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5

"Good morning," greeted Oliver.

"Good morning, Mr. Price. It's a pleasure to have you here again. How can we assist you today?"

It seems that Oliver frequents this place often. All I could see here were jewelry and diamonds. This store is worth more than my whole life.

"Show me the best engagement rings you have."

"Right away, sir."

The lady opened the display case and took out boxes of rings. Oliver looked at all of them, occasionally giving me quick glances. What could he be thinking? I just hope he doesn't choose an enormous ring. I prefer something simple yet valuable.

"Done. I want this one."

When I turned to see, the lady had taken the ring away, and I couldn't see it.

"Which one did you choose?"

"You'll see tonight."

"Here you go, sir," she handed him the box with the ring.

"Thank you very much."

"Where are we going now?"

"To buy you a dress for tonight. You have to look stunning so that everyone believes you'll be my wife."

I swallowed hard when he said my wife. It sounded so possessive in that moment.

It's fake, I repeated to myself. It's a fake engagement, don't get your hopes up.

To be honest, I felt a bit strange doing all this, but I knew it was for a good cause. Having to put up with Oliver's idiocy had to serve some purpose. We left the beautiful jewelry store, and Oliver seemed to be heading straight to his car again.

"Where are you going?" I questioned.

"To buy that dress," he replied obviously.

"The mall is nearby," I rolled my eyes. "You don't need to use the car. We can walk."

"What?" he seemed to not understand.

"That we use our feet," I took him by the arm and practically forced him to walk with me. The rain had stopped. "It's good to walk sometimes, Price."

"I walk all day at the company. I also go running in the mornings, so don't lecture me, girl."

"Don't call me girl," I glared at him. If there's something that bothers me, it's being called girl. I searched for a store with nice dresses. They should be somewhat affordable because I didn't have much money.

"Did you quit already?" he asked without taking his eyes off his phone.

"What?"

In the mall, many people were staring at us... well, at Oliver. They must be wondering what the most coveted bachelor is doing with a small-town girl like me. I was poorly dressed, and I was surprised that Oliver Price didn't look at me with disdain. This guy must be used to being with super beautiful models or actresses, and here I am, just existing.

"Your job," he finally put away his phone. "I suppose you quit."

"It's not necessary, Price. You simply stop going, and that's it. Look, that store looks good."

"I don't think so," he frowned. "Everything seems too cheap."

"What more do you want? I didn't come expensive," I teased him.

"Just so you know, Aileen, I like to give my girlfriend a good life."

I swallowed hard and came to a sudden stop, looking at him.

"You have a girlfriend?"

"Yes. It's you, isn't it?"

I rolled my eyes for the second time that day.

"Well."

"Come on, I know a good place," I was surprised when he took my hand. I guess he did it because he knew there were a lot of people around, and they would take pictures, so we had to pretend to be very much in love in public, even though we hated each other in private. Oliver and I entered a very luxurious store where they sold incredible dresses—they were sparkling, spectacular. I had never seen anything so elegant.

"Good morning, Mr. Price," a slim and tall girl greeted us.

"Katy, we're looking for an evening dress for... her," he pointed at me. I narrowed my eyes at him because he didn't say we were dating. Falsely.

"I'm his girlfriend," I smiled wickedly as I hugged Oliver. The guy seemed to smile uncomfortably and forced. It amused me.

"Yes, Katy, we're looking for a dress for my girlfriend," he muttered under his breath.

Katy was a bit surprised, but she managed to hide it.

"Please follow me," she said, leading the way.

“It seems like you frequent this place a lot," I admitted.

“My mother usually comes around here often," he replied.

“Hmm."

We followed Katy to a section of evening dresses. Wow, these dresses must cost more than my life. I liked a black one, with spaghetti straps, fitted to the body. It also had sparkling sequins. With my hair straightened and let down, it would look good on me. After all, I had to impress Oliver's family and pretend to be on his supposed level.

"I like this one," I grabbed the dress.

"Are you sure? If you want, you can take more and decide at home."

"Oliver, darling," I approached him knowing that Katy was watching. "I like this one, I don't want you to spend so much on me."

He also smiled forcedly.

"Whatever you say, dear girlfriend."

"Then I'll take it to the counter," Katy took the dress and went to the register.

"I'm not like your ex-girlfriends, Price," I stepped away from him. "I wanted a cheap and nice dress that I can afford myself, but you wanted the most expensive and refined one."

"It's expected that as my girlfriend, you should look your best."

"So now I look bad," I put my hands on my waist.

"I didn't mean that, Aileen."

"Whatever, Oliver," I headed towards the cash register where the girl packed the lovely dress.

"Do you want to see the shoes? We have many pairs that match this dress," Katy continued.

