Ava Sinclair's POV
I opened my eyes, and the world was wrong. the soft hum of my alarm was gone; instead, that abyssal, unnatural silence flowed in. My body felt weighed down inside in ways in which it shouldn't have been.
There was also this really light smell of perfume of cedarwood and leather that did catch my attention.
I sat up, disoriented. I looked around, the pillows were crisp, the white sheet felt so soft.This was not my bedroom. The Wall colors were gray, stark gray, with paintings of some sort-ones that spoke of money.
The bed itself, huge, some inches wider, sleek and modern, a contrast to my modest queen-size bed.
Instantly, I began to panic, I thought, where am I?
My rib cage was booming, my heart was pounding, my legs were over the edge of the bed, and there, then I saw it, the ring.
I stared in shock, looking on the diamond beacon laughing back at me. I didn't have a ring like it much less one with diamonds. And yes-Nolan and I had discussed the possibility of marriage all the way to engagements but this big rock on the finger felt wrong to me but it fit so well but whose-it was was a mystery.
"Good Morning."
A voice, low and even came behind me, I gasped, wrenching the sheets to my chest as I turned to a man at the doorway, he looked so impeccable in a well-fitted suit, keen features mirroring cold grey eyes which could pin me where I sat with one glance. My discomfort filled up space in the room and my skin grew cold.
"Where am I?" I said, my voice shaking. "What's going on?"
He turned his head to one side with a concerned glare. "You don't remember?"
"Remember what?"
He blew out a heavy, weighted breath and took another step further into the room.
"You're my wife, Ava. We got married yesterday."
And that freight train hit me square, "What?" I was shaking my head, hysterical. "Impossible. I'm not married. I have a fiancé , Nolan. I'd never meet you in my life."
"Your fiancé?" He twisted his lips up into a humourless smile. "Then maybe you'd care to explain this."
He pulled out a framed marriage certificate, my name and his printed in bold calligraphy across the page. The date was yesterday. I felt sick.
"Noo,This has to be some kind of mistake ," I said. "Maybe you should explain to me how we got married. This doesn't even make any sense."
"And yet here we are," he returned, his voice clipped. "Married."
I hit my finger against my forehead, as if to bring me out of my daydream. The whole thing seemed so funny, like some joke. "I don't remember anything," I said.
"How did this happen?"
"That's what I'd like to know," he said, his voice harder. "I don't remember either."
I stared up at him shocked. "What do you mean, you don't remember? How does one not remember getting married?"
He stared back, eyes boring. "I hoped you might know that. I assumed this was perhaps your suggestion - an accommodation for some other purpose."
I flared. "What do you mean? I'd never marry someone I didn't know. And not for whatever you're inferring."
"Then we're at an impasse," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Because neither would I."
The silence between us was deafening. I was getting more angry, more confused, more terrified.
"Let's start again," I told him after a deep breath. "Who are you?"
"Maximus Blackwell."
A name running in me, like a spark of recognition-Blackwell Enterprises, the billionaire CEO who adorns the covers of business magazines and financial news networks. The Ruthless, ambitious, and by any definition of the term, out of my league.
I swallowed hard. "It doesn't make any sense."
He nodded. "On that, we agree."
I glared hard again at the ring, the weight all everything sudden came crushing heavy on me.
"Somebody made some mistake. It's either that someone forged that stupid certificate or someone is just having some cruel joke at my expense, or...or some sort of confidence trick."
Maximus clamped his jaw in. "I already had my attorneys check into it. The document's valid."
My panic clawed at my chest. "Okay, well then. How can it be invalidated? Must be something akin to some sort of annulment?"
His eyes narrowed. "We don't even know how it happened yet. Till we do, annulling may not be the smartest thing to do."
I frowned. "What do you mean?
He was quiet for a few second and finally said, "Our names are on that certificate. In case somebody was behind this, annulling it without understanding his motive can make us very vulnerable. We have to find out who has done it and why."
It sounded plausible yet did little to improve my mental state.
"What then are we expected to do now? Play husband and wife?" I asked.
He turned to me , "For the time being, yes."
The very idea was risky, but I had little choice. I was at his mercy and stuck in this waking nightmare of terror with him until we found a solution to this problem.
Maximus turned toward the door. "I've had your things brought over. You'll find them in the closet. Breakfast will be served downstairs in an hour."
"You're kidding," I said, surprised again.
He turned and left the room. The weight in my thought was alarming and the ring was so discomforting.
I covered my face with my palms. Was I really losing it?
How had things turned out this way, so utterly out of control?
"How I'm I going to convince myself that this wasn't me being reckless?"
The Man that has just left the room was the last man I would ever want to settle for. I tried to look for my cell phone, maybe I might have lost my memory but I think my cellphone wouldn't. I quickly grabbed my phone.
"I got
ta call Elsie." I said to myself but unfortunately for me Elsie's number wasn't going through.
My stomach began to growl and knew I really needed that breakfast.