Mr. President:A Billionaire & Virgin Fake Fiance Romance(157)

This is the guy who I'm gonna destroy first.

"I'll take that question … sorry, I don't know your name," I say into the microphone, looking at him.

"Carson Maddox, from the Downtown Metro," he says back to me.

I nod. Here I go.

"Well, Carson Maddox, you asked a pretty crazy question. Am I ashamed  for what I did?" I start and the reporters quiet down. "Absolutely not."

The commotion picks up again. Along with the camera flashes and more questions.

But I'm not done yet and I start speaking into the microphone.

"And I'll tell you why not," I begin and the hubbub starts to die down.  "When I first came back to New York, I was the Lance Anders that the  Daily Journal had gotten used to. Hard partying, chasing after anything  in a skirt, and ready to fight for anything."

People start to quiet down and listen to me now that they realize I'm not just talking in a fucking sound bite.

"I have to be honest, that kind of life is great if you want to go  through life protecting yourself from getting hurt," I tell the crowd.  "But if you ever want any sort of relationship at all where you care  about someone, it's not going to be possible."

A few photographers snap pictures. I continue.

"I was a master at protecting myself. Not just from women. But from my  own family. Ever since my mom died, I've been building walls around  myself. So much so that what little family I did have left I was able to  effectively sideline. I did that so well I didn't even know what was  going on in my stepfather's life till I got to his house," I say talking  directly into the cameras in the back. "But when I did finally arrive, I  didn't see a marriage between dad and Jocelyn. I saw two people who  were unhappy with each other."

Now I got their attention. Time to bring it home.

"I've always operated according to my own personal code of honor,  folks," I tell the press. I'm fucking serious about this too. "I would  never break up a happy home or a solid marriage. But what I saw wasn't a  happy home. And it sure as fuck was not a solid marriage."

People are starting to soften. I can tell just by looking at their faces.

"Over the course of time I came to realize that not only was there no  love in this marriage, but it was an union     that would be better off it  were dissolved," I conclude. Let's see what counterpunch the news has.

"Does your father share that opinion?" a reporter from the back asks me.

"First off, he's my step-father, as Jocelyn said," I reply without  missing a beat. "And secondly, yes, by his own actions my stepfather had  conceded that this marriage was not suitable for him. Don't get me  wrong, we still had a fucking argument when I brought this up, but it  was something that we all knew was under the surface."

"Do you think this will help or hurt Mayor Anders in the campaign?" another reporter from the crowd asks.

"I think without having to be tied down with a marriage that wasn't  working out for either of them-and without going into the specifics let  me fucking assure you that it really wasn't working out for either-I  think this can only help my stepfather do his job as the best Mayor in  the history of this city," I say all in one sentence. I have no fucking  idea if dad will turn out to be a shitty mayor in his second term or  not, but I need to play nice right now. I'm backed against the wall  enough as it is without needing to take on someone who makes Machiavelli  look like a little kid.

If you're shaking your head at me, hear me out, okay? Can you really  deny the possibility that Michael Anders-who we already know is capable  of seducing a man and then blackmailing him about it for the rest of his  life, including to force him into giving him his only daughter's hand  in marriage so he can carry on a charade-wouldn't stoop to the level of  setting this whole thing up to blow up in our faces?         

     



 

I'm sorry to start throwing conspiracy theories out there, but it's  gotta be fucking said. Who's to say that Michael didn't just plant a  reporter in here to ask Jocelyn the question that got her tripped up? If  you're thinking the election, think about how many pity votes he could  come out getting as the husband who's wife cheated on him. How many  women would vote for him based on the fact that they don't like  cheating? And we know he polls not so well with women.

That's why despite all the planning, I still wanted to be close in case  anything like this went down. Because when push comes to shove, I'm  going to protect Jocelyn over my stepfather.

