The Single Mother

Chapter 4- Phoenix King: Unexpected Discovery

"Phoenix! Pay attention! Mr. Knight is talking to you!" My Dad nudged me, snatching my attention away from my thoughts about Talla King, the girl who just signed her life away.

"Sorry Dad," I murmured back, "My head was stuck in the clouds." I glanced over at Casey Knight, who was glaring at me staring directly into my soul, which made me slightly embarrassed.

Casey Knight cleared his throat, before continuing what he was saying. "So Phoenix, we all witnessed my daughter take responsibility and sign the contract without complaining, therefore it shouldn't be too hard for you to sign it too."

Casey Knight would have been an intimidating man, that was if I hadn't known all his secrets. He had the frightening features; pitch black hair, striking green eyes and a tall and muscular build. But he had his problems, such as his gambling addiction and his tendencies to try and bribe the judges in a court. I heard a rumor that he banished his daughter from his life for no reason, but I don't know how much truth is behind that because she was here earlier tonight.

"Mr. Knight, could I be left alone in your office for a while to read over the fine print of this contract?" I calmly asked, needing a minute by myself so I could breath once again.  

"Sure thing, son." Casey responded, probably pleased that I had calmed down immensely since earlier.

Casey and my father stood and silently exited the room, finally leaving me to be with my thoughts. As I scanned through the fine print, my mind swirled with questions that I needed to be answered. Some of the rules that Talla and I were to follow were ridiculous.

The first of the questionable fine print stated that 50% of the profits earned from both companies has to be evenly split between my family and the Knights. I knew that my family was doing above fine but why would my parents need the extra money when the Knights were clearly struggling? I only knew this because I was eavesdropping on the phone conversation between Casey and my father and Dad sounded pissed off Casey and Phoebe brought the contract up once again, considering that the contract was originally set up around five years ago, although my parents offered the contract first.

Another part of the fine print that stood out to me was the fact that, in order for me to take over as CEO of my father's business, I had to stay engaged to Talla for two years and convince the press that Talla and I met at a family conference and secretly started dating. To further persuade the press, Talla has to work for me as my personal assistant, and we have to lie and say she's been in that position for the last three years, which is how long we've been in a secret relationship. The scariest part of this way thinking about how complex the lies would get and how long they were going to have to last.

My last point of interest in the fine print was the fact that Talla and I had to have an overly public relationship over the course of our two year engagement. This meant that, for two years, Talla had to live in my home. 

The information in the contract wasn't giving me enough knowledge about Talla, for I still knew nothing about her. It frustrated  me to know that there was no disclosed information, even in the fine print, about Talla Knight and her mysterious yet quiet life.

Sighing in frustration, I pulled out my phone and dialed my best friend and work colleague.

"Hey Alexander, how's it going?" The phone was answered after two rings. Alex, has worked for my parents since he was 18-years-old and he was originally my brother's best friend, but after Nathan's death, we were inseparable because we both felt the loneliness and pain.

"Hey, Phoenix, who can I help you? I haven't had a phone call from you since last week and that was because you needed information as soon as possible for your last case." Alexander Pearson answered back, a little humor in his voice.

"I need you to do some digging for me. If you don't mind, I need it done as soon as possible." The anticipation was killing me.

"Oh sure, dude. Who is the person I need to deep dive for?" I heard rapid clicking, signalling that Alex was probably preparing all the necessary tabs.

"I just need some basic information. The persons name is Talla Knight, Casey and Phoebe Knight's daughter. I'm currently in an arranged marriage with her and instead of boycotting like me she just signed the waiver paper and walked out of the room and left the dinner party." It felt nice to get that off my chest with someone that wasn't related to me.

"Woah, Nix... I have no words." Alex tapped away on the laptops keys quickly browsing all the websites, before continuing on. "So what does the arrange marriage entail? Or do you not want to go into it at the moment?" It wasn't often that Alex called me Nix, it tended to only be in moments when he was speechless- and those moments were rare.

"I don't know Alex, I just don't know what to feel at the moment. I don't know why both our parents set up the arrangement. I mean... what should I feel? Hours ago I was a single, free man who could do anything I wanted and now... I'll be shackled down just because of a stupid ring on Talla's ring finger." More relief filled me, as it was yet another heavy weight being lifted off my chest.

"Alright man. Well the information I found on Talla Knight is that she's 20-years-old with her birthday on the 16th of July. Talla was kicked out of her home at the age of 17 for unknown reasons but the paparazzi has seen her walking around quite often with a toddler in her arms and it's been the same toddler every time over the last three years, hence the rumors that the toddler is hers." Silence from my end of the phone for a beat.

"Wait, are you sure?" But I didn't need Alexander to answer to know that he was right.

That was an unexpected discovery.

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Hey everyone, thanks for reading this chapter of The Single Mother. Please stay tuned for the next chapter. Have a lovely morning/afternoon/evening/night and vote, share the story or add a comment if you enjoyed the story.

-ThorandSparky