placed the phone on her ear.

“You don’t even have your grandmother’s number?” an elderly woman on the other end asked, her voice filled with disapproval. Emerald froze, the last time she had spoken to her grandmother the Monquress was eight years ago while she was still in college and there was a good reason for it. The Monquress was a cold woman, a title she had gained in the business world for being ruthless; she was rarely referred to by her last name; only Emerald was brave enough to do such.

“Mrs. Jackson, last I recalled, I told you not to call yourself my grandmother again,” Emerald said and Emily frowned and paused with her drink halfway to her mouth.

“What a badly raised child. Did your mother teach you to be so rude?” the woman asked.

“What do you want? I don’t have time to deal with you. Talk or else I am ending this call,” Emerald answered.

“Your cousin Nina and Andrew are getting married next week. Come back and attend,” the woman ordered. Emerald’s face instantly grew a sneer.

“Mrs. Jackson, is it that you are just bored or you want chaos? Maybe you don’t want this marriage to hold and you are using me as a weapon to cause trouble that day. Or else, why would you invite me? What does it have to do with me if that community toilet and low-budget Buddha get married?”

“You dare call your own cousin a community toilet?” The grandmother’s voice exploded from the phone.

“I did not mention who was who and you still managed to figure it out. I had thought you were just some blind old lady when I was growing up, but it seems you have some awareness and were just turning a blind eye. So what if I call her a community toilet? What kind of woman crawls into her cousin’s boyfriend’s bed?” Emerald asked.

“This is all in the past. Let it go!” her grandmother ordered, “Nina will be marrying into the Leslie family. You have to go there to show that you give them your blessing. This is not only a matter of family face, but also about the reputation of the Leslie family. Mutual friends will be there and they will talk about your cousin and her man. If the Leslie family is embarrassed that day, the family business may suffer,” The old woman said and Emerald almost laughed.

“What does your family business have to do with me? People are going to talk? When Nina was behaving like a free-for-all power bank, why did she not think that people would talk? When you dared take her side after she slept with my boyfriend, why did you not think that people would talk?” Emerald spat bitterly

“This is not a request. You better be back two days before the wedding or else, don’t blame me for what I will do next,” the old woman threatened.

“Fine! I want to see your ability!” Emerald scoffed and ended the call. She and Emily immediately acted as though the call did not happen. They were not going to give energy to irrelevant people.