===
In the car, before King showed up at Payton’s house.
===
“Stop the car, Dariel,” King gave off a loud hiss and slapped his forehead.
“What’s going on?” Dariel asked as he looked around for a perfect spot to park the car.
After a while, he pulled the car, and King came out from the back where he sat.
Moving over to the front beside Dariel, he hissed again and turned the iPad in his hand to him.
“What is this?” Dariel asked as he stared at the screen.
“These idiots are coming up with things that I’ve not even done before. Why am I being termed as a womanizer?” King frowned.
Dariel parted his lips as he browsed through the tons of podcasts that were being aired and he shook his head.
“What the fuck?” Dariel burst out in laughter as he saw the clearly edited picture of King coming out of the hotel with another woman.
“Is this a comedy show?” King snapped his brows together as he stared at Dariel.
“Your head is edited on another person’s body. Damn, lies are spreading already,” Dariel laughed again.
Dariel has been friends with King for over ten years and he knew for a fact that King was not even half of what the media was saying at the moment.
Although he was cold, in fact cruel, and the man had definitely been living up to that reputation as he did not even care to change that about him.
But womanizing…?
King was one person who hated women very much.
Not like hate… but he definitely does not like them or go closer to them.
He has a girlfriend, and he is madly loyal to her. So, womanizing or cheating was the last thing that King would do.
“Should I just call a conference and reject all allegations? This is sickening!” King exclaimed.
“And tell them what?”
“I don’t know that woman. I have never seen her before! And this nonsense…?” He pointed at the screen and shook his head.
“They are fake!”
Dariel twitched his mouth upward like he understood his friend but instead, he burst into laughter and slammed his hands on the steering.
“And who will believe that?” He asked amidst laughter.
“Who wouldn’t? I have never been involved in a scandal my whole life! Why do you think I have not announced my relationship with Sasha yet?”
“Nobody will. I for a fact will not. Did you forget? You just announced that woman as your fiancé about thirty minutes ago. You even kissed her in front of the paparazzi!” Dariel laughed again.
Oh, shit.
He had totally forgotten that he did that.
“Fuck,” King exhaled and looked out of the window.
“See? Don’t even think of calling the media to tell them any bullshit. You’re ruining your chances of making them believe you.”
“Then, what do I do?!”
“Keep her as your fiancé, or better still get married! It is actually going to help your image also. Did you forget that your nude is out there? Everyone knows how you fuck and how you moan,” Dariel said and shook his head.
King sighed again and buried his head in his palms. He has never been involved in scandals, so he does not know how to sort them.
Yet, he knew that the only way to sort this was to keep pretending to be that woman’s fiance or whatever!
“Something is wrong, Dariel. There is no way I would get drunk over a bottle of martini,” King shook his head.
“Are you still trying to put the blame on someone or something?”
“I did not remember fucking her! I did not take her to that room or something, I promise!”
“King, you gotta think. Okay? Maybe not now, but think. Don’t be a kid blaming the alcohol for their actions.”
“You think I am trying to blame the alcohol?” King frowned.
He smacked his tongue and shook his head again. He did not know how this got to happen, and unfortunately, even his friend would not believe him.
His phone rang at the moment and he hurriedly picked it up.
“Sir.”
Came the voice of one of his informants.
“Did you find anything?”
“Yes, sir. She is Payton Vass, and she runs a little art gallery. Her father is the CEO of Vass and co,” he said.
“Anything unique?”
“Not at all. She has a stepmother, step-sister, and a fiance, that is all. I have emailed you the file.”
King nodded his head and dropped the call.
“Who is that?” Dariel asked.
“I asked someone to run a background check on that woman.”
“And?”
“Nothing,” King shook his head.
Suddenly, a live video came up the big screen and they both turned their attention to face it.
King drew his brows as he stared at the woman whose face was blurred as she began to say things about him.
“Everything King has said about that woman is a lie. He is indeed a womanizer and he will do anything for any person under the skirt…”
Dariel stopped the video and moved over to another video and then shook his head at the tons of videos that were flying around.
