Chapter 16

Chapter 16

POV: “Corinna*

“Ugly.”

I scrunched up my nose at the dress as 1 flipped the page of the magazine in front of me. Everything in

the magazine was hideous. My dress had to be stunning..

“Puffed sleeves. Gross.”

I groaned, shutting the magazine with a huff and throwing it somewhere on the floor with the dozen

others I had discarded.

“There isn’t anything good enough,” I sighed. I stretched out on the couch, wincing at the ache in my

stomach. I didn’t think it would hurt this badly.

Dammit. I huffed, shifting onto my back so I could stare at the ceiling in boredom. I placed a hand.

around my sore abdomen and growled.

It had better not scar, or I’d be suing those idiots at the clinic. My modeling career could not be

derailed, not when I was finally so close to acting.

But it was worth it. I grinned, smugly, thinking of Adelaide’s stupid face when I got the inheritance.

instead of her. She thought she was so much smarter than me, but she had no idea what Ashton and I

were planning.

She didn’t even know what was going to hit her. I reached out to the coffee table, grabbing the next

bridal magazine, hoping it had something that would suit me. I didn’t have high expectations. “Boring.” I

rolled my eyes at the first dress. The mermaid cut was so out of fashion this year. Did the bridal

magazines not get the memo?

I heard the sound of the door clicking open, and I sat up in a hurry, before remembering that it was a

bad idea. I groaned, holding my hand over my stomach as the pain shot through me in waves,

I watched, laying on my side as Ashton came in, his coat messy like he’d thrown it on in a hurry.

“Hey, darling.” I purred with a smile.

“You did the surgery?” Ashton asked, barely even glancing at me over his phone.

I pouted. “Yes. The eggs have been harvested. The bill’s on the counter by the way,” I said waving my

hand dismissively toward him.

Ashton stiffened, then glanced at me with a dark look, “You didn’t take care of it?”

“Does it look like I’m made of money?” I asked, sarcastically. Gosh, he could be stupid sometimes. His

family was much more well off than mine and he knew it.

He growled, throwing his coat on top of me.

“Hey!” I yelled, my voice muffled under the coat as I pushed it off of me and onto the ground. As I did

so, I noticed something shiny sticking to my fingers.

“Why is my apartment a mess? And where’s dinner?” Ashton demanded walking away from me.

“Cook?” I wrinkled my nose in disgust, “Clean? Get your maid to do that! I will not be a housewife.” “I

don’t have a maid,” Ashton bit out, glaring at me.

“Then hire one,” I shrugged, casually, “I don’t do any of that.”

I glanced at his jacket with a frown. Something was unusual about it. Why was it sparkling?

“You’re my wifel You’re supposed to keep the house clean and make sure dinner is on the table

Chapter 16

before I get home,” Ashton rubbed his forehead, exhaustedly.

“This isn’t the stone age, Ashton,” I snapped, rolling my eyes. “I’m not cleaning or cooking. Once I

recover from this procedure, I plan on going to work immediately. So if you want those things done, 1

suggest hiring a cook and a maid because you won’t get that from me.”

As I shook the jacket, dozens of specks of glitter cascaded casually off of it and onto the floor.

Glitter?

“Where were you?” I demanded. getting to my feet as I threw the jacket half across the room at him. It

hit the table he was attempting to clean off, sending all of the trash to the floor. It hurt to stand up so

quickly and throw the jacket, but I didn’t care at that point.

Ashton shot me a glare as he grabbed his jacket off the floor. “I was at the IVF clinic. I was just meeting

our surrogate and going over the expectations. Quit acting so jealous.”

I crossed my arms, not believing him one bit. He’d always been a playboy, even if nobody knew it. “I

didn’t realize our surrogate was a hooker!” I snapped. “There’s glitter all over your jacket! How do you

explain that?”

“She has another kid,” Ashton said, convincingly. He walked over to me, his eyes soft and soothing.

