A night stand with the vengeful CEO: his substitute bride.

My body ached in all places possible. As I slowly blinked my eyes open, the first thing that caught my attention was the sun rays trying to get through the curtains, and then the second thing? A man, laying right next to me. His naked back was turned to me, and his face was on the other side of the bed.

I squinted at him, my mind foggy. What happened last night? Cecilia. The bar. God, I can't remember a single thing after.

His back muscles flexed slightly with each breath he took. My eyes take in the details, I could see broad shoulders, deep back dimples, and biceps—the kind you'd only see in fashion magazines. Just from his back view, I could tell he was gorgeous. I clearly made at least one good decision last night.

I closed my eyes, trying to remember anything after I took that alcohol-ugh, that stupid "Fire Glow" vodka mix or whatever it was called. It went way too hard last night, and honestly, I couldn’t even remember where I met him or how I got here or whether we really did it or just passed out half-dressed from being drunk.

Curiosity started poking at me, every part of me wanted to snoop and turn him around just to get a good glimpse of his face, but I fought the urge.

Rule 26: never, ever look at his face the next morning or even ask for his name.

It was my own dumb rule, but I made it for a reason.

I let out a sigh, then grabbed my phone from the nightstand and almost screamed when I saw it was 8:30 a.m., and right under the time was a reminder in all caps: "MEET THE FUTURE IN-LAWS—9:00 A.M."

“Shit,” I whispered under my breath.

I jumped out of bed, grabbed my jeans on the floor, and pulled them on. My eyes scanned the floor for my white crop top and bra but couldn't find them. Fuck! Mom's really going to be mad at me. I bend to check under the bed, and luckily, my white crop top was lying there. I grabbed it and got on my feet. No sight of my bra and my top? Wrinkled as hell, it even had specks of dirt on it. I don't fucking have a choice, do I? I put it on and grabbed my phone again.

Before I turned to leave, I pulled out a wrinkled 500 bill from my jeans back pocket and placed it gently on the side table, paused, then added another 500, because something in me said he deserved a tip, even if I couldn’t remember a damn thing, but I felt like I had a good time last night.

Just as I turned to leave, he shifted slightly and stretched. I still couldn’t see his face, and I didn’t want to. His left arm moved above his head, and I caught a glimpse of a ruby ring on his middle finger.

Nope, too many details already. I turned my back quickly. I have to get out of here.

My shoes are nowhere to be seen. I check the time—forty minutes past eight. Damn it. I reached into my other back pocket, felt my keys, and nearly cried in relief.

I opened the door as quietly as I could, stepped out, and closed it behind me.

I stopped my car's engine in front of my parents' house. My eyes landed on the Rolls Royce next to me. My family never owned a Rolls Royce, something about a bad history between my father and the CEO or something. So that meant the car belongs to the future in-laws. Oh Christ, I'm late.

I checked the time on my phone—thirty-five minutes past nine.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath.

Traffic was a bitch this morning. I should’ve left the hotel earlier.

I hastily stepped out of the car, slammed the door shut, and rushed to the front door. They’re probably having breakfast by the pool, which means I can sneak into my room, take a quick shower, get dressed, and show up like I’ve been here all along. Perfect plan.

As soon as I opened the door, every head in the living room turned to me. Oh crap.

Dad, Mom, my little sister, Serena, and a woman-probably in her mid-fifties, elegantly dressed. I'm guessing she's the mom. Sitting beside the woman was a man in a tailored black suit, face stone cold, arms crossed like he was sealing a business deal. Well, technically, this marriage thing is a business deal.

Mom stood up calmly, a smile on her face. She seemed calm, but I could see it-the tight smile, the way her hands were folded gently over her belly. She was angry. If it wasn't for the guests around, she would have thrown a fit. She walked over to me and placed both hands on my shoulders.

“This is my first daughter, Scarlett,” she said. “I apologize for her abruptness. She was out on work last night.”

I didn’t dare look her in the eye.

Instead, I smiled politely at the guests and gave a tiny nod. The woman smiled warmly back at me. Nothing like the man beside her, who was staring at me like I’d walked in wearing a clown costume.

Why was he staring? I wasn’t the one marrying him.

My eyes moved to Serena. She was sitting next to him, head down. She seemed... nervous? Sad? I wasn’t sure.

The lady took a sip of her tea and leaned a little closer to Dad as she said, "So we'll set the date two weeks before the anniversary gala."

The conversation between both families continued, but my attention wasn't there. The guy in the suit was still staring at me like I’d stolen something from him and wasn’t even trying to be subtle about it.

I started wondering if maybe I had something on my face, so I ran my fingers gently across my cheeks and wiped the corner of my lips and even brushed over my chin just in case, but there was nothing there.

Then my eyes dropped to his hands now resting on his knee, and I noticed a ruby ring right there on his middle finger, and my stomach turned just a little because I’d seen that ring this morning.

Maybe I'm being dramatic. There are probably a hundred men walking around with a red stone on their finger, and the man in my bed this morning had messy hair, and this one had his hair styled perfectly like one of those guys on the cover of GQ magazine, so I was obviously being ridiculous.

Still, something about him made my heart feel weird.

He was on his feet all of a sudden.“I have a meeting to attend, thank you for breakfast,” he said and started walking. He stopped right next to me, and the room went silent. He leaned in and dropped something on my lap without saying a word. My eyes dropped to my lap- it was money, two folded five hundred dollars. My eyes slowly looked up at him, and something in me went completely cold.He passed by me and left. The silence in the room was so loud that it made my ears ring, and my face started to heat, but not because everyone was watching me but because I just realized something I never ever should have done.

I slept with my sister’s fiancé.