Chapter 17

Alexis

Filming the student movie was far and beyond one of the best experiences of my life. Everyone involved in the process was there for free. We were all just doing what we loved, and that energy was nearly unstoppable as we plowed through the script and got the whole thing done much faster than I’d imagined we could.

Of course, filming a 20-minute movie was much different than filming a full-length feature, but it still allowed me more actual talking time than any other project I’d done. I killed the part too!

My confidence was sky high when Missy called to check in with me. We hadn’t caught up much at all since before Vegas, so when she invited me to come down to San Diego and hang out with her for a little bit, I said yes.

“Really? You’ll come down?” she asked in shock at my agreement.

“Yeah, I’ve got a few days off from work. I’d love to catch up.”

“Great, I’ll see you later.”

I hadn’t exactly talked things through with Cody about telling his sister, but I figured it was better to tell her in person than it would be for her to find out over the phone. Everything was better received when the other person could see your facial expressions while you were telling them.

The drive down to San Diego was more relaxing than I’d ever remembered it being. I let my music blare as I sang along and was absorbed in the relaxation of driving. So much was going on in my life and I couldn’t wait to tell Missy about it all. She had been such a huge support for me over the years and this was exactly what I needed. Girl time without any other distractions didn’t happen often for the two of us.

Arriving at Missy’s house was pretty epic. She jetted out the front door and straight to my car. I barely had enough time to open my door before she lunged at me with a hug. The two of us embraced and rocked back and forth like we hadn’t seen each other in a decade. Although it felt that long, we really had only been apart a few months.

“Girl, you are radiating! Glowing. What is going on with you?” Missy asked as she stared at me like I was some sort of mythical creature.

“I’ve got so much to tell you. I’m not even sure where to start.”

“Let’s get you some coffee and we can start with why your skin is glowing and you can tell me about this man you’ve been having sex with.”

“What?” I asked a little surprised at her frankness.

“No woman is glowing this much if she isn’t having sex. So plan on spilling the beans about it. I won’t take no for an answer.”

“Then I won’t be telling you no,” I laughed at her insistence.

Missy and I normally didn’t have any secrets. It was unusual that I hadn’t already filled her in on all the details of my life. She was one of my closest friends and I’d just secretly married her brother; this was going to be a tough conversation to have.

Missy brought me into her large new home and I was instantly impressed. I didn’t think her husband had this kind of money and Missy certainly wasn’t bringing in millions from her job. But the house was in an upper-class neighborhood and decorated with top-notch furniture and artwork. It was as if she’d won the lottery or something.

“Wow girl, you’re right. I should have come down to see you sooner,” I said walking behind her toward the kitchen.

“I told you. It’s a pretty nice place.”

“Hell, it’s like a mini-mansion. Scot must be doing really well in his business.”

“So tell me about you. Who is the guy? What’s going on? I feel like it’s been ages since we’ve seen each other.”

I didn’t even know where to start. It had only been a little while since our Vegas conversation, but everything in my life was different. I was different. I couldn’t even describe just how different I was after the last few days with Cody.

“Let me tell you, these have been the craziest days of my life. I don’t even know where to start,” I said as I pulled my phone out of my pocket and set it on the table.

As I set the phone down I realized that I didn’t have any notifications on there. It seemed odd to me that there wouldn’t be at least one notification, so I opened the phone and took a look. Apparently, I’d had the phone still on Airplane mode from when we were filming my part in the movie. When I turned the cellular service back on a ton of notifications flooded through the phone. Several text messages and calls from Cody were what I was worried the most about. I’d been so wrapped up in my own life that I hadn’t even checked in with him; he was probably worried sick.

“What’s up?” Missy asked after seeing me fiddling with my phone.

“Sorry, I just need to call someone back real quick. I accidentally had my phone off.”

“Sure, you can go into the library if you’d like.”

“Thanks,” I said and followed the kitchen to a pair of double doors that Missy had pointed at.

When I opened the doors I just stood in awe at the size of her library. A normal home didn’t have a library, but even a large home wouldn’t have one this size. Missy loved books and all I could think of was that she had shopped around for just the right home to accommodate her desire to have a huge library. That couldn’t have been cheap in a big city like San Diego.

I shut the doors behind me and dialed Cody’s number. The call went straight to voicemail. It didn’t even ring through which made me think that his phone was off, or he was flying. I couldn’t remember how long he said he was staying in Chicago.

After sending off a text message to let him know I was hanging out with Missy and the movie had gone well, I put my phone away to spend time with Missy again. There was no use in worrying about him. From the text messages he sent, everything seemed to be going rather well.

It was a relief to have checked in with Cody and I was able to return to the table and relax a little with Missy. She was smiling from ear to ear as she pushed a coffee in my direction and was clearly waiting for me to fill her in on my life.

“So spill the details,” she demanded while sipping on her coffee.

“What do you mean?” I asked coyly.

“Oh don’t even try that with me. Something is going on with you. I can see it…” Missy paused as I brought my cup of coffee up to my lips.

That’s when I realized that I was wearing the wedding ring Cody had purchased for me. Missy’s eyes were glued to my ring as I set the coffee cup down.

