Daddy's Virgin Bride: A Fake Marriage Romance

by Juliet Woods

“And I’ll have a car waiting for you to take you to your appointment this afternoon,” I tell her when Masie’s out of earshot, bringing her dishes to the kitchen.

  “I’m a little nervous about that,” she confesses.

  “Don’t be. I think you’ll like Catherine,” I say. “She’s an excellent therapist.”

  “OK, I trust you.”

  I kiss her forehead, then say goodbye, corralling Masie out the door before we’re late.

  Harry calls when I’m in my car after dropping off Masie. I’m relieved to hear from my lawyer since it’s been a couple of days since we last spoke.

  “What’s the word, Harry? Make any progress on the case?”

  “We’ve got a date set – three weeks from now.”

  “That fast?”

  “Yeah, Vivian’s lawyer pulled some strings. They want this to go before a judge quickly.”

  “OK, that shouldn’t be a problem, right? Everything’s good on our end – I’m married to a nice girl, whom Masie loves by the way. So they have no case, right?”

  Harry sighs. “I wish I could tell you it was that easy. Ethan, there are some concerns that the marriage won’t be enough to convince the lawyer.”

  “What? You told me we’d be golden as long as Masie has a female guardian.”

  “The word is that Vivian’s lawyer will argue that the wedding is out of convenience and that it’s not genuine.”

  My heart sinks. “You’re telling me that after all this, it’s not even going to be enough?” My voice is rising.

  “I’m telling you what the lawyer’s going to argue. I’m not saying they’re going to win the case, but they’re going to play every card they can. They’re going to argue that you haven’t been married to Lily long enough, that she’s not the type of woman you would ordinarily marry since she’s from a different class--”

  “A different class? Harry, you know I don’t come from money either.”

  “I know that, but again, this is what they’re building their case around. They’re going to play up her history in the foster care system and her life in poverty.”

  “It’s such bullshit.” I sigh. “What do I do now?”

  “I advise you to be more public with Lily, create some positive media coverage. Ask your public relations people for help with that. You know it’s all about image and marketing. It’s what you do best.”

  “You think that’ll be enough?”

  “The other thing is that Lily will have to testify in court.”

  “What? You never told me she would be dragged into all this?” I feel a lump in my throat. I know public speaking will be difficult for Lily.

  “Yeah, but with this new turn of events, the suitability of your wife as a guardian is being questioned.”

  “Is there anything else? Will all this be enough?”

  “I hope so. And we’ll keep working on all the other angles. We’ll see what we can dig up on Vivian, OK?”

  “None of this is very reassuring, Harry.”

  “I’m sorry I don’t have better news, Ethan. We’re doing everything to win this case. Have a little faith.”

  “All right, Harry. Talk to you soon,” I mutter, disappointed.

  I click the phone off, sighing. I thought we were out of the woods now. But I’ll do what it takes – I’m definitely not giving up that easy. I have the feeling this whole thing isn’t going to be pleasant for Lily, but I know she’ll do what it takes to help me retain custody of Masie.

  The rest of the day flies by. I’ve been neglecting work lately, and I have to hurry through a couple of meetings and phone calls. I pick Masie up from school, then head home, where we enjoy a nice dinner that the cook left for us. After Masie gets put to bed. I have a chance to talk with Lily alone.

  “How did your first therapy session go?” I ask her as we cuddle on the couch with a glass of wine.

  “Catherine is amazing,” she says. “For the first time in years, I feel kind of normal. She told me everything I’ve felt and gone through is to be expected. Turns out I’m not crazy after all!”

  “Well, I could have told you that,” I laugh. “So you think she’ll be able to help you?”

  “Yeah, I think so. You know, I never really had anyone to talk to when my parents died. It’s amazing what just talking about it can do. She said it will take a lot of work, and time, but she believes I’ll definitely make some progress.”

  “I’m really happy to hear that, Lily,” I say, kissing her forehead.

