The billionaire’s true love

Part 27

Two hours passed and I did not see Trent. Madigan took my photographs with a smile on her face, making me wonder what she was so happy about. Tamara was nowhere to be seen; maybe she was sitting in a corner somewhere, sulking and probably plotting revenge against Trent or maybe Madigan.

All in all, the two hours passed fairly quickly and peacefully. I smiled when I saw the waiters walking about, talking to each other. They looked so comfortable here, so at peace; no one looked like he or she was tired of their job and wanted a better one. They looked happy working for Trent. And the smile on those faces told me a lot about the kind of boss Trent Benson was. He was a jerk, but he was an exceptional boss.

But I was surprised when Trent came out of his office with a beautiful smile plastered on his equally handsome face. That smile might not mean much to other people, but it had me raising my guard. Something was wrong, his smile said it all. And since he was the one smiling, I knew he had a trick up his sleeve. He was about to do something and I had a feeling I would not like it.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make, so please everyone, gather around,” Trent announced, loud enough for his voice to resonate in the whole studio. Fuck! He had a strong voice. And I hated the fact that how hot it was.

Immediately, all the waiters, photographers, make up and hair artists, models and everyone else currently present in the studio walked over to where Trent was standing, that smile not leaving his face. I should’ve ran away, but I needed to know what he had to say, he had never made an announcement before.

“What is it, Mr. Benson?” It was Madigan who asked.

“I’ll tell once everybody is here,” Trent replied. It made me smile to see how sweet he was to her. I mean Tamara just made me want to kill her with the way she treated her.

And that was when I saw her. Tamara walked forward like she was a queen coming to sit on her throne. I swear, my hand itched everytime I saw her face. But I had to wait, I had to keep calm. I would get my chance, I just needed to be patient.

“You want to say something, Mr. Benson.” Was it just me or did Tamara just rolled her eyes at Trent? The woman had issues, big ones.

“Yes Tamara. I have an announcement to make if you did not hear me the first time,” Trent responded, his eyes hardening. Damn, he made me hot, in more ways than one.

When he got no further response, he proceeded to speak again. “So I have a very special announcement to make, and by my smile, I’m sure many of you can tell that it is a good news.”

Madigan clapped her hands, a grin on her face. “A good news, that is perfect. I could really use a good news, no matter who it is about,” she said.

Hearing her words made me curse Tamara once more. She hurt Madigan with her words, how dare she. I mentally vowed to Madigan and myself to take revenge. Madigan was my friend now, and nobody got away with hurting her.

“I’m glad to have your support, Madigan,” Trent said. “And now if you have nothing else to say, I will tell you guys what I intend to.”

His words were met with silence. I was not surprise, everyone wanted to know the good news Trent wanted to share with us, me included. With a cryptic smile, Trent finally revealed his big news.

“I am getting married.”

The blood in my veins froze. My heart stopped. What the actual fuck? Married? Trent could not get married. I mean, just a couple of hours ago he was telling me to be his girlfriend. And now he was announcing to the whole studio that he was getting married.

Well, what did you expect. You rejected him and he moved on.

How in the world could one move on so quickly? Was this how serious he was about us? No, he could not get married. It physically hurt me to imagine him with another woman. He was a jerk and most of the time I cursed his existence but this man had put a spell on me, and I liked him, dammit, I fucking liked him a lot. And I could not handle it if he married another woman.

You can’t accept him, you can’t let him go, what is wrong with you, woman?!

I did not know what was wrong with me. It was true that I did not want Trent to be bossy, but somewhere deep down, I liked him a lot. Enough for me to feel possessive over him.

Coming back to reality was difficult. It was only because of Madigan accidentally bumping into me while clapping excitedly that I got disconnected from my tangled wire of thoughts. I looked around to see everybody clapping and saying congratulations, but no one asked who Trent was marrying.

“Who is the lucky woman?” Tamara asked, and I swore I could’ve kissed her for asking this question. She was a bitch but I liked her for the question.

“I’m glad you asked. She is here right now, my soon-to-be wife,” Trent stated.

I sucked in a breath. Looking around, I gazed at all the female models standing, imagining them with Trent as his wife; and that thought caused bile to rise up my throat. I knew it was not Tamara, it just could not be. If Trent loved her and was planning to marry her, he wouldn’t have told her off in front of everyone.

“Come on, Mr. Benson, just tell us who she is.” Madigan sounded impatient.

As soon as Madigan finished speaking, Trent’s gaze locked on me. And what I saw in them had me wishing that I was wrong. No, no, no, it couldn’t be. I was hallucinating, because it could not be what I just saw, what he just showed me.

“Amanda Lawson has agreed to marry me,” he uttered.

Paralysis. That’s what happened to me upon hearing Trent’s words. Did he just tell the whole studio that I agreed to marry him? Why would he do that? I mean, I was glad he did not take anyone else’s name, but that did not mean I would start jumping and down with bliss. This was not right, Trent was definitely playing.

Suddenly, I could feel eyes on me, lots of eyes. I did not want nor need to look around to see everybody staring at me with shock and disbelief. No, my eyes were locked on the man who just grabbed my world and gave it a spin. Trent did not avert his gaze, instead he looked me in the eyes and dared me to disagree, dared me to defy him. But I couldn’t do that, could I? Not with so many people standing here.

“Oh my God! Amanda, congratulations. I am so happy. This is the perfect good news,” Madigan exclaimed.