“There is something I need to tell you,” I said and laughed nervously.

“Wow, that ring is beautiful. You’re engaged? I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone seriously. Where have I been? Fill me in. I can’t believe I wasn’t paying attention. Did you tell me about a guy? I don’t remember you telling me,” Missy grabbed my hand and pulled it up close so she could look at the ring.

“Actually,” I started to say and then paused. “I’m married.”

“What? Who? When did this happen? I need all the details this very second.”

“When I was in Vegas.”

“You got married when you were in Las Vegas? Who did you marry? I’m so confused.”

This was the part I was dreading. I took a deep breath and held my hands together tightly as I tried not to freak out. I had to stay calm if I wanted Missy to have any chance of staying calm.

“You know how I told you that Cody and I ran into one another?” I started to say but I didn’t have to keep talking. Missy’s face flashed with realization.

“You two got married? Wow, that’s so crazy! Why didn’t you tell me though?”

“You’re excited?”

I didn’t expect her to be so excited about this news. I also wasn’t expecting her to be calm about her brother and I just running off and getting married. In fact, I was a little freaked out about how calm she was about it all.

“I am excited for the two of you. This is the perfect plan.”

“Oh, I didn’t think you’d be excited. I’m actually really relieved. I was so worried about telling you.”

“I get it. I just can’t believe you agreed to it. But I couldn’t have asked for anyone better for Cody to marry. And I’m really happy he changed his mind about getting married for the estate money. He is so stubborn sometimes. I thought he had decided not to do it. This is a big surprise.”

Confusion flushed my cheeks. Missy seemed to be talking about something that I had no idea about. But whatever she was saying, I didn’t like it.

“What do you mean you can’t believe I agreed to it? It was all a big surprise to both of us. We ran into each other in Vegas and then spent a wild night out on the town together. Somehow we ended up in the chapel getting married.”

“Yeah, well since you two know each other from college, I don’t think it will be considered fraud for the estate deal. And you two might even last longer than five years. I have always had a feeling that Cody and you would get along if you ever dated.”

“Missy, I’m really confused. What are you talking about? What estate deal?”

“The inheritance that Cody gets now that he got married. I’m sure it is going to really help you both out. It’s much better than he married you instead of some random person. I would have hated it if he was sharing his money with some random girl who didn’t know him or care about him. Plus, look at you, you are glowing.”

I could hardly breathe as I tried to comprehend what Missy was saying. Had Cody needed to get married for his inheritance? He didn’t tell me that? In fact, he hadn’t told me a single thing about the estate deal or the inheritance.

“We actually are getting along very well,” I said with a fake smile as I tried to get more information out of Missy about what was going on. “So you’re happy about this?”

“Yes,” she got up and gave me a hug. “I couldn’t be happier. You are by far one of my favorite people. I’d be happy if the two of you stayed married long after the contract was up.”

“We didn’t sign a contract.”

“Oh, yeah. Of course, I trust you and I’m sure Cody does too. There’s no need for something like that with friends. Did you guys settle on an amount that would go to you for your time in the marriage?”

“No, I think we are going to see how it goes. I really do like him and I think he likes me,” I said still trying to make sense of it all.

“Oh my God, this is fantastic. I really am so excited. I know he didn’t want to get married because he didn’t want to be with someone who was using him. So this situation is so beyond amazing. And you two have actual feelings for each other? That’s even better.”

Using him? Of course, I wasn’t using him. It seemed more like Cody was using me. If he had to get married in order to get his inheritance, then he definitely should have told me. The more Missy and I talked the more I realized that Cody had gone well beyond just leaving a few little details out. I lost my television show because of this marriage; I’d lost the future I was planning. It didn’t matter what was going on with him and the inheritance, he knew more than he was letting on when my life was crumbling around me.

Then I had a horrible thought. What if Cody had let the secretary hear him on the phone? What if he had purposely sabotaged my reality show just so I wouldn’t divorce him, and he wouldn’t lose his inheritance?

It made me sick to my stomach to even think about it. I didn’t know Cody as a person who would so blatantly manipulate someone, but the evidence was piling up and I wasn’t sure of anything anymore. The only thing I knew for a fact was that there was a huge amount of deceit going on and I was angry.

“I actually didn’t know many of the details about the estate stuff,” I said trying not to let on that Cody had lied to me. “Can you fill me in a little?”

“Sure, of course,” she said as she rubbed my hands. “I’m so excited for all of this. We are friends and sisters now. How could this be any more perfect?”

It would have been more perfect if I hadn’t been used and manipulated for a pile of cash. I could barely keep from sobbing as I thought about how the feelings I was having toward Cody over the last week. He told me he loved me. Was that all part of his game?

As Missy explained the estate deal and her father’s inheritance, I tried to listen and not show emotion. Cody clearly needed this money for his hotel project and the more Missy talked, the more I realized the extent of the situation. I didn’t feel any better about being used, but I did understand why he had gotten married to me and wasn’t worried about it afterward. This was a good thing for Cody; he could move forward on his big business deal.

