Chapter 3 An Excellent Performance

• "Excuse me...?! Are you saying... marry her!?"
• "Yes," said a woman holding a notepad in her hand. "If you marry her, we can turn this whole thing around and maybe even come out ahead."
• "You can't be serious!" Liam retorted. "Marry?"
• "Stop playing dumb! Yes, marry her," his father declared. "Sort it out, Liam. Or our company won't be the only thing at stake."
• "And if I refuse?"
• "Then," said the woman with the notepad, "in a few months we will have to declare bankruptcy for the company."
• Liam took a step back, as if the woman had punched him in the stomach. It was his company, his work, the only thing he knew how to do. And at that moment, it was all he had.
• "But... but... what if I agree?" he finally asked. "What will happen?"
• "Basically," the woman said, smiling from ear to ear, "you will marry Miss Maxine's sister... Miss Maxine, and when she is ready to debut, we will hold a press conference and announce the wedding and everything else."
• The idea of being tied to that woman, even for a short time, was not appealing at all, but Liam knew that his family would fall into ruin and that if he didn't do something to fix it, everything he had built would crumble. So as unpleasant as the idea was, he knew he had to do it.
• "This is going to ruin my damn life..." he grumbled with a sigh. "Fine. I'll do it. I'll marry her."
• A moment later, there was a clearing of the throat and all eyes turned to Max.
• "Excuse me... does anyone intend to ask me if I agree? Because as far as I know, I have to give the other part of the 'I do'."
• "Of course," said one of the surprised publicists. "We can't force you to marry Mr. Liam, but maybe we can persuade you..."
• "Tsk, tsk, tsk..." Liam interrupted, turning to Max. "You're out on the street, you have nowhere to live, and you screwed up my damn existence because I didn't think to tell me you were a damn nun!" he growled angrily.
• "And?" she replied with fierceness in her eyes. "Do I have to marry you just because you say so?"
• "Yes...!" he responded, exasperated. "Yes, of course! If you don't want to bear the guilt of my family going bankrupt, then yes. You need to marry me to save everything my father has built and you destroyed in an instant. You owe me!"
• "Excuse me? I owe you?" she asked, crossing her arms. "I already gave you a few orgasms as a gift, I don't owe you anything! What about my life? What about what I want?"
• "What the hell do you want!?" he snapped incredulously.
• "I don't know!" she shouted in frustration. "For starters, speak to me nicely, because I may have been a nun, but I grew up in an orphanage and I know very well how to throw a punch!" she threatened.
• Liam looked at her with a murderous expression, like he had never looked at anyone before in his life.
• "I have no patience for nonsense, woman!" he shouted, losing his composure. "I could give you everything you want! I could..."
• "You could what?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
• "I would give you the world, damn it!" he exclaimed, exasperated.
• "I already have the world, thank you," she said, shrugging. "I don't need your money, or your stupid marriage. And now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll leave."
• Max turned to walk away, but Liam gritted his teeth and grabbed her arm, and for a long moment they stared into each other's eyes in silence.
• "Wait... Damn it, I'll speak nicely to you, just... marry me, help me solve this, and I promise... I promise I will do whatever it takes to give you... whatever makes you happy."
• Max gently pulled her hand away and crossed her arms.
• "Nice speech, but I'm afraid it's not going to work," she said, shrugging.
• "What do you want?" he asked, exasperated. "My body? My soul? What? Tell me and I..."
• "I don't want anything from you," she replied coldly. "I don't want your money, or your stupid marriage. Just... there's only one thing I've never had..."
• Liam clasped his hands in front of her in a pleading gesture.
• "What thing? Anything! I'll give it to you!" he assured.
• "A family," Max said, and Liam pressed his lips together.
• "Excuse me?"
• "A family, I've never had a family. If you want to solve your problems, fine, but if you want to be my husband then you're going to be my husband, and you're going to be a decent human being and let me be by your side all the time."
• "Like... always?" Liam choked.
• "Always," she confirmed. "And if we can't really be spouses... I want us to at least be friends."
• "I can... try, I can try," he murmured, closing his eyes.
• "That sounds better," Max agreed, smiling slightly.
• Liam sighed and stepped away from her, needing to think. This was going to ruin his life completely, but he nodded before turning to the publicists.
• "Alright... we'll do it. We'll do it?" she felt.
• "We'll do it, prepare... whatever needs to be prepared."
• Liam approached his father, and sat beside him as he whispered very quietly.
• "Everything will be fine... I promise."
• "Thank you, son. Are you okay?" his father responded in the same tone, and Liam furrowed his brow.
• "No... I was hating her so much... what the hell happened? How did I end up begging her to marry me?"
• Mr. Grissom patted her hand and asked to speak with the girl alone for a moment, so everyone left, including Liam.
• When they were alone, Garret Grissom could see how the woman's body lost all expression of helplessness and stood up with the pride and strength he had known a week ago.
• "Excellent performance, Lieutenant Johnson," he murmured. "At least now we have a good enough reason for you not to leave my son. A family? Excellent lie, thank you for everything."
• Max turned around and walked towards the door.
• "The best lies are so good... because they always have a little bit of truth, Mr. Grissom," he murmured.