Some said he was gay…
Some said he was impotent…
A lot of untrue stuff about him was flying around and all he and Dariel could do was open their mouths agape.
“Gay? They all saw me fucking a woman, no?!” He burst into anger.
“This is crazy,” Dariel shook his head as another photoshopped picture of King in bed with another woman came up.
“What do I do?” King asked.
“Are you asking me?” Dariel widened his eyes.
“Shit, talk!”
“I don’t know!” Dariel laughed.
“Dariel.”
“Okay, marry her! That should shut them up!” He said amidst laughter.
King dropped his eyes on Dariel who kept laughing for a few seconds and then twitched his mouth upward.
“Okay, I am just kidding, I don’t…” when Dariel saw the serious expression on King’s face, he shook his head.
“What are you thinking?”
“Marriage.”
“What?” Dariel widened his eyes.
“Start the car. Let’s go to Payton’s house.”
“What?!” Dariel asked again as he watched King adjust his seat belt.
“You asked me to marry her and that’s what I’m about to do.”
“But I am just…”
“No one dares to drag my reputation in the mud, Dariel. I’ve been building it for years. I will marry that woman, and I will punish her for making me go through this shit!”
He said, his lips tugged in a dangerous smirk and his face as hard as a rock.
“Yes, Payton Vass. You will marry me.”Payton did not know what was more surprising. This man showing up at her house… or knowing her name.She was sure she did not tell him that.Seeing the expression on her father’s face, she shifted uncomfortably and moved over to Max who had a betrayed look on his face.“Max…” she called him in a whisper as tears dropped from her eyes.“Mr. Thorn,” came her father’s voice.“Hi, Mr. Vass.”“You all must have seen the video and must have been disturbed by it…” he said as his face dropped on Payton who was torn between pleading with her boyfriend or rushing over to him.“I… we were not expecting you.”Payton frowned as her father fidgeted in front of the man and she moved over to him instantly.“Dad, you can’t welcome him in. He did this to me!” She hollered.No one answered her, instead, King kept his eyes pinned on Will, Payton's father.“How may I help you?”“I am sure you heard me. You saw the news. You know what is going on, and I am going to ma
“Our mess?” Payton scoffed and moved over to the man who didn’t move one bit.“Our mess! And… pay for it? You are so crazy. Trust me. Damn you if you think I plan on getting married to a person like you. You disgust me!” She snapped.King’s face clouded in anger. He had been trying to keep it in. He wanted to, really.He believed that there was still a lot of time to find out who had sent the woman to do what she had done to him.No way he would believe her facade and trust that she had no idea how they had gotten into this situation also.He covered the space between them, “It was you who put us in this mess, Payton, and you will do as I've told you!” his eyes blazed in anger as he grabbed her arm.“It was you who did this to me! You better get us out of this mess!” she snapped back as she yanked her arm away.“Then we are going to get married. You think I want to marry you too?” He let out a mocking smile and shook his head.King dipped his hand in his pocket, removed his card, and
“Did you check the hotel?” King asked Dariel over the phone as he pulled the car to a stop.“Yes, there is no camera.”“Are you sure? I am certain something is there.”“Maybe someone got there first? I checked the angle you described. And… your drink…”“Yeah. Did you take it for a test also?”“The room has been cleaned so there is nothing there. I checked with the staff and they had already poured it away.”King twitched his lips upward and nodded his head. “Okay.”“Where are you?” Dariel asked.“I’m at Sasha’s.”“You are going to see her? At a time like this?!” King imagined the frown that must have gathered on Dariel’s face and shook his head.“Still, I gotta see her. I will talk to you later.”“Sure. Be careful to evade the reporters.”===“How dare you show your face here?!” King stopped abruptly as the pillow flew in his direction.He exhaled and stared at the woman who sat on her bed, crying profusely, and then looked around the room that was scattered.As he slowly walked to
