Engaged

A couple of days later, Kimberly paced around her bedroom as she thought about what to do since they were gradually approaching the deadline.

Melanie's Will had stated that if both she and Melvin had not moved into the mansion by the end of the first month after the Will hearing, the house was to be given away to charity.

They had just two days left, and Melvin was yet to set foot in the mansion talk more of move in with her, even though she had been living there for the past three weeks.

She needed to do something about it. She had to do something. She needed the money, and she also needed Melvin's help once again in reviving her blog, which had lost all credibility.

Tired of pacing around, Kimberly lay face up on her bed as she thought of how she could approach Melvin and get him to change his mind.

She had let him be since their last encounter at the club, and as much as she had wanted to give up, she couldn't let Melanie's effort go to waste, both for Melvin's sake and hers.

What could she do to really get his attention? Kimberly asked herself.

She sat up when she remembered what Melanie had said about the press, still believing she was in a relationship with Melvin.

After Melanie had told her that, she had gone online to search for the clips of all his interviews, and in one of them, Melvin had been asked about her and why he had not been seen with her. Melvin had responded that they didn't like their relationship being a public business.

Thinking about that, an idea struck her, and a happy smile curled up her lips as she sat up.

She knew what she was going to do was going to piss Melvin off, but she had no choice.

Melvin had pushed her hand by not helping her when she had nicely approached him, so in turn, she would have to push his hand, too.

Without bothering to give her sister a call to run the plan by her, Kimberly picked up her laptop to put her plan into motion.

Once she was done thirty minutes later, a triumphant smile played on her lips as she lay back down on her bed.

She couldn't wait to see Melvin's reaction. She thought with a giggle since she knew he would definitely come to rave and yell.

She didn't care, even though she knew Melvin would be furious about this. What was important was that he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. At least not right now, so he would have to do what she wanted.

Away from there, Melvin's personal assistant, Peter, rushed into the conference hall, not minding that Melvin was in the middle of a meeting.

The moment Melvin saw the distress in his assistant's eyes, he raised a brow as his assistant came to whisper something in his ears.

"You need to see this right now," He said with a note of urgency in his tone.

"Please excuse me for a moment," Melvin said to the directors politely before stepping out of the hall with his assistant.

The moment they shut the door behind them, Peter handed his tablet to Melvin.

Melvin's eyes almost bulged out of its socket when he saw the headlines.

[Billionaire CEO Melvin Craig, Finally Engaged To Longtime Girlfriend Kimberly Jonah, And Set To Get Married Soon.]

From the headlines, Melvin didn't need a seer to tell him it was Kimberly's doing, especially since he knew no one would dare release an unverified news against him or any member of the Craig family.

As he read further into the article, it became clear to Melvin that Kimberly had fabricated the engagement story to gain his attention. He couldn't believe how desperate she must be to go to such lengths.

After their last encounter, he had taken the liberty to look into her to find out why she had seemed so desperate, and he had found out about the lawsuit against her and the fact that she had declared bankruptcy.

How could she not learn? An unverified news had landed her in that mess, and now she was trying to use another unverified news to get herself out of it.

What if he decided to sue her for spinning and releasing such a ridiculous story?

Would she ever change? He had been giving a thought to accepting her offer if she tried to reach him again, but instead of coming to him again, she decided to do this? He should have known she was up to something judging by her silence the last couple of days.

"What should I do? Should I get them to pull down the news?" His assistant asked since he knew enough to know that Melvin had not engaged Kimberly.

He wasn't sure about the exact nature of their relationship, but he knew that Melvin had been claiming to be in a relationship with her for years, even though there was nothing to prove that it was true.

"I wish it were that easy. Taking down the news would be too much of a hassle since she put it up there herself, and she knows I wouldn't be able to take it down. Everyone would be watching and waiting for my next move. If I take it down right now, I would be seen as the same irresponsible jerk they all saw me as three years ago. They would all say I'm doing this because my mother is no longer here to keep me in check. It will make taking over the company more difficult. She knows it," Melvin muttered irritably, more to himself than to Peter.

Without another word to Peter, he went back into the conference room and dismissed the directors, asking them to meet the next morning.

Thankfully, he didn't need to cancel or reschedule any other appointment since the meeting Peter had interrupted had been his last for the day.

How could she do something so reckless just to push his hand? He asked himself as he headed out of the company.

By the time he got to the entrance, Peter was already waiting with his car, and he took the car key from him, "I will drive myself. You can call it a day," Melvin said as he got into the car and drove off.

Even though he had been willing to play along with her before, now he no longer wanted to do that. He wasn't going to let her force her way into his life this time.