My hands were shaking so badly that I had to move them under the table to my lap. It was completely possible that this entire love affair with Cody was just made up from his need to get funding for his business. I didn’t want to believe that. It made my heart ache to even think of it, but he had clearly been keeping this a secret from me and that automatically made me assume that he had bad intentions.

How was it possible that I’d felt so totally and utterly in love with this man and he had conned me? I could hardly keep a straight face as Missy and I finished talking. Originally I’d planned on staying the night with her, but I just couldn’t stand the idea of trying to keep myself together much longer.

Missy showed me around her house and told me that Scott was out at work all day. I could tell she wanted me to stick around. She seemed lonely and a little desperate to spend time with me.

“How are things with you and Scott?” I asked trying to be a good friend and not just think about myself in that moment.

“We signed a contract so it’s a little weird.”

“What do you mean?”

“For the inheritance. Man, I’m so glad you and Cody got married. Now I have someone to talk to that understands all of this. I mean I care about Scott and I actually thought the two of us were in love at first, but I think he might have just been in it for the money.”

“You married him, so you could get your inheritance?” I asked a little shocked by this bit of news.

Missy and Scott seemed totally in love when I’d seen them. I never suspected a thing. But then again, why would I suspect anyone to have an antiquated marriage clause in their will? It was the twenty-first century, why would their father even do such a thing?

“We started off dating for real. I liked him, and he liked me. Somewhere along the way, I decided that it would be better to marry someone I already liked and knew a little. Things were great at first. I think we actually did love each other and maybe we still do. I don’t know, things have just been weird lately.”

“You haven’t been married all that long, Missy. What is weird?”

“He’s staying out late at work and seems to be finding all sorts of reasons not to hang out. I’m probably just being paranoid.”

“Maybe, but who knows… money does strange things to people.”

“I know. I’m not complaining, he’s a good man. I’m sure we will manage the five years without too many problems.”

My heart sank as we continued to catch up. All the radiance that had been on my face when I arrived certainly was gone by now. I could barely manage to crack a smile or look interested while we talked. My heart was so broken. My mind so confused. The amount of deceit that had gone into my time with Cody was beyond anything I could have considered.

I filled Missy in on my reality show drama and the new student movie that I’d just finished filming. We talked about Noah and Cody and even spent a little time reminiscing about our college years. Despite finding out that my life had been totally manipulated, it was still really nice to have caught up with Missy. If I had told her the truth about not knowing about the inheritance, I’m sure she would have supported me as well. I just couldn’t muster the strength to deal with it at that point.

We talked late into the evening and Missy showed me to the guest room. I was so tired I fell asleep before I could even think about leaving. My brain and body were utterly exhausted. It was difficult to even comprehend what was going on in my life.

“I think I’m going to head back home this morning,” I said after a few more hours of catching up with Missy over breakfast. Scott had come home late and then left early that morning. It was just the two of us. “It’s been a long couple of days. Cody is in Chicago finishing up some stuff with his condo and I’d like to get some more sleep before he comes home.

It wasn’t a lie. I did want to get some sleep. I also had so many emotions flooding my system that I had to get away and deal with them. I hadn’t even stayed awake long enough the night before to actually cry about everything that was going on.

“Oh no, I thought you were going to stay another night. You’re welcome to sleep all day here if you’d like.”

“Thank you, another time,” I said and got up to give her a hug.

If I didn’t start moving I was certain Missy was going to convince me to stay for the whole week. The last thing I wanted to do was start sobbing right there in front of her. I had to talk to Cody first. I had to figure out exactly what was going on.

“Okay, anytime. I’d love to have you, although I do really like the idea of coming up to Los Angeles to see you too. Let’s set something up for a couple of weeks. I can visit with you and Cody at the same time. I’m really happy for the two of you. This is exciting.”

“Thanks,” I said holding the hug a little longer than normal. “It was so nice seeing you. I love you.”

“Love you too, girlie.”

We finished with another hug at my car and then I made my way down her street. I only managed to get about a block before I had to pull over. I was sobbing so hard I couldn’t see. My life was in shambles. I’d married my best friend’s brother, lost my reality show gig, and fallen in love with a man who was just using me to get his inheritance.

I had intended on going back to my apartment but ended up down at the beach. I left all my things in my car and sat near the Santa Monica Pier watching the families and young people blissfully enjoying their morning. How happy they all looked. But then again, I bet none of those couples had been tricked into getting married, so the other person could get an inheritance.

I found myself wandering around the pier for hours. How was it even possible that I hadn’t seen the signs? Then I started to think about that first lunch in town when Cody looked so distracted. He did look like he wanted to tell me something. Then again the day he was heading back to Chicago. A small piece of me hoped that he was feeling guilty and trying to find a way to tell me what was going on. A small piece of me tried not to be angry at him because I wanted to think he was genuinely sorry for lying to me. But that small piece of me couldn’t fight off the anger that was growing inside of me.

As the evening wore on I stayed at the pier, trying to find some comfort in the happiness I was witnessing in the families. It wasn’t likely I was going to have that sort of happiness anytime soon. Instead of a happy life, I was wrapped up in the middle of a nightmare.