“A bigger smile, please!” Payton exhaled gently as the photographer said and she breathed in again.She raised her head, clenched her teeth together, and widened her fake smile.It must have been evident.She thought.That this marriage was just of convenience and nothing more, because right now, without being told, she knew that she had the fakest smile ever.“Can the bride's father and mother move closer to the bride?”He demanded again.“Jesus, can we just get this done with?!” She burst out unconsciously and then swallowed hard.She dared to not let it show.Why was she letting her emotions get the best out of her?“Ohhhh, I see that the bride can’t wait to walk down the aisle,” he joked and Payton forced a smile again.After a while of taking pictures in different styles with her family, they moved away from her while she sat ‘pretty’ on the chair, a bouquet held tightly in her hands“Sister!” Came the loud pitched voice from Ava who rushed to her and then pulled her in a quick
“Do you, Payton Inez Vass, take King Thorn for your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”King pinned his eyes on Payton as the officiant asked her. She stared at him back and he chuckled inwardly.She really looked like she was going to yell NO to his face but instead, she exhaled.“I do,” she said.“King Thorn, do you take Payton Vass to be your wife, to live together in harmony, to love her, to honor her, to comfort her, and to keep her in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?"“I do,” a mocking smirk tugged on his lips as he said immediately.‘Forsaking all others… for as long as you both shall live?’As if they would even manage to spend six months together!King knew that he was going to have real issues with Payton. He does not even need to be told.‘Dream on. If that makes you sleep at night?’She dared to tell hi
“Ah… I… F… I am so sorry, ma'am,” she bowed gently while she twitched her lips rather guiltily.She really should not feel guilty, honestly. It was King’s fault that he did not tell her about her.Just an ‘I have a mother’ would not hurt his ego, for real.But instead, all he was after was how she should respect him and not put her mouth in his matter.What an egoistic bastard!“I can see you are short of words,” she smacked her tongue.“I am so sorry. King did not tell me…”Should she be saying that?What if King had told his mother that he had told her already?“Girl, same!” She exclaimed and Payton raised a brow.The ‘girl, same’ totally blew her away!“He did not even show me your picture either. I have been wanting to meet you for a long time!” She said.“A long time?” Payton raised her brows.“Yes. About a year or something. He kept refusing to tell me anything about you! Could you believe he called me a few days ago to tell me about the wedding?!”Hold on. A year ago?She had b
The drive home was as silent as a graveyard as Payton and King refused to say to each other other words.While Payton looked out of the window, like she was taking the new route in, King took quick glances at her while he held his phone tightly in his hand.All he wanted to know was why this woman was still pretending even now that they were married.At least, she must have done that to him because she wanted something, and this must have been it.Getting married to him.So, why the fuck was she crying when they were leaving the wedding hall?As his phone beeped, he turned to look at the message that had just entered and then clicked on it.It was from Sasha and he smiled softly. “Yes, I promise. It is just a deal marriage. It will be over soon,” he typed back in response.Earlier, she had messaged him and asked if things were over between them, and of course, he had told her no.There was no way he was going to let go of Sasha because of this sly woman.Once he gets the truth out of
“I never considered you as my friend either, King Thorn. The world does not revolve around you.”“And I said that you will respect me. Not spewing cuss words at me is included!”“Hold on, what is your obsession with respect? Were you disrespected all your life?!” She asked and finally snatched her arm from him.“You asked for this, my dear wife,” he shook his head.“Ask for what? This stupid marriage? Damn me if I ever want this for myself!”“You did that on purpose just to have me marry you. You knew it was going to be the only way around this!”“And why would I?” She frowned.“Because I am King Thorn, and everyone is dying to meet me, to know me, or be with me!”“You are so delusional, King Thorn,” she shook her head in disgust.“You think I am amongst those people? I don’t even know you! I mean, I have never heard of you till last week. I told you, the world does not fucking pivot around you!” She snapped, pointing her index finger at his chest.“First, you drugged my drink, then,