Following Madigan, all the other people standing there congratulated me and had the nerve to say that Trent and I made the perfect couple. I wanted to reply but it was like my tongue refused to work, my body refused to move. My eyes were fixed on Trent’s and his on mine.

“When is the wedding?” A model asked, whose name I did not know at the moment since I was trying to murder Trent with my eyes. He was going to pay for this. I just told him I would not be his girlfriend and he was now telling the whole studio that we were getting married.

Celebrate you ungrateful woman, he is choosing to marry you!

My subconscious was a lot smarter than I was. It was providing me with all the logical statements, and yet I kept on twisting the simple words around. I was an idiot, but I would still make Trent pay for this.

“It’s in three days,” Trent answered.

“Oh no, I have to get a dress. I have so little time,” Madigan stated, sounding worried.

“You all will be getting a bonus this month. And every single one of you is officially invited to mine and Amanda’s wedding. You all will get the invitation cards soon, I expect you all to be present,” he uttered.

Three days?! The bastard was intending to marry me in three days. Well he had another thing coming. As soon as I got home, I was getting out of here. There was no way I would marry Trent like this. He had to give me a proper proposal. No, this time I would run away. Jose and I would start a new life, away from here.

“This is perfect, you are the best boss ever, Mr. Benson!” Madigan shrieked.

“Thank you, Madigan. And now, if you’ll excuse us, I would like some time alone with my future wife,” Trent responded.

And just like that, everybody dispersed, going their separate ways, back to their work. With a nod at me, Trent strode in his office. I wasted no time in following after him. Once we were both inside, I slammed the door as hard as I could.

“What the fuck was that?! Do you have any idea what you just did?!” I shouted, not caring if anyone heard me.

“First of all, lower your voice. These walls might be soundproof, but that gives you no right to speak to me that way,” Trent replied.

“Shut up! Just shut the hell up with this crap. I’ve had with you and your demands. Now explain to me what the hell you just did back there,” I demanded.

“I told you if you left the room there will be consequences. You didn’t listen, so now face the consequences,” he stated.

“You are sick! Absolutely mental! You were so keen on teaching me a lesson that you did not realise the lies you just told those people. You can lie to me, but why would you lie to your employees, what is wrong with you?!”

“Who says I lied?” My eyes widened as Trent smirked. Son of a bitch!

“So that bullshit you uttered out there was true?! You’re not only sick, you’re utterly delusional if you think we are getting married in three days.” I crossed my arms across my chest.

“I think you are the one who is delusional, shady. You might not know this about me, but I always follow through with my plans. When I want something, I don’t stop until I have it. So when I said we are getting married in three days, I meant it,” Trent responded.

The absurdity of his words had me laughing in disbelief. “You are so weird. God, you are the strangest man on the planet. You just said that you wanted me to be your girlfriend. You gave me an option to say yes or no. And I picked no. And now, you just go out and tell the whole world that we are getting married. You did not give me a choice. The part where you were suppose to give me a choice, you took my options away from me. You took my right to say no away from me.”

“I told you, I’m not like other men. I do things differently. I like doing things differently. You have to accept me, bumblebee. You have to accept me the way I am, with all my flaws,” Trent stated.

“Well I won’t. I am not going to marry you, Trent. You might’ve not given me an option to say no, but that is what I am going with. There will no wedding in three days. I am not marrying you.” I told him, not sure if I meant my words or not. I liked Trent despite his complications, but this was too much, he was too different. And I did not think I could handle him.

“You can’t run from me. I won’t let you,” he uttered, looking in my eyes. The sincerity in those words scared me, and it made me all the more determined to run away from him.

“And what if I do? What if I do succeed in getting away from you?” Maybe I could turn this situation in my favor. Maybe I could use Trent’s desires for me to my advantage. The question was, how much did he want me?

“If you succeed in getting away from me, and I’m not able to find you in three days, then you win. And you have the choice to say yes or no to me,” Trent said.

“And if I don’t succeed?”

“Then we are getting married, simple as that. You can kiss that ridiculous friend of yours good bye, because there is no way I will let you see him once you become my wife,” he replied.

“Jose is my friend and you can do nothing to stop me from meeting him. He is my friend and I love him,” I said.

Trent gritted his teeth as his hardened. “Don’t you dare say that to any man. I mean it, Amanda. You are not allowed to love any other man. Just me. You can only and will only love me.”

I scoffed. “I’m out of here. You’re too much.”

Trent grabbed my arms, halting my progress. “You are giving up on me, and I won’t let you do that. I will not let you give up on me, bumblebee.” He kissed me deeply, causing the bones in my body to melt.

The kiss ended after a couple of minutes, leaving me dazed. Trent was a dangerous man, and I had to get out of here before I ended up with his last name. I did not know what he was thinking or planning, but I was not going to take any chances. Staying with Trent would either complete me or destroy me, and the latter was the reason which had me running for the hills.

“I am not marrying you, Trent. I am sorry, but I just cannot let you force me into marrying you.” Without waiting for his response, I turned and ran out of his office and out of the studio. Hailing a cab, I got in and rattled off my address to the driver.

The bet was on and I had to leave. Trent Benson was an enigma, a beautiful mystery. But I was not strong enough to handle him. Theodore had forced Hailey to marry her; and I thought it was romantic, but I was wrong. I would not let Trent force me into marrying him, which was why my decision was final.

It was time to get out of this country.