Page 6 of Faking It with my Bestie's Billionaire Brother

"That's not what the picture looks like, and that's not what the clickbait headlines are saying."

"Headlines? My God, it only happened a few hours ago."

"Newsflash, Spencer, the news is coming out every few seconds these days. My God, I'm old enough to be your grandfather, so why am I the one cluing you in on how fast news comes out now?"

I turned away from his sour expression, rolling my eyes. "Well, don't leave me in suspense. What are these headlines supposedly saying?"

"That you're messing around with the help," he said. "Just like your father used to."

I stopped at that, and I could feel everything in my body tense. The one thing I absolutely could not stand the notion of in this world was being compared to that man. He had no soul and no conscience whatsoever, and it had just been accepted that he would always have a mistress or a girlfriend. I used to feel so horrible for my mother until I discovered that she was also having her own affairs.

So, I was a disillusioned teenage boy tucked away in boarding school, thinking that all marriages were a sham. But things only got worse from there. One of those mistresses happened to be my father's secretary, Connie.

Apparently, my father had been discerning enough to pick women who had no interest in tying him down. They enjoyed their time with him and the baubles that he gave them in return, and it was as simple as that.

But Connie had bigger plans. She could see absolutely no reason why she couldn't replace the current Mrs. Ashbury and reign supreme over the corporation and my family's riches. She even told me at one point that she couldn't wait to be my stepmother.

My father had no intention of marrying this woman, and once Connie figured that out, she set about trapping him in another way. The news of her pregnancy upended everything in our world…or at least in my world. But my father was sure it wouldn't change anything. He saw that the child got taken care of, which only ever meant throwing money at the problem. His apathetic reassurances were not reassuring to me, but I knew what it meant when my dad said “got taken care of.” I was the product of that mentality myself, and that hadn't gone so well.

I vowed then and there to watch over my half-sibling to the best of my ability, but at the time, I hadn't realized just how much I was taking on. It wasn't just a matter of my father shipping his new child to boarding schools that I would have to worry about. My half-sister's mother was a piece of work and a half.

There were times when it still felt like I was fighting her mother and her money-grubbing ways. "That's ridiculous, I'm not fooling around with anybody. I don't have time for it, for God's sake. We'll just put out a statement and explain what happened, simple as that."

Ralph rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You should know by now, Spencer, that nothing is ever as simple as that, especially not when it comes to business dealings. We're already under a lot of heat because of what the ex-employees are going on about. We don't need a scandal on top of it."

"I would hardly call it a scandal."

Ralph put his hand up to silence me. "And yet, that's exactly what it is. But don't you worry, I think I might've figured out a way to fix it."

I grit my teeth, groaning internally at his sly smile. I already had to hear one of Ralph's brilliant proposals this morning, the one that had me so ticked off I went running to get comfort from my little sister, which had me running straight into Ava.

"You might as well drop that attitude now, Spencer," Ralph warned me, and he was the only person alive other than perhaps Penny who could get away with talking to me like that. "Need I remind you exactly what is at stake here? This hint of a scandal you created this afternoon with Penny's little friend might've just been a godsend dropped into our laps, and we need to act on it."

My eyes, which had been fixed on a spot over his shoulder until I could control my emotions, shot straight back to him. "You're not possibly suggesting…"

He shrugged, his eyebrows raised as if it all made sense. "Come on, you have to admit that it would work. It's as if somebody dropped the solution to all our problems right into our laps. I know you were upset with me this morning over my suggestion, but Ava could be our ticket out of this mess with those former Ashbury employees. Because if they start singing their tales, like they're threatening to, it's all going to come out then, Spencer, and there will be no stopping it. At the very least, think of Penny and how this disaster would affect her."

I let out a groan.

That felt like a low blow, but he also wasn't wrong. I didn't like anything about this idea, but granted, I didn't like most ideas that had to do with the Ashbury corporation, and yet, I went along with them. It was time to suck it up and do what needed to be done to get this mess out of the way.

Ralph must've seen my resistance fading and resignation settling in its place because he clapped his hands together. "I knew you were too smart to look a gift horse in the mouth. First things first, do you think this Ava person would go along with our plan? You say that she's Penny's best friend, so I'm assuming she’ll say yes if she knows it’s to help out Penny and the students at the school."

I let out a dark chuckle. "You know what they say about people who assume, Ralph." From the interactions I had with Ava over the years, predicable wouldn’t be a word I would ever use to describe her.

He leveled his gaze at me. "Well, then, you're just going to have to make her an offer that she can't refuse."

I rolled my eyes at the old cliché, but Ralph was insistent. "I mean it, Spencer. It’s important that we have her on board, so whatever the girl wants, give it to her. She’s the deciding factor in whether or not your company will go bankrupt or if it will keep making millions for years to come."

"I don't know if I would go that far," I argued.

"No? Remember what we talked about this morning. If the picture that I just saw is any indication, she seems like a perfectly warm, affable person, which is just what you need to soften your image. I'm assuming she's a good person if she's best friends with Penelope."

I sat back further into the couch. He had a point there. I had only met her a handful of times, and I found her instantly annoying—but if I was being honest, I supposed that I didn't really know her well enough to be that annoyed by her, but perhaps my irritation with her had more to do with the fact that I couldn't take my eyes off her when she was in the same room as me, and that was wholly inconvenient for somebody in my position. The last thing I needed to be caught doing was ogling my little sister's best friend. "And what about Penny? She's not going to be thrilled about the idea of me using her best friend."

Ralph seemed to consider my point for a moment before responding, "I admit, I doubt Penelope will be happy about it, but she knows that some things need to happen in order for us to help the company. She understands how many people are counting on you. Besides, if you're compensating her friend amply, I'm sure she won't be opposed to that. I know the academy tries to pay its employees well, but teachers can never make enough for what they do."

The more Ralph talked, the more it was really starting to sink in. I was going to have to try to carry out this plan, and I hated every bit of the idea. "Let me talk to Miss Moretti first. If she agrees to the terms of this cockamamie idea, then I will approach Penny about the situation at hand. But until then, I don't want you saying a word to her. There's no reason to get her more upset than she already is. Thank you for calling her this morning, by the way," I said sarcastically.

---