Page 13 of The Fake Family Deal

“No, I know, but I mean… well, look at it.” I gesture around. “This totally doesn’t look like the kind of place where a family lives.”

“But it’s nice,” says Ellis, completely missing my point.

“No, yeah. It’s very nice,” I say. Then, wondering why I’m pandering to a billionaire, I shake my head and sigh. “Look, my point is, shouldn’t this place look slightly like the kind of place where a babylivesrather than is allowed to stay on contract?”

Ellis frowns. How is he not getting this? I shut my eyes, thinking of how to explain it in more detail. “Look, everything’s great, for an adult. But gray is a horrible color for babies. They need stimulation. You at least need to make it look like there’s some toys or something in here. I’m not asking for family photos and keepsakes…”

“Just something,” says Ellis, and I think he finally understands what I mean. “I’ll speak with my team.”

I don’t reply to that. I can’t think of anything nice to say. Of course he’s not capable of decorating his own house. He’s rich. Why would he do anything for himself?

Fortunately, Lila breaks the tension by crawling up to Ellis and glaring at him. “What’s this?” he says. “Is this good or bad?”

I chuckle. “Well, she isn’t running away, which is a good sign. She usually does that with new people.”

“Can she run?”

“No, what I mean is, she’s not hiding from you. She can be a little shy sometimes. I guess it’s my fault for not having her spend enough time around other people, but it’s not…” I trail off, not quite wanting to confess to him that I don’t have any friends.

“Not what?” he asks.

I shrug. “Nothing. I just don’t know anyone else with a baby, that’s all.” Even if it’s not fully the truth, it’s not fully a lie either. To my relief, he accepts the answer as good enough.

Time to change the subject, I think. I reach my arms out to Lila, who’s headed off now on all fours. “Come here, sweetheart. Let’s say hello.”

She turns to look at us, but stays just out of reach, crawling and shuffling herself around as she explores. Ellis watches her with an intent curiosity, as if he’s surprised she can’t walk. Soon, I’m hoping. Before I know it, she’s going to be running about everywhere. “Come say hello to Ellis,” I say to her.

He frowns. “She can’t speak?”

I choose not to comment on his ignorance. I guess if you don’t have kids, why would you know anything about that development? Still, though, I thought most people at least knew a little something about when babies started walking and talking.

“Honey, come here.” I wave my hands at Lila to get her attention. She blinks her eyes wide open at me, then babbles something inexplicable. I wish I could tell what was going on in her head.

She shuffles her way over to me, and I pick her up to put her on my lap. Immediately she launches into my arms for a hug, wrapping her tiny hands around me. I give her squeeze, kissing her head as I embrace her.

I imagine what she would be saying to me if she could speak:Mommy, who’s this strange man and why are we in his house?

“It’s okay, baby,” I reassure her, not caring if Ellis thinks it’s strange that I’m having a one-sided conversation where I’m filling in the blanks inside my mind.

“Say hello to Ellis,” I say gently to her. “You two are going to be friends.”

This is possibly one of the weirdest experiences I’ve ever had in my life. I can’t believe I’m sitting here in a billionaire’s house telling my daughter that we’re all going to be friends. This is a guy who’s shown nothing but contempt for me.

Oh, my God. The reality of my situation is starting to hit. I’m going to have to pretend to bemarriedto this man.

I’m going to have to pretend that I care about him. Not just as a person, or figure, but as a man I chose tomarry. A man I chose to have a kid with.

I’m going to have to pretend that he’s the father of my daughter.

I know Lila’s real dad isn’t anywhere to be seen, but that doesn’t stop this strange pretense from feeling too bizarre to be true. One day she’s going to watch this show and ask me what the hell I was thinking. And I’ll tell her the straight truth: I did it for her.

Because of this TV show, we’ll be able to have a wonderful, beautiful life together.

Actually, I’d prefer if she never, ever saw the show and any proof of its existence was eradicated from the light of day. But I have no control over that. I’ve no doubt that people are about to start recognizing us and that I’m not going to be able to hide from that.

For better or worse, this show is about to propel me and Lila into the public eye, because the fact is, Ellis is well-known. Somehow,he even has fans. And for every fan he has, he has someone who’s willing to go online and hate on him too.

There are lots of people who would be interested in watching a TV show about him, if only to bitch about his life for the sake of gossip. It already happens online. People get into fights about whether he’s a good person or not.

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