Chapter 5 Marriage License

The door to the bar swung open and with one look at the customer, a smirk crept up Tara's lips.

The red haired beauty looked completely different from what she remembered.

Instead of a short, tight fitting red dress that matched her ruby red hair, she was dressed in a black v-neck top and blue skinny jeans.

Her long hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and her pale blue eyes that hid behind round glasses wandered the room.

*She looks like a kid*

Tara mused with an internal smirk and watched the red head approach the counter.

"Whisky with ice, please" the red head ordered, whipping her phone out and frowning at the message notification.

Tara rose a brow at the girls reaction as she poured the whisky into a glass.

"Here" She said and slid the drink over to her, "it's on the house"

The red head looked up at Tara, then at the drink.

"Thank you" She muttered and downed the alcohol in one gulp.

"That's gotta hurt" Tara winced and grinned when she watched the girl grimace.

"Is it prescribed?"

"What?"

"Your glasses. Is it prescribed?"

"I wouldn't be wearing it if it wasn't "

"Oh?" Tara smirked, "It looks really good on you"

The red head paused, then slowly looked Tara up and down.

A tall and toned tomboy with a pixie cut and an almost permanent smirk on her pretty face.

"Are you trying to flirt with me?" She blurted, and watched Tara's smirk grow wider.

"You caught unto that?"

"Well, you weren't subtle about it"

"Really? I thought I was being pretty casual"

"There's nothing casual about the look you're giving me"

"Busted" Tara grinned, then leaned forward on the counter. "Can you tell me your name, then?"

".....it's Rose"

"Mmm, a perfect name, considering the color of your hair"

"So I've heard" Rose shrugged, and flinched when her phone vibrated.

"A little jumpy today, are we?" Tara teased and watched Rose's face fall after one look at her screen.

"Fucking piece of shit" Rose muttered under her breath and held her face in her palms.

"Seems like you came to drink your problems away" Tara deduced, then tilted her head to the side when Rose nodded.

"I've dealt with this kind of situation many times" Tara said and grabbed the whisky bottle; memories of a frustrated Riele drinking her heart away in her apartment crossing her mind. "So, I know when someone needs more than one glass of strong alcohol "

She poured the whisky down the glass; filling it to the brim and shooting a dispirited Rose a smile.

"Drink up"

Rose stared at the drink, then let out a low breath and looked up at Tara with a small smile.

"On the house?"

"On the house" Tara confirmed with a smirk.

☆

Four days passed since the company dinner, and while the employees recovered from their indigestion and awkwardness around Enzo, Riele struggled to recover from the argument she and Enzo had that night.

*"Do you seriously plan on acting like I'm nothing to you? Or did you really forget about me?"*

*"There is nothing to forget, because I *don't* know you"*

Riele squeezed her eyes shut and let out a heavy sigh. She hated to admit it, but the past four days had been nothing but pain for her. Enzo's words played over and over in her head like a soundtrack, and she had no way of shutting it off.

Her phone buzzed beside her, and she glanced down at it; furrowing her brows at the unknown number and opening the message.

'**Come to the Sushi Palace in thirty minutes**'

She arched a brow at the message, and just before she could get a chance to guess the person behind the number, a loud 'clack' echoed through the office and soon after, Enzo came to view.

He had his hands shoved into his pockets and his hair tied in a neat and low bun as usual; his long and parted bangs resting on his cheeks in slight curls.

His gaze fell on Riele as he strutted his way to the elevator, and she shuddered when their eyes met. She quickly averted her gaze and looked down at her phone.

*He sent this message. No doubt about that*

*But, why on earth does he want to meet out of the blue?*

☆

The Sushi Regio was a fair distance from the company, and was rarely a place Riele went to. As she walked into the building, she got a sense of why the word 'Regio'; the spanish word for 'palace' was attached to the name.

The interior looked like some grand Palace ball room, and the waiters and waitresses all looked like body guards. As expected, the place was quite busy and Riele glanced around the large room in search of a familiar deathly pale skin.

"Ms. Riele Brown?" A waiter called, shooting Riele a pearly white smile.

"Ah, yes?"

"Your reservation is in the VIP room. Please follow me"

"Ah, thank you" She smiled and followed behind him till they got to the last door in a hallway.

The waiter opened the door, then gestured her in with another smile. Riele entered the room and was greeted with the familiar broad back. Enzo shot her an over the shoulder glance, then looked forward once again.

Riele didn't know if he could feel the daggers she threw at him with her eyes, but she desperately wanted to throw something at that face of his.

She took a deep breath in to calm her thoughts, then took her seat across from him.

"Someone will be here shortly to take your ord-"

"Don't bother" Enzo dismissed. "This conversation isn't one to have over lunch"

The waiter seemed confused at Enzo's statement, but quickly broke out in a smile.

"I undertand" He said and made his way out of the room.

The second the door closed, a heavy silence followed, accompanied by the cold stare Riele found herself under.