“This is her second surrogacy. She was just showing me the drawing her surrogate son made for her.

He likes glitter, apparently.”

I narrowed my eyes at him but decided it wasn’t worth it. I was only worried that he’d get caught

anyway. I didn’t care who he slept with, this was a business arrangement.

Having our relationship in the spotlight meant there could be no slip-ups.

“Remember the plan, you can’t be caught doing anything.” I told him, angrily.

“I know, I know,” Ashton said, gravitating towards the kitchen. “We pretend you’re pregnant while she

carries the baby. Get the inheritance before Damon and Adelaide. Don’t worry, the plan will work. I’m

not going to get caught doing anything.”

“Don’t screw it up,” I snapped, settling back down on the couch. “We both need this, and our siblings

don’t deserve it.”

Just as I flipped open the bridal magazine I had been reading, my phone began to ring.

“Hello?” I answered, the sugary-sweet voice of Corinna Summers coming out of my mouth.

“Is this Corinna Summers?”

“Yes, it is,” I replied. “How may I help you?”

“You got the callback for the movie. It will be up to the director whether you get the part or not.” “Oh,

thank you! This means so much to me,” I said hurriedly.

As soon as I hung up the phone, my sweet smile dropped into a victorious smirk. I did it. I got the

callback.

“Who was that?” Ashton asked as he sat in his chair, his phone already out. I could hear him typing

something, but I could care less about it. I just got my first action opportunity!

“I got the callback for the movie I auditioned for! This will be my first acting gig,” I said and grinned,

excitedly.

“Uh-huh,” Ashton muttered, still engrossed in his phone.

“This movie could seriously boost my career!” I said, trying to get him to see my excitement.

“Sure.”

Chapter 16

I glared at him, as he stared absent-mindedly at his phone.

“You could at least pretend to be a little happy for me. If I get this gig, it’ll boost your career too, you

know,” I told him, frustratedly.

“Will they be done filming before the wedding?” he asked, nonchalantly.

“I don’t know. Why?” I rolled my eyes. I could make time for both. The wedding was mostly planned

already. We’d just need to show up.

I just needed to settle on a dress and a few other small details, but that didn’t involve him.

“Once we have the inheritance, you’ll have to quit your job,” he said matter of factly.

I stared at Ashton for a good, long minute as what he said sunk into my brain.

“Excuse me?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“I’m a politician, Corinna,” Ashton scoffed as it was obvious. “I can’t have a model or actor or whatever

you do as a wife. You’ll have to learn to be a proper wife which means learning how to cook

and clean.”

What the h*11?

“You have to be joking.” I snapped.

“Well, I’m not,” Ashton growled back. He barely glanced up from his phone.

“I had to sleep with one of the producers to even get an audition for this movie,” I snapped. “I’m not

backing out now.”

The jealousy I expected, however, didn’t show up. Ashton just shrugged, getting to his feet without

looking my way. His eyes never left his phone.

“Too bad for you,” he said before he went into his bedroom. “Clean all of this up, and start on dinner.”

The door shut firmly behind him, the lock clicking in place.

“Cook and clean?” I gazed at the messy apartment with a dumbfounded look. He expected me to clean

up this mess? By myself?

And cook dinner? Absolutely not!

I gritted my teeth, grabbed the nearest thing to me, which just so happened to be my phone, and threw

it at his bedroom door. The phone shattered upon impact, and I screamed in frustration.

I felt something pulling around my abdomen, and the pain came back with a ferocity all of a sudden. I

groaned, holding my stomach as I collapsed back onto the couch.

I grabbed one of the couch pillows and clutched it to my chest. I stared at the ceiling with a dark look. If

Ashton thought he could turn me into a pretty housewife, he had another thing coming.

Cook and clean?

The thought was ridiculous. I was not a normal woman, and I wouldn’t let him treat me that way.

“If you wanted a perfect wife,” I muttered darkly to the empty room, “You should’ve married Adelaide.”