Oliver appeared in my field of vision.

"That's fine," I immediately said before he could agree.

"Perfect. Here you go."

"Thank you."

"Charge it to my account," Oliver said, and then followed me. I walked ahead, to be honest, I didn't even want to talk to him. It was enough that he said my appearance looked bad.

"Could you wait for me? You're making a scene," he said.

"I don't want to be seen with you, Price. At least not while I look ugly," I spoke without stopping. My ego felt very hurt.

"Aileen, don't be childish. You're acting like a child."

"It's for your own good, Oliver."

Immediately, I felt a hand on my waist.

"What...?"

"Let's grab something to eat, right?"

I thought about it. I couldn't really refuse a meal, plus I was very hungry. I bit my lower lip trying not to appear too excited about going to eat.

"I don't want to."

"Lucky for me, I do. Come on, this place looks good."

We entered a fast-food subway.

"What are you doing?" I looked at him confused.

"We're going to eat something," he glanced at his watch. "I'm free until noon, then I have a lot of work in the afternoon."

We sat at a table near the back of the place. It was half empty.

"Isn't it supposed that you don't eat these things?" I left the bag on the seat next to me and looked at him. To be very honest, Oliver was quite handsome and attractive. He exuded masculinity and strength. I still didn't understand why he chose me to do these things, knowing that many women would want to be in my place.

“Yes, but I could give it a try."

“How? Haven't you tried pizza?"

“No."

“And the burger from yesterday?"

“I gave it to my secretary. It was just an excuse to see you dressed as a waitress."

“You're an idiot, you know that?"

“Good morning, here's the menu. Let me know when you're ready to order."

“We're ready," I said before she left. "We just want a family-sized pizza with ham, mushrooms, and cheese."

“With a cheese-stuffed crust?" she asked.

“Yes, with the stuffed crust. And for drinks, two sodas, please."

“You can give me the soda when the pizza is ready," Oliver told her.

“Mine right now," I told her.

“Alright," the girl left.

The air conditioning in this place was making me shiver from the cold.

“Taking advantage of the fact that we have some free time, you should tell me some things about your life or your family that are important so we don't get caught off guard," he suggested.

"Hmm, my mother's name is Sofia, and my father left us when I was young. My best friends are named Vanessa and Trisha," I took out my phone and showed him some photos, "We've been friends since we were little, and we went to university together. Vanessa is studying Economics, and Trisha is studying Marketing," I continued showing him photos until I came across one of Xavier.

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"He was. He went to Spain to study a few years ago, and we had to break up because of the distance. There isn't much else to know about my life," I put away my phone, "We don't have any more family here, so... what about you?"

"I met my father, John Price, and my mother is currently in California on a trip with some friends. Her name is Miranda Price. My older brother lives in New York, his name is Steven Price, his wife is Amanda Price, and they have a seven-year-old son named Lukas Price."

"Will your mother be coming to the party?"

"No."

"And your father?"

"From my family, only my father will be coming."

"Hmm, interesting," I rubbed my chin, "So it seems like it will just be a party for my family, apparently."

"For my family. The rest are friends and guests. As I told you, everyone needs to know, and what better way than to invite your friends to spread the news."

"Well, yes, it sounds good."

"When will you start university?" he asked me.

The waitress brought me my soda.

"Maybe next week I'll start full-time. I need to catch up on everything I missed in the past six months and... study. I'll have to work hard to make up for it."

Oliver seemed to be thinking.

"Aileen, I... had no idea about your scholarship. There were changes in the company."

"Don't worry, Price, the important thing now is that you're fixing it."

He smiled slightly. For the first time since I've known him, his smile seemed genuine.

Minutes later, the pizza arrived. It smelled so good.

"Come on, Price, eat without fear."

I took a slice and started eating it. It was delicious. Oliver did the same, hesitantly tasting it at first, but then enjoying the flavor.

"How did I miss out on this all these years?" he wondered.

"I ask myself the same thing."

Eating with Oliver was a completely different experience. He was new to my world, and I was new to his. We were equals, and it was good that neither of us was ashamed of the other in that regard. We finished the whole pizza, and Oliver was still hungry.

"It was really good," he said after washing his hands, "But I have to go. I have a very important meeting."

"That's fine."

"You can come if you want."

"I don't think so. I have to be home and tell my mother about you. Besides, remember that you have to go to her place before the party."

"I know. I'll be there around four, is that okay?"

"Perfect."

We stood up and walked towards the exit.

"Hey, we have to go to the movies on our next outing."

"What movie are we going to see?"

"Hmm, let me check what's playing and I'll let you know."

"Whatever Miss Price wants."

I felt something in my stomach when he said that. Miss Price.

What's happening to me? We got into the car, and Oliver started.

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