  “Yeah, thanks for making that happen,” she says. “So how was your day?”

  “Busy,” I say, taking a sip of my wine. “I got some kind of bad news from Harry. It sounds like we’re going to be up against more than we thought. They’re going to say you’re not a fit guardian, Lily.”

  Her face falls.

  I take her hands in mine. “It’s total bullshit. You’re great with Masie and she loves you already. They don’t have a case, and they’re trying to make one by defaming us both.”

  She runs her hand through her hair. “What will they say about me? How can they say I’m not a good guardian for Masie?”

  “They’ll lie, they’ll say whatever they need to say to try and convince the judge. They’ll be talking about your history in the foster care system --”

  “But what does that have to do with whether I can be a decent stepmother to Masie?”

  “Absolutely nothing. They’re grasping at straws here, but because Vivian’s lawyer holds some pull with the judge, we have to take it seriously.”

  I lift her hands to my lips and kiss them, trying to soothe her in any way I can. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry to drag you through this. It’s not fair to you. They’re going to say some nasty things about both of us, but we have to try and let it slide off our backs. As much as it hurts.”

  She nods. “OK, I can do that. But is there anything else we can do to win the case?”

  “Harry suggested we try to be more public with our marriage, create some positive PR. It’s just like selling a product – we have to sell ourselves as a couple to the business community. And that creates internal pressure on the judge to be fair with his verdict in the trial.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “Well, the charity work is a good start. Donating money at social events is also good press – that means more galas, more parties.”

  She leans forward to grab her wine glass, and I notice her hand is shaking slightly.

  “Shit, I hate having to ask you to do this. I know public appearances are difficult for you.”

  “I’ll do it for you and Masie,” she says, taking a sip of wine.

  “There’s one more thing: you’ll have to testify in court.”

  She gulps, then downs the rest of the glass.

  “Public speaking? In a court room? Oh God…”

  She buries her face in my shirt, collapsing in my arms.

  “Hey, you can do it. We’ve got three weeks. It’s not much time, but you’ll be ready to face that court room.”

  “Public speaking in front of a bunch of strangers is just about the most challenging thing in the world for me,” she says, her voice muffled.

  “I know, Lily. But look at how far you’ve come already, in such short time. I know you can do this.”

  She inhales deeply, then sits back up. “You’re right. I can do it. I have to, right? I can’t stand by and watch you lose your daughter.”

  I don’t answer, but stroke the hair from her face. “My sweet, brave girl.”

  Chapter 24

  Lily

  It’s the first day of my new life as a billionaire socialite wife. I’m dressed in stylish new business casual attire, and hopping out of a limo in front of a fancy hotel downtown. I spot Callie leaning against the building, waiting for me, and suddenly I feel a lot better.

  I asked Ethan if it would be OK if Callie went with me to volunteer the first day, and he readily agreed. Besides, it’s been so long since I’ve seen my best
friend. So much has happened that the past few days feel like a year.

  “Wow, look at you!” she exclaims, throwing her arms around my neck. “You look all fancy now.”

  “Yeah, don’t mess up my clothes!” I say in my best snooty voice.

  “Ooh, how very Upper East Side of you,” she laughs. “So what exactly are we doing here?”

  “Well, it’s a meeting of the New York Ladies’ Society. So… your guess is as good as mine.”

  We watch as some very well-heeled young women walk in the door, looking all glam in dark sunglasses and trendy dresses.

  “Hmm, this should be interesting,” Callie says. We follow the women into the grand old hotel and into a huge conference room with hundreds of women milling about, drinking champagne.

  “Oh my God,” Callie mutters under her breath to me, grabbing my arm. “Look at all these loaded women. I mean – ladies.”

  I try to stifle a laugh as we make our way to a woman sitting at a table, apparently registering people. We get name tags and safety pin them to our shirts, only to look around and discover no one else is wearing them. I’m guessing they don’t want to mess up their carefully curated outfits.

