Red always signifies danger. Unless they are a bunch of red roses. Which is what I blink my eyes open to the next morning.
"Hey baby," Micheal greets me with a charming smile, "You slept well?"
I nod at him and raise my left hand up until the gigantic rock on my finger catches the light and flickers.
I still find it hard to believe that I'm engaged. Even though it's a fake engagement; an engagement is still an engagement.
"You love it, huh?"
"It's beautiful." I reply in a hoarse voice.
"I have one more surprise for you."
My eyes widen, "You do?"
Micheal shuffles through his briefcase. I sit up, wondering what the surprise could be. What if I've somehow blown our cover and he is bringing out a gun to kill me before I have a chance to get his confession.
I let out a deep breath when he hands me some pieces of papers. A prenup I assume. But after scanning through the documents, some air hook in my windpipe.
"What's this?" I ask in a voice I hope sounds naive.
"It's a business baby. I want us to be business partners from now on." he replies, then covers my mouth with his in a lush kiss.
"He wants me to front line some of his drug transactions." I announce on entering Dave's office, slamming the paperwork on his desk.
After reviewing it, he screams, "bingo!"
"What?" I blink back at him. I expect every reaction from him except excitement, "did you read it well?"
"This is exactly what we need."
"You need him to frame me?"
"Not you, Samantha."
"That Samantha…," I say through seethed teeth, "...is using my social security number. We didn't change that, remember?"
"Shit!" he stamps his hand hard on his desk, jolting me.
He starts pacing around the room, thinking, while beads of sweat dots his forehead. When a call comes through his private line, interrupting his thought process, he excuses himself.
I slump into his chair. My head has been banging hard ever since I saw that paperwork. I hate how a simple undercover had succeeded in complicating my life.
The light streaming from the windows catches the diamond and it glows. I start admiring it again. The way it wraps around my slender fingers. It fits me so well. As if it was meant for me.
Today would have been the best day of my life in an alternate universe. A world where my relationship with George is perfect and the ring is his. I would have been the happiest woman alive.
George and I had met after my training. We've been so in love and dating ever since then. I've always dreamed of the day he would pop the big question.
I sigh, knowing that dream will never come true. My career has somehow managed to rip the happy part of my personal life. Tears blur my view. I sit there, contemplating between letting the tears flow or sucking it in and getting the job done.
Immediately the door opens, I choose the latter. Sniff back the tears and turn to face Dave.
"You're taking the deal Sarah."
"What? I can't—"
"You will."
My jaw drops. I become speechless.
"Do you trust me, Sarah?"
"I don't know you personally enough to—"
He waves me off as if I'm blabbing rubbish, "I mean professionally. Do you trust me with your career?"
Resigned, I decide to go with the safest option, "I don't know."
"Well, you have to trust me on this one. Sign the deal. I got you."
"But sir, putting down my signature on that damn file means risking jail time."
He snorts at me as he rounds up to throw himself onto his chair, "You already risked jail time by blabbing about this case to your silly friends."
My mouth clamps shut.
"You're taking that deal Sarah."
The finality of his words continues ringing in my head as I drive home.
How did I get to this mess? Just a few weeks ago, I had been so excited about this case and the possibility of getting a promotion when we succeed with it that I threw a mini party with Natasha and Chloe, celebrating my future win.
Now I'm one signature away from landing my ass in jail.
I try calling Natasha for some moral support, but after she didn't pick up on the second ring, I give up.
The ring is the first thing George noticed immediately I step into the apartment.
He burst into a sarcastic laughter. The painful gleam in his eyes is all I need to know that he is putting up a performative act.
Then he starts clapping and I begin worrying that maybe he is overreacting. If he had listened to the whole conversation with the girls, he would know I was being honest about Micheal being just an undercover case.
"You had the guts to abort our baby twice, but you rush off to accept a ring from that asshole, just because you're pregnant for him?"
I stumble till my back hits the wall. Natasha. She's the one sabotaging me. Not Chloe.
"George…"
"Don't!" he screams when I try to close the space between us.
The pain lingering in his voice pierce deep into my heart, breaking them into a million pieces.
"I…"
"Don't try to justify what you did!"
"Was that why you almost destroyed my career?" I shot back at him.
"That was just the beginning. By the time I'm done with you, you'll regret the day you met me."
I step into the courtroom with fidgety legs the next day. Too nervous to look Micheal in the eyes or hold the pen steady enough to sign the marriage papers.
The whole ceremony passes in a blur.
Micheal's mansion looks like it was carved out of a fairy tale. I enter the bathtub, hoping the waters will help in loosening the knots that had long formed in my shoulder blades.
It is doing just that until Micheal walks into the bathroom, his lips curved in a smirk.
"Tell me which one is your real name, Samantha Willson or Sarah Darlington?"