THE CEO'S FAKE WIFE

Living Together

The incident two days ago at the villa on the island of Capri still made Beatrice and Luke ignore each other. They only pretend to be intimate in front of the family, but would again back into a cold war when they were alone.

That day, Beatrice, Luke, and the whole family returned to the United States of America. Beatrice and Luke remained silent on the plane, not talking to each other at all.

Arriving in New York, Beatrice almost forgot that she had to come with Luke to his house, instead of going with her family who flew in a different plane to California.

She remembered hugging her dad tightly and crying for a while, then rejoining Luke's family after her father talked to Luke, asking him to take good care of his only daughter, which sounded very strange considering that her father previously intended to marry her to an old fart.

"Bea, we'll talk about your wedding reception tomorrow! Oh God, I'm so excited!" said Luke's mother before they parted because Beatrice would follow Luke back to his Penthouse. Beatrice smiled broadly then kissed her mother-in-law's right and left cheek and went into a different car.

In the car which drove by Luke's driver, Beatrice was still silent, staring blankly at the window that offered a view of New York's traffic jams. Damn, she had to prepare to face every day for the next two years with someone as annoying as Luke! She was not sure that everything would go according to plan.

It felt like she was really stupid because she had a strange feeling for Luke, especially after she heard him say that he loved Rebecca too much. She cursed herself and promised to throw that stupid feeling away.

The driver stopped the car at the Penthouse parking area on the 56th floor, then Luke got out of the car and walked away without taking Beatrice with him. In annoyance, she opened the car door and walked quickly to follow him. She cursed Luke with all kinds of harsh words that she could remember, but she did that without a sound.

She could see Luke open the Penthouse door with a facial scanner, which made her want to ask how she could do the same because she also has to go in and out of the Penthouse as often as he.

Beatrice stamped her feet in annoyance when she entered the Penthouse because Luke didn't say any word to her, he was not even telling her where her room was. So she looked around in confusion and found a room that was not far from Luke's room.

That bedroom was quite spacious, with white dominating the walls and furniture. Beatrice was surprised to find a photo of herself hanging on the wall, it was taken when she was visiting Eiffel Tower, a sign that the room might be hers.

She slowly walked around the room, on the dressing table there were various skincare, make up and perfumes from various well-known brands that made her shook her head in surprise.

Curiously she walked inside and found a walk-in closet which for her was very spacious. Inside was neatly lined up with all kinds of clothes, shoes, and bags from expensive brands that she could only see in the store but could never afford it.

She threw herself on the soft bed, trying to see the bright side of what she was going through at that time. The long journey from Italy made her feel very tired, so a few minutes after that she was fast asleep on a soft mattress that cost tens of times the price of the mattress she used to have.

*****

Beatrice squinted as the sunlight came in through the less tightly closed curtains. She looked at the clock and was surprised to have slept so long, she lazily headed to the bathroom, and took a warm bath, relaxing her tense and tired muscles.

After that, still wearing a towel on her head, and a bathrobe, she headed to the kitchen. There she met Luke and was seen brewing coffee and toasting bread.

She was just about to return to her room because she was not interested to be in the kitchen with him when suddenly he called her, for the first time in three days.

"Bea, eat something."

Beatrice stopped for a moment, she turned around and walked hesitantly towards Luke who was not looking at her, he was busy spreading bread with peanut butter.

After that, he put a cup of coffee and two pieces of peanut butter bread in front of her without saying anything. She looked at the breakfast that Luke gave her giddily, in her heart she was struggling with her feelings.

"It's just us, there are no maids here, I don't like my privacy being disturbed," said Luke without being asked. Beatrice just said 'oh' silently.

"We divide all household tasks, including cooking, for general cleaning, it will be held once a month, there will be a cleaning service person who will come here later," added Luke while stirring his coffee slowly.

"You are free to do anything here, there are only two rooms that you are not allowed to enter, my bedroom and my study," he raved again. Beatrice looked around and wondered what Luke's bedroom looked like.

"Don't be over-curious, if say forbidden, it means forbidden," said Luke as if he could read her mind. Beatrice pouted in annoyance.

"I will transfer your monthly check this afternoon, and the money for your dad will be given later, I still have to wait for me to officially become CEO," he said as he stood up, preparing to go back to his bedroom.

After keeping silent for a while, finally Beatrice opened her mouth.

"I saw you come in with a face scanner yesterday, what about me?"

Luke stopped his steps, then turned to look at her. He quickly took the phone and fiddled with something.

"I've changed it, the password for the door is the same as the date of the month of our wedding year," said him flatly and then walked back to his room.

That afternoon Beatrice spent looking around the super large Penthouse, she turned on a very large LCD screen that filled the wall, measuring about four by four meters. Curiously she pressed the button and a giant A.I cat appeared with a loud meow that made Beatrice scream hysterically.

"What's wrong!" asked Luke who was surprised to hear Beatrice's loud scream. Beatrice, who was still covering her face, pointed at the giant four-by-four-meter screen in front of her.

For the first time in the last three days, Luke laughed out loud at her.

"That's Coco, my virtual pet cat," he said as he pressed the button to feed his virtual cat.

Beatrice gawked a four-by-four-meter virtual cat. OK, that's abnormal!

"That was not good..." chirped Beatrice who had been scared to death. Luke casually pressed the remote and Beatrice's screams echoed loudly once again. The screen that was occupied by the cat had changed to a giant spider A.I.

"Well, hello Bea, this is Aragog," said Luke, pleased to see Beatrice being intimidated.

Beatrice snorted in annoyance but secretly peeked out from behind her fingers, it's kinda cool to have a virtual giant pet! Looked like she would feel at home living in that luxury Penthouse! Finally, she could thank God enough for her contract marriage...

*****