  “I feel under-dressed,” Callie says to me. We look around at the swarms of perfect women dressed in designer clothing. Even I feel under-dressed.

  “So what kind of charity is this?” Callie mutters.

  “I have no idea. My publicist told me this was the high powered women’s group to join.”

  Callie opens her mouth to make a snarky comment, but I beat her to it.

  “Yes, I know, I have a publicist now. It’s insane.”

  “I thought we’d be feeding the homeless or something,” she says. “This is just schmoozing.”

  “Shhh,” I say. “Don’t let the ladies hear you.”

  I’m interrupted by a shrill woman’s voice behind me.

  “Are you Ethan’s new bride?” shrieks a woman who looks to be in her late 20s, dressed in a hopelessly chic pastel pink cocktail dress with hair that doesn’t move when she turns her head.

  I nod, dumbstruck.

  She lets out a high pitched yelp. “Oooh, look at you! You’re just adorable!”

  My mouth is suddenly very dry. I wish she’d stop shrieking like that.

  “I’m Lily Cairns Davidson.” I hold out my hand, and she humors me with a cold fish style handshake.

  “I’m just thrilled to meet you, Lily! I’m Fiona Jones. I heard Ethan got married!”

  “And this is my friend, Callie --” I can’t finish the sentence before Fiona turns to bring another shrieking woman into the mix.

  “Alice, look who’s here – Ethan Davidson’s new wife! Can you believe it?”

  “Oh my gawd!” Alice screams, clapping her hands together. “Look at her! Ethan finally got married – and she’s cute as a bug!”

  After Alice screams in my ear, I feel so sticky sweet that I need a shower. Alice’s attention span seems to be on the short side, and she quickly turns away to chatter with someone else nearby.

  “Listen, Fiona,” I interrupt before she calls another woman over. “What is it that we’re doing here?”

  Fiona blinks. “What do you mean, dear?”

  “I mean, this is a charity, right?”

  “Of course. The Society’s mission is to raise awareness about the New York philanthropic community.”

  I pause. “But when do we do the charity work?”

  Fiona blinks, then begins to laugh – softly at first, then louder and louder until she’s caught in a shrieking cackle.

  “Fiona – what’s so funny?” Alice approaches us again, not wanting to miss out.

  Gasping for air, Fiona explains: “Lily here thought we did actual charity work.”

  Alice throws her head back in laughter. “Did you think we’d be plopping out soup to the homeless, dear?”

  I bite my tongue, wanting to tell them a thing or two. Instead I maintain an even tone to my voice and ask, “So what do we do at this meeting then?”

  “Well, dear, we discuss which charities we need to organize galas for this season. And of course, what kind of dresses to wear to the galas.” She stops to laugh again.

  Then, she lowers her voice to tell me a secret. “But to be honest, dear, we spend a lot of time gossiping. Today everyone’s talking about Serena – surely you’ve heard about her?”

  I shake my head no.

  “Wherever did Ethan find you?” She cackles again. “Well, Serena created quite the stir at last week’s gala when she wore a dress that was off the rack.”

  “Off the rack?”

  “What, am I speaking Martian here?” Fiona smiles. “She wore a dress from a store, dear. It wasn’t custom made. Can you believe it?”

  I hear Callie suck in her air as if she’s about to tell Fiona off, but I elbow her.

  “Would you excuse us, please, Fiona dear?” I say, my voice dripping with sugar.

  Fiona nods blankly, then turns back to Alice and the rest of the gossiping women.

  “I feel sick to my stomach,” I mutter to Callie. “I have to get out of here.”

  Callie and I slink away, trying to be discrete about the fact that we are dying to escape this torture.

  We both breathe a sigh of relief once we’re out on the sidewalk again. Then, looking at each other, we burst into laughter.

  “What the hell was that?” Callie asks. “That woman is a hyena. A very mean hyena.”

  “Laughing about someone who didn’t wear a custom designer dress,” I say, shaking my head. “Just no.”

