A Deal With the Devil

"Are you out of your mind?" Lily hissed quietly, bending down as best as she could to glare at the raven haired man. "Why are you proposing to me?!"

"What do you mean why?" Conrad retorted softly, "you already agreed to being Michael's mother, this just makes it official don't you think?"

Brown eyes narrowed. "Are you seriously staging a public proposal just because your son decided, on a whim I might add, that I'm his mother?"

"Sure, you can say that's one part. I mean, you've seen yourself how hard it is for Michael to willingly interact with anyone. But, it's also because I have a proposal for you,"

Lily pursed her lips in thought, "What kind of proposal?"

"Well you're going to have to say yes to know about it aren't you?"

The brunette stared at the man who easily returned her gaze with one of his own. Her eyes darted from the ring he held, to the murmuring crowd around them, before finally returning to the barely concealed look of victory plastered on the raven haired man's face.

"Have I mentioned that I hate you? Because I do,"

"Love you too wife,"

"Fine! Fine!" Lily exclaimed in a louder tone, both due to exasperation and in a bid to stop the crowd that was steadily moving towards them.

"Yes, I'll marry you,"

At her words the room fell silent for a moment, before loud cheering and shouts of congratulations filled the large space. With a relieved sigh, the raven haired man got to his knees, tenderly taking her left hand in his before sliding the ring on her finger and pressing a kiss to her finger. The smoothness of his action left Lily wondering how he had gotten her ring size since it was a perfect fit for her.

Despite her distrust regarding the whole situation, she couldn't deny that the ring was gorgeous. The rose-gold band was designed to look like a curving flower stem, complete with little sectioned off leaves. The pink diamond was set in the middle of the band, as if to represent the flower, while a smattering of white diamonds were set it into the leaves.

"Like it?" The teasing question interrupted her musings. Lily glanced up, brown meeting blue as the man wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to his side.

"How'd you know my ring size?" Lily wondered aloud, momentarily ignoring how she was now pressed against the man. Along with how her best friend was gaping at her, maniacally tugging on James' arm; she wondered how the man hadn't lost his arm with how excited Alice could get.

"Why wouldn't I know my own fiancée's ring size?"

"I doubt you even know my favourite colour,"

"That's a trick question, you have more than one favourite colour."

Lily blinked in surprise, "Huh, I'm surprised you know about that."

"Well, you are my fiancée I should know everything about you shouldn't I?" A secretive smile spread on the raven haired CEO's lips. "Now, we really focus back on the masses love, especially since it seems like they're basically frothing at the mouth for gossip on us."

At the reminder, Lily forced herself to gaze back to the throng of people around them. Noting how all of them were staring unabashedly at them, some even pointedly trying to get a look of the ring that now adorned her finger. Unconsciously the brunette took a wary step back, moving closer to the man standing next to her. "They look ready to pounce if I take even one step forwards and how did all the paparazzi get in here? "

Conrad gave a nonchalant shrug, "they probably found out from one of the party attendees and rushed over here, you know how they are with any piece of news."

"No, actually, I don't know." Lily bit out, rolling her eyes at him. "I'm not a celebrity remember?"

"Better get used to it then, after all you're now the future Mrs. Walter,"

"You're proposal better be a good one Walter, I am not above publicly dumping you after all this,"

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Lily took careful sips of her tea, silently eyeing the man across her who was also nursing his own cup of coffee. The brunette looked dead on her feet where although she managed to hide her dark circles, the large bags under her eyes were still very much visible. Once every few minutes her eyes would stray to the glimmer of her ring when it hits the light. On the other hand, the reason for her current predicament looked completely at ease, dressed impeccably in a navy coloured suit that, even she had to admit, brought out his eyes.

With all the commotion that occurred yesterday, it had taken a while for either of them to have gotten away from the crowd of not only the paparazzi but also the various nosy partygoers. Ultimately, in order to escape the steadily growing crowd the brunette had agreed to being driven home. Something that only ended up playing to their current story of being newly engaged to one another, Lily even ended up having to plaster a smile as the crowd saw them off.

"So," the brunette began, "I played along yesterday, but now I believe you owe me answers. What on Earth possessed you do pull the shit you did yesterday?"

The man stared back at her with a gaze she couldn't decipher, "As you know, Michael is...different from any other child. Due to childhood trauma he has difficulty in getting close to any female, this includes my mother and grandmother."

"I did thought that the fear he displayed in the hospital had been slightly unusual, but I chalked that up to being in a strange place all alone." Lily frowned, "wait, didn't he cling to me thought?"

"You are actually the only woman I've ever seen Michael do that to,"

"What? But he barely knows me!"

Conrad nodded. "Our family's psychologist is as baffled as you are, but he suggested that we continue to foster this development in hopes that one day Michael will be able to interact with female figures like any other child."

Lily hummed, brows furrowed in thought, after a moment she spoke. "As much as I'd like to believe that's why you sprung a public proposal on me, it still doesn't feel like that's the whole story is it?"

