The Price of Love

Chapter 30: A Great Show

Jin

I met with my professors and my team to square things up, and then I returned to my father's house. I realized that the time was drawing near for this sham wedding. I had no intention of going through with it, but I couldn't let on in case my father took it out on Bella or her parents. I had told him repeatedly that I'd broken up with Bella and was no longer even talking to her in the hopes that he wouldn't consider her a threat.

I was glad that Fiona's father had rented a nearby townhome for her so that she would not have to stay in our house presumably under my spell. I wondered if I could use that to my advantage. After all, if he thought that I'd already had my way with her, why would he need to move her out to protect her? I couldn't believe that she would've told that sordid story to her own father.

So when I received a text from her asking if we could have lunch, I accepted. I needed to find a way to get her to agree to cancel the wedding.

We met at a nice restaurant where the object was to be seen by others--everyone dressed up, made a great show of greeting those they knew, and proceeded to drop a couple hundred dollars for lunch.

I walked in and saw faces turning toward me as I made my way to the table where Fiona was already seated. We were the show today. Women were all smiling and batting their eyelashes at me, and I even noticed a well-dressed man inspect me suggestively. I did not bother to look at him again. I sat down and noticed that Fiona preened a bit when all eyes looked at her enviously as the lucky recipient of my attention.

"Hello, my love," she cooed rather loudly.

"Hm," I grunted, not interested in pretending right now. "So, what do we need to discuss?"

Her smile faded into a pout. "Oh, Seokjinnie, why can't you just be nice for a minute?"

I bristled at the nickname. "For one minute, sure."

She reached out and placed her hand over mine. I did not move. I needed to lull her into a sense of comfort so that I could figure out how to untangle this mess.

"I thought we could talk about the wedding. Do you want to know the details?" she asked, oblivious to my lack of emotion. "We only have two weeks. I wondered if there was anything you wanted to change?"

"There's a lot I'd like to change," I muttered under my breath, but she heard.

"Oh?" she asked with wide eyes. "What is it? The colors? The venue?"

I didn't have the patience for this. I turned my face away from her with an exasperated sigh. "Fiona, whatever you think is going on here, it's not. This wedding is not going to happen. I need you to understand that. We don't even know each other. Arranged marriages are criminally old-fashioned and have no place in our world."

She squeezed my hand until I turned to her. "I thought by now you'd be acting more like a loving fiance than an angry child," she said, her voice becoming harder. "You could at least act like you're looking forward to our wedding."

I removed my hand from under hers. "You do get it, then. I'd be acting because you know that I don't want to marry you, and I don't care for this rushed, shotgun wedding especially when there's no need for the shotgun. There's nothing between us." I leaned over the table. "We didn't have sex."

Fiona stared at me for a few seconds, her mouth set in a hard line. "Nobody believes you," she said, still staring at me. I saw the steel beneath her gaze and realized that perhaps Micha had not needed to put her up to this. Fiona Gettis was just another privileged brat used to getting her way regardless of the consequences. "Not even your girlfriend. Oops," she held a manicured hand in front of her mouth mockingly. "I meant your ex-girlfriend. I knew Bella was not just a friend. No girl who looks like that is ever just a friend."

I felt heat rising from my chest to my face. I was trying to remain calm, but the anger kept bubbling up. "Leave her out of this," I hissed.

"Oh, most definitely she needs to be out of this," she replied. "And you need to stay away from her. I know you went to see her a few days ago." She smiled at my look of surprise. "I'm not some dumb little girl you can control, Seokjin. I'm not going to allow you to keep a mistress. I knew your trip had nothing to do with your studies and everything to do with Bella. You just couldn't stay away from her, could you? The strange thing is that I like her. She seems like a good, caring person. Don't see her again."

I glowered at her. "Don't presume to tell me what to do." I lowered my voice, which was trembling in anger. I no longer cared about pretending. "This sham of a wedding is not a done deal yet. If I were you, I'd make sure your daddy can get his deposits back."

Her chest was rising and falling, and her face showed her irritation.

I smirked. "So, if you wanted to talk about the wedding, save it. I don't care because it's not going to happen." I made a move to get up, but then I saw her expression. It gave me chills.

Her once innocent-looking face had transformed into a mask of stubborn resolve. Her green eyes were shining. "You have to care. You see, I'm pregnant."