  “Are those people for real?”

  I shudder. “I’m afraid so, from what I heard over dinner at last week’s party with Ethan.”

  Callie grabs my arm. “Lily, promise me you’ll never become one of them.”

  “I promise. How could I? You know I’m not like that.”

  “But they could be zombies and infect you – or it could be like The Stepford Wives.”

  I laugh. “I’ll just have to keep my distance, then. I need to for my sanity, anyway.” We walk down the sidewalk aimlessly. “The thing is, though, that I need to do something to create publicity for myself – for the new me: Mrs. Lily Cairns Davidson. But I can’t do it with those women.”

  “No, you definitely can’t. Though some kind of volunteer work would be good – aren’t you bored now that you’re not working?”

  “Very. Yeah, I need to do something I’m interested in. And something that actually does some good in the world. I don’t see myself gossiping with those ladies all day.”

  “You always said you wanted to help foster kids – kids going through the hell we went through.”

  I nod, thinking for a moment. “Hey! How about a community garden for foster kids?”

  Callie looks interested. “Like the kids would all work on a vegetable garden?”

  “Yeah, and flowers, of course. They’d all work together on an inner-city garden. They could learn gardening and job skills and grow nutritious food. It’d really help their self-esteem. And it could be therapeutic for them to work with the earth.”

  Callie grins. “The connection with nature – all that stuff you ramble on about all the time.”

  “Exactly! If I’d had access to a plot of land and a garden when I was in group homes, I would have had some kind of outlet, you know? I think this could really help a lot of kids.”

  “Yeah, just imagine if we could have had some kind of creative project back then. It would have made everything so much better. Lily, I think you’re onto something here.”

  “Come on, let’s go home. I need to make some phone calls.”

  “You mean I finally get to see the billionaire penthouse? I’m in!”

  Two hours later, I close the door to Ethan’s home office and walk back to the living room. Callie reclines on the sofa eating red grapes.

  “You look like Cleopatra like that,” I say.

  “Thanks. My eyeliner is on point today,” she
smiles. “How could you not feel like a queen in this place? I’m never leaving.”

  I laugh. “You’d miss Mark after one night.”

  “Touché,” she says. “Did you make the calls?”

  “Yep. I called Ethan, the publicist, the lawyer – everyone is thrilled with the plan. It’s going to be a non-profit organization, and the lawyers are working on the papers to get it started. Tomorrow I’ll be meeting with some consultants.”

  “That’s awesome! I love this idea.”

  “Ethan’s generously donating the money to get it started, but they’re saying that it’s something a lot of businesses and individuals would donate to.”

  “There’s just one problem: I need a co-founder.” I look at her and raise an eyebrow.

  She looks up at me with a grape bulging in her cheek. “You want me to run this non-profit with you?”

  I nod.

  “Does this mean I can quit my car wash job?”

  I nod again. “The lawyer said that even non-profits pay salaries to employees. He talked to a consultant and they ran some numbers. It won’t make you rich, but Harry’s pretty confident it would provide a comfortable salary for you. And benefits.”

  “Where’s my rake and shovel? I’m so doing this!”

  I laugh and give her a bear hug. “Callie, this is so perfect! This is like my dream job – gardening, helping foster kids --”

  “Don’t forget working next to me,” she says. “That’s the best part.”

  “I was saving the best for last,” I say, winking, and reach for the grapes.

  Chapter 25

  Ethan

  “Mrs. Davidson, may I have this dance?”

  Lily’s eyes sparkle as she lets me lead her out onto the dance floor.

  “You look beautiful tonight,” I tell her as we walk hand in hand.

  “Thank you.” Her rosy cheeks are set off by her emerald green dress. “And I’ve finally learned how to walk in high heels.”

  I look down at her matching green pumps. While I’m at it, I treat myself to a glimpse of her toned legs peeking out from her knee-length skirt, and her plump ass.