Chapter 2 A Desperate Solution

• "Mr. Grissom! Was sleeping with a nun part of your birthday gift?" a voice rose among all the scandal and the journalists fell silent, waiting for the answer.
• "No... listen, it was a costume party, it's just a costume," Liam clarified, holding the sheet around his waist.
• But another journalist lifted the black habit with his fingertips and denied it.
• "Of course not, Mr. Grissom, this is not a costume, it's an authentic habit, and if I'm not mistaken, it's from the convent across the street."
• "Wait, what...?" Liam opened his eyes, horrified, knowing that if that was true, his life as he knew it would end right there.
• "The convent across the street?" another journalist asked, pushing through. "I go to mass there, let me see... let me see!" The journalist made his way to the front and waved with a hand. "Hello... Sister Maxine!"
• Liam felt his knees go weak. Was this for real?
• "Nun!? You're a nun!?" he shouted, and she shrugged with an expression of "oops!" that left him frozen.
• "Crisis of faith?" he murmured as if that were an excuse, and from that moment on, the world became a very dark place for Liam Grissom.
• Apparently, one of the cleaning staff had seen Liam and the woman dressed as a nun enter the room, and knew it would make a good story for the media. The journalists published the photos and it caused a major scandal.
• Liam wanted to believe it was just a storm in a teacup. The important thing was that he and that girl had lived an unforgettable night together, and that was something no one could take away from them...
• But the reality was very different.
• "The company's stocks are plummeting," his father muttered four days later. "Since your birthday, they've been plummeting, at this rate we won't survive two months."
• Liam ran his hands through his hair, pacing in his office.
• "For god's sake, it was just a fling, it's not that big of a deal!" he grumbled.
• "I know, son, but the problem is who you had a fling with! We live in a predominantly Catholic country and you slept with a damn nun!" his father snapped.
• "Well, you're right about that, she was a damn good one, because damn, she knew what she was doing...!"
• "Liam!" Garret shouted. "I suggest you don't speak like that about her in front of anyone. I know you haven't bothered to find out about the girl since it all happened, but she was kicked out of the convent. She was always an orphan, the church took her in since she was a child and now she has nowhere to go."
• Liam furrowed his brow and crossed his arms, that didn't bring him any joy. After all, they were both responsible for what they had done and neither deserved anything bad just for giving in to passion.
• "I imagine she must be cursing you!" he muttered.
• "Well, believe it or not! She has refused to make any statements or ask for anything, but the journalists have been following her and they saw her entering a shelter for the homeless..."
• "For the indigent?" Liam growled.
• "That's right, so you may think this will blow over, but I guarantee you it won't be easy for her and no one will forgive you for that."
• "Damn it!" Liam roared, knocking over half of what was on the desk.
• He had to fix this, because his father was right. They had lost a lot in a few days, and if things continued like this, the company his father had spent years building would be ruined by him. He headed to the door with determination, but the voice of Garret Grissom stopped him.
• "What are you going to do?"
• "The only thing I can do: find her."
• His father nodded and Liam left the office. He knew he had to find the girl, but if he was honest, he didn't know if he wanted to apologize or not. And where the hell was he going to find her if she wasn't at the convent anymore? In the end, he figured the shelter for the homeless might be a good place to start his search. When he arrived there, they told him she wouldn't be back until the evening, however, he insisted on waiting and shortly after, he saw her appear at the door.
• Liam didn't know what to say when he saw her, the only thing he was sure of was that he couldn't leave her there. She was thin and pale, and her dark eyes were huge in her sleep-deprived face. She had brown hair pulled back in a tight bun and her clothes were simple, like charity. Liam couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt seeing her there, abandoned and with no one to protect her.
• "What are you doing here?" she asked as she approached.
• "I came to find you. Let's go," he said expressionless. The girl didn't say anything, just stared at him, unmoving. "I need to talk to you and I'd prefer not to do it in a place where we could be photographed. Are you coming?"
• She shook her head.
• "No, I don't even know you," she growled, and he rolled his eyes.
• "Liam," he said, extending his hand.
• "Max," she responded, shaking it, and as if that was enough, he started walking towards the car.
• Thirty minutes later, as they entered the Grissom mansion, they were met by over thirty people, half medical staff and half publicists.
• His father had a distraught look on his face and showed him a tablet where they appeared shaking hands with the headline:
• THE TYCOON LIAM GRISSOM "MEETS" THE NUN WHOSE LIFE HE RUINED.
• "You're going to give me a heart attack! Couldn't you greet her inside the damn car? Our actions are in the gutter, now we're truly ruined!"
• He slumped into a chair with a desolate expression, and Liam ran a hand over his face, but one of his publicists approached him.
• "Perhaps there is still a solution, Mr. Grissom. I am sure we can hold a press conference and fix this if..."
• "If what!?" roared Garret.
• "If Mr. Liam agrees to turn the sister... miss... person!... into a decent woman."
• Liam's eyes widened as he looked at his father.
• "Excuse me...?! Are you saying... marry her!?"