The Walter CEO felt his eyes widen before his lips spread into a proud smile, "Well, well, well, I never would have thought that you would pick up on ulterior motives."

"Hey, don't judge a book by it's cover," Lily quipped with a small grin. "I may not look like it, but I am a writer you know, thinking up on plots is what I'm best at. So spill it Walters,"

"You're right in saying that helping Michael is only one of the reasons as to why I proposed to you," the raven haired man stated evenly, keeping eye contact with her. "However, the main reason is that due to the succession procedures my grandfather has set up for Walter Enterprises I need to be wed,"

Brown eyes blinked back at him in shock, "What?"

"In order to keep my current position I need to be married, for at least 2 years," Conrad repeated slowly, as if willing her to believe his words.

"I need to be married to you for 2 years?!"

The raven haired man scowled, "It isn't like you're not getting anything out of this, you need help with your mother's situation don't you?"

Lily stiffened, "How do you know about that?"

"Relax love, you're going to be my wife, it's very normal for me to know about your family affairs isn't it?"

"Not when we barely know each other Walters," the woman hissed indignantly. "How do you expect to convince me to agree to your plan if you're literally telling me that you've basically went and got someone to searched up information on me,"

The raven haired man smiled at her, one brimming with teeth, much like a predator that knew it had it's prey in it's grasp. "Because, you're stuck in the same situation as I am,"

"Look at it this way, right now you need my help as much as I need your help. You need the financials to help support your mother's treatment and I need someone to play as my wife to keep my position as CEO. Plus, Michael is really attached to you, so why shouldn't we just work together?"

"So, you're proposing that we fake this marriage," Lily uttered slowly, as if trying to get the words right. "Possibly for the 2 year period you need to fulfill the requirements for you to remain as CEO?"

Conrad nodded, leaning back in his seat. "In return, during those 2 period I will ensure that your mother gets the best treatment for her illness. And don't worry, if she still isn't cured after we 'divorce' I will still support any treatments she has to go through,"

The brunette pursed her lips, she could sense that he wasn't simply saying these words to convince her. He was genuine in wanting to continue providing support for mother even after their agreement was over, something which both shocked and warmed her heart. However—

"Why me? I mean, you could probably get anybody to really marry you and then simply divorce them later on. Plus, you barely know me, wouldn't be better to ask your current girlfriend or your exes?"

The Walter CEO gave a sharp bark of laughter, "Ha! Do you think that any of those woman would agree to a contractual relationship and break it off without a fuss? Besides, Michael already sees you as his mother, I doubt he will be as accepting of just any woman I can get to replace you,"

Lily groaned, pressing her face into the palm of her hands, "stop making so much sense, I'm trying to reject this proposal!"

"No use in trying to deny the inevitable love," the raven haired man grinned wolfishly, propping his arms on table, resting his chin on his interlocked hands. "I'm sure that by know your best friend has told you everything about me, you know that I always get what I want."

"That may be true for most things Walter, but right now you need me more than I need you," she pointed out, arms crossed smugly. "If we do this, it'll be one my terms,"

The man narrowed his eyes at her, "Actually wife, we're on pretty equal standing here. I do need your cooperation. But you also need mine. Especially with your mother's situation,"

Brown eyes widened at his words, as Lily felt her face flush in indignation, however before she could retort, the man continued.

"I don't mean anything by it, it's simply the truth and you know this. Right now, we need each other, so why don't we cooperate? It's just 2 years,"

Although she hated to admit it, the man had a point. With everything.

The doctors had informed her, during her last visit that her mother's condition was not getting better with the current treatments she could afford and that if something isn't done soon then it might be too late.

It was the practical solution to her problems, plus as Walter's wife she easily had access to more resources to find better treatment plans for her mother. Plus, just like he said, it isn't a real relationship and that after the 2 years are over he would continue to fund her mother's treatment.

It was the perfect solution.

Except that it came at the cost of her own feelings on faking a relationship.

How would that even work? Would it even work in the first place? They're going to have to trick not only her mother and friends but also his family and Michael. Oh God, they're going to have to trick Michael. What would they even say to him once the 2 years were up?

Not only that, they would have to deceive the public well-enough and that meant doing couple things, especially in public. Something Lily knew would be difficult because she could not lie for her life.

But—

"So what's it going to be love?"

Brown met blue, and Lily could feel a scowl forming as a grin grew on Conrad Walter's face. She really wished that she could wipe the smug look on his face, but she's on limited options here.

Besides, he knows!

She knows that he knows what her answer is going to be. The bastard just wants to hear her say it."...fine, I'll do it."

"But we're signing a contract about this, with amendments from me. And I want my own copy of this contract."

Conrad reached out to grasp her hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles, lips brushing against the ring that glinted on her finger. The raven haired man look much like the cat that got both the cream and the canary.

"Whatever my wife wants,"