His violet eyes looked darker, and his usual poker face was replaced with a deep frown.

"You called for me, Director" she said, breaking the silence. Even with her intense need to wack his head with something, the aura she felt from him still provoked cold sweats from her skin.

Enzo did not say a word in return, instead, he took out an envelope, then slid it over to her on the table.

"What is this?" She questioned, reluctant to view the contents of the envelope.

"I thought hard these past few days" He started, "What the driving force behind your little play was"

Riele frowned.

"'Little play?'"

"What? Offended? Well, I am too. I was quite flustered when I found this. I finally understood your motive"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Riele glared and Enzo motioned to the envelope.

"Open it" He ordered, and Riele's glare lingered on him as she struggled to figure out what was going through his mind.

She ripped her gaze off his cold stare, then took out a paper from the brown envelope. Her eyes skimmed through the contents, then widened in shock.

"Wait-"

"Don't do that" He cut in sternly and she looked up at him.

"What?"

"Shows over. You can tell me what it is you want, and I'll give it to you"

"Wait, what?"

"Tsk" Enzo clicked his tongue and let out a sigh as he leaned his arms on the table. "Don't play dumb, Ms. Brown. You filled that marriage license yourself, didn't you? You obviously knew who I was, so you planned to milk off of me with a divorce, right?"

"Listen here-!"

"Ms. Brown" He shunned with a darker glare. "What in the world did you do to seduce Gilbert?"

"W-what? Seduce?" Riele scoffed. "Seduce?! Where the hell did you get that conclusion from?"

"It's rather easy to figure people like you out, don't you think? You even dragged me into this mess"

"I don't understand a single word you're sa-"

"Enzo Gilbert Wilde" He interrupted for what felt like the hundredth time, and Riele paused. "That's the name written on this license"

Riele's eyes widened and she snapped her attention to the paper. Her eyes almost popped out of her socket at the one detail she failed to notice earlier.

*W-what the hell is this?*

"What is...your name doing here?"

"That's what I want to ask. Why is my name attached to his? Why the hell am I married to you?"

"This isn't our marriage license!" Riele snapped. "This can't be it. Then...back then I signed with Gilbert Wilde! You never told me your name was Enzo!"

"You want me to buy your bullshit?" He glared, then crossed his arms. "You really want me to believe whatever you spill from that mouth of yours?"

"Gilbert-"

"Enzo" He warned. "It's Director Enzo to you. I'll give you whatever you want, so let's end this charade. The marriage is registered, so we have to sign divorce papers. Think hard about what you want before then. I have the power and money to get them"

As he grabbed his blazer to leave, he heard a low mutter, then paused and looked at her. She had her head down and the marriage license squeezed between her palms.

"What? You have more to say? Be quick. I have matters to attend t-"

"Who the hell do you think you are to treat me like that?" She snarled, and earned an arched brow from him.

"Oh?" He questioned and she could sense the amusement in his tone, but his face held none; his eyes still a cold stare that seemed to push her down to the deepest part of the earth.

"I don't know what the hell is going on in that head of yours, *Enzo*-" she bit out and his eyes widened. "-But I sure as well won't sit back and let you accuse me of something I didn't do.

What? You'll give me whatever I want? Fuck you, and fuck whatever money you think I'm 'acting' for. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not the one putting on an act. You appear before me from nowhere, marry me, then dissappear.

And now, what? You're accusing me of being a gold digger?" She scoffed. "Don't make me laugh, you peice of trash"

Enzo's eyes narrowed at her.

"You're talking to your bo-"

"We're outside of work during lunch hours" She interjected. "So right now, you're not my boss. You're just Enzo. And you've pissed me off"

She got to her feet and tossed the crumpled paper on the table.

"I spent years worrying over you for nothing. Even after I moved on from you, I couldn't help questioning why you left like that. But I see that my curiosity has caused some kind of misunderstanding.

I want nothing to do with you as well. Money? You can stuff all that down your throat. If you're not going to apologise for your wrongdoings, then don't go yapping trash you thought up, Detective conan.

If it's a divorce you want, then we'll get it. Keep your money and power to yourself. I don't need it"

And with that, she stormed out of the room, leaving behind an amused Enzo.

He looked at the crumpled paper and scoffed.

"Detective Conan?" He muttered under his breath.

☆☆☆

"Riele Brown" a voice spoke up in a large office and the figure spun around on his swivel chair. His blue-green eyes stared at the information written on the file, and a wrinkle free smile crept up his lips.

"She worked at this company for seven years, huh?" He breathed and skimmed through the pages of the file.

"Quite a woman, if I do say so myself"

He dropped the files back on his table, then leaned back on his chair and opened his drawer; taking an envelope out.

"Now," He breathed as he stared at the marriage license that had the names; Gilbert Wilde and Riele Brown written on it.

"Shall I proceed?"

He said and the almost permanent smile on his face widened.