"At the end of the day, Michael Ander's first and true love is public  service and holding office," I say into the microphone. "He's better  suited than his wife. He lives and breathes for something like that.  Neither Jocelyn and I are like that."

The cameras continue to roll and I can tell it's time to bring it all home.

"Let me be clear and make this final point," I say in a commanding  voice. "I was rescued from my aimless and stagnating ways by this woman  standing next to me. It takes a lot of courage to come up here and admit  you did something wrong, and she did that with class, grace, and  humility. I admit that I did wrong as well. I'll probably have to atone  for my sins one day, but right now, I want to move on with my life and  I'm sure she wants the same. There's nothing nefarious going on in  that."

"Lance," a female voice shoots out. "Did the estrangement of several  years cause you any contributing desire in addition to your attraction  for going down this path and potentially torpedoing his campaign?"

She thinks I fucking planned this out?

"I think you give me too much credit," I quip back sharply. There is a  light ruffling of laughter. "All I did was find two unhappy people when I  entered their lives."

I look to Jocelyn and she smiles at me. "Hopefully by the time I leave at least one of those people is happier with me."

"But you still engaged in an improper affair, did you not?" the reporter follows up. She's not letting this one go.

I sigh. "Is it cheating if there is no love in the marriage?" I ask.

There's several murmurs of discussion and the voice replies back. "If  there was truly no love, why didn't your father and Mrs. Anders file for  a relatively simple divorce? Why go through the pitfalls of cheating on  a spouse?"

Fuck.

Where did that come from?

In my pause, the reporter pounces. "In fact, isn't it true that the only  reason you're standing here today is because Mrs. Anders got pregnant?  That if she hadn't, you would simply carry on as before."

Fuck, he's just backed me into a corner.

Michael made it explicitly clear not to air the dirty laundry, but I  don't know what else I'm supposed to do now to defend Jocelyn and me. I  can't talk about the specific cases where the marriage looks fucking  fake, because it'll make dad look bad. And he'll retaliate with enough  overkill to steamroll us.

But on the other hand, I can't talk about knowingly cheating, or helping a woman cheat.

Seriously, this smacks of a Michael Anders setup, doesn't it?

I look to the right of me and see Jocelyn standing there, placing her complete faith in me.

I just wish I knew what to say.

That's when another voice comes from behind the crowd.

"He didn't cheat, because the marriage was never proper to begin with," the voice states with commanding authority.

I can't see who it is, but I see the people part-similar to how Moses parted the Red Sea.

And out of the corner of my eyes, I see the front row begin to split up in different sides.

And my dad comes walking out.

He turns his back to me and faces the cameras. "Maybe I should say some words now too, give my side of the story."

Yeah, he's definitely up to something.

I just wish I knew what.





126





Michael





Well, I guess you never expected to be hearing from me now, did you?

Come on, I figure the least you can give me is a chance to get my side  of the story in, if that. This is going to be the one and only time I  get a chance to talk to you, and I guarantee you that a few things will  happen.

First, you will see why I'm better than those two. Better than  Jocelyn-sure she's pretty, but she's a child. Doesn't understand how the  world works. Thinks that people are inherently good. This world is a  nasty, brutal place. I take what I can and I try to keep you from taking  it from me. The whole concept of family or friends that we've created  is a luxury. At the end of the day, all you have is yourself. And  nothing else matters. The murderer sleeps as peacefully as the person he  murdered when they're both dead.

Yes, I'm better than Lance too. Sure, he's got that body. He's got a  good heart. Bless him, he is a good person, I don't deny that. He even  has the killer instinct. No one else would be able to turn that press  conference around if they didn't. But he could be so much more. Instead  he chooses to waste it all by thinking with the wrong head. He falls in  love. Love is for suckers.

I'm going to leave you with that for now because I think you're not  being completely receptive to what I have to say. Figures. You probably  want Lance and Jocelyn to end up together, don't you? They're two stupid  human beings and I have no time for anyone who doesn't understand or  see that.