The rise of Jeremy Collins

Chapter 5

Ariel got home around two hours after she had proposed to Jeremy in the bar.

How weird, proposed… like it was some kind of business transaction. It was, of course, but marriage and business felt odd in the same sentence.

When she saw him again, he'd looked just the same only more handsome and maybe just a bit buffer, okay perhaps not the same, but he definitely had not aged much. He still had the same boyish grin that made most girls drool over him, and for some reason it annoyed her. She had no Idea why, but it had.

“Maybe you still have a crush on him!” That persistent inner voice spoke.

He was the perfect candidate to be her husband and when she had seen him working for Twain a few weeks ago, she had immediately wanted him, not sexually anyway or emotionally. Just that he fitted the aesthetics she was looking for. Besides, she had found out from Twain that he had intended to fire him soon and when she had asked why, he had told her it was because he wanted his girlfriend all to himself.

When he'd said all of that, she had considered it to be the perfect opportunity to get him to marry her, and it had worked. It still kind of hurt that he didn't recognize her at first at the bar, but she figured that it was a good thing she had changed a lot since the last time they saw each other.

It was so weird when she had seen him in the bar, looking pitiful and dejected. He had been the only one nice to her in high school.

He had been part of the popular crowd, whereas she had just been a wallflower nerd with terrible acne and ugly ass braces.

She did not miss high school. In fact, she hated every minute of it.

She had a massive crush on him back then, but it had dissipated quickly when he had supported his quarterback stealing her assignment.

Of course, she understood why he did it, Bros before hos, but she still hated his guts now.

Maybe hate is a strong word. She had zero emotions towards him. He was just a means to an end, and it didn't hurt that he was easy on the eyes.

Memories of him sitting next to her in class when nobody else wanted to were somewhat precious to her. Although, she knew he probably wasn't doing it deliberately, he had no idea how much he'd helped her grow as a person. She didn't graduate with him, though. After her father had gotten a hold of his inheritance, they became rich and she was forced to go to a private school.

Her phone beeped, and she checked it and found that it was her assistant reminding her about a meeting that was to be held tomorrow morning.

She sent her an okay to confirm she had seen her message and placed her phone back on the table.

Ariel took a sip of water and picked her phone from the kitchen counter again and went to the family group chat and sent a picture of the marriage permit she had gotten from Alex.

In less than a minute, she began to receive messages from everyone in the group, congratulating her.

She texted back saying thank you to each and every one of them.

After all the pleasantries, she immediately called my brother, who picked up on the second ring.

“Hey Noah.” She said as soon he picked up his phone.

“Hey sis, what's up? Congrats by the way, just saw your message on the group”

He said in his usual bubbly, but baritone laced voice.

“Yeah thank you.” She said quietly.

“So who's the lucky guy or… girl?” She could almost see his eyebrows wiggling conspiratorially.

“Mark how many times do I have to tell you that I am straight.”

“My bad, but you can't blame me for being skeptical, have you seen the way you behave around men?”

“Whatever Noah. About the CEO position, now that I am about to become a Mrs, how long will it take for me to become CEO?”

"Everything is set. All we need to do is call up the lawyer, and you get your dream job.”

“I see, that's perfect.”

“Yeah, so when do we get to meet your husband to be? You should invite him.to to dinner at mom and dad's"

“Right. I have to go. I'll talk to you later.” She said and hung up. There was no way in hell she was inviting Jeremy to dinner. She didn't even know the guy, and the marriage was completely contractual.

She just needed to be married to him for at least three years, and she'll get the company to herself. She deserved it after all, She had worked her ass off for it and no stupid clause was going to stop her. Who needs love when you can just buy it?

Everything was going smoothly and according to plan, and she couldn't wait to resume her position as CEO.

With a sigh, she dropped her phone and strolled into her bedroom, she took off her clothes and hopped into the shower and emerged twenty minutes later.

Dressed in all black, she called Jeremy, and he told her he was in the hospital.

“I'll meet you there.” she told him and immediately hung up.

She drove to his location but not before stopping by a flower shop to get a bouquet of flowers.

She needed to make the wedding as realistic as possible, plus she wanted to get herself something for a job well done.

She was almost at the hospital with her bodyguards when she sighted Jeremy in front of the hospital, surrounded by a few men.

One of the men shoved him and then punched him.

She gasped, annoyed by the scene before her. Wondering what the hell was going on.