The CEO's Forbidden Desire

Tiana's POV

I plopped down on my couch as I ended the call with the wedding dress designer and let out a sigh. Today had been a really stressful day. Madison, my twin sister, would be getting married tomorrow and I had been handling most of the preparations.

Maddie had always wanted a big wedding but the circumstances called for a really small one. She was getting married to the most eligible bachelor in New York, who also happened to be my boss, Seth Berkley. It was crazy how they met a few weeks ago at a bar and they were already getting married.

Seth was a billionaire who should obviously spend a lot of money on his wedding. I knew there was more to their story but Maddie said she wasn't allowed to tell me.

I strolled to my kitchen for a cup of water while waiting for my sister to get back home. My phone started to ring so I went back to the living room to get it. Tonight was gonna be a long one.

I saw that it was Maddie calling so I picked the call, there was noise at the other end so I had to put the call on speaker.

"Maddie, where are you? It's getting late."

"Ms. Tiana, I'm calling from Olive hospital. Ms. Madison has been involved in an accident."

My heart instantly dropped. The words didn't compute. Accident? The world titled, I quickly held on to the couch in front of me for support.

"What! Oh my God, what happened?" I choked out as my body began to shake. I grabbed my car key and shoes as the caller explained that she was hit by a drunk driver. I ended the call and raced to the hospital, not even caring that I could also get involved in an accident with the speed I was driving at.

I prayed to God that nothing bad would happen to Maddie as I ran to the receptionists, who all stared at me with some weird look on their faces.

"Maddison Palmer, she was rushed here a few minutes ago." I explained to them.

"She is now in the ICU." One of them pointed down the hallway and I bolted without even saying thanks.

Just as I got in front of the ICU, I saw Seth already standing there. He didn't look like the impeccably tailored CEO I usually saw at work, he looked terrified with his shirt wrinkled beneath the expensive blazer he wore.

His brown hair was disheveled as if he had run his hand through it a couple of times and his face was pulled into a frown.

Looking at him made my heart constrict in my chest. I wasn't sure I would be able to bear it if something terrible happened to Maddie.

"How is my sister? Is she doing alright?" I asked, turning to the transparent glass in front of me that showed everyone in the intensive care unit. I didn't see Maddie anywhere which made me suspect she was on one of the beds that was blocked with curtains.

"Tiana?" Seth called out beside me, his mouth was slightly opened and he stared at me like he was amazed, "Maddison told me she had a twin that works in my company, I've never seen you before and didn't know you two would be so identical."

'You've certainly seen me before, and I see you at work almost every day.' I almost blurted out. I guessed Seth had never noticed me at work. How was the CEO supposed to notice me when I only worked in the data entry department?

"Yes, I'm Tiana. Is Maddison okay? What did the doctors say? Where is she right now?"

Before Seth was able to answer, a doctor walked out of the ICU and asked if we were Maddie's family. I immediately rushed out all my questions.

"She had a severe concussion, fractured ribs, and worst of all..." the doctor paused and stared at us cautiously as if he wanted to be sure we were prepared for the next news, "She fell into a coma, and there is no timeline for when or even if, she will wake up."

"Oh my God!" I collapsed on the ground, my body shaking with shock and an overwhelming feeling of guilt. Why hadn't I insisted she stayed at home? Why wasn't I there? Why was she even driving herself after all the stress she had gone through this week?

I didn't know for how long I had been on the floor crying, but when I finally gathered myself and stood, the doctor was gone while Seth was sitting on the bench in front of the ICU with his palm on his face. I looked through the glass and saw that the curtain had been pulled to review Maddie. Her forehead was wrapped in bandage and an oxygen mask covered her nose and mouth.

I forced myself to swallow the lump in my throat at the sight of her. If only I could change the hands of time, I would have locked the doors and refused to let her go out. I wish I could take her pain away.

"This means the wedding is off." I heard Seth say, as if it wasn't already obvious that there couldn't be a wedding without the bride.

I sniffed and turned away from Maddie, "I will go and call my parents."

"Wait!"

Seth called out, making me stop. I turned back to him and watched him release a long breath from his mouth, he looked at me almost as if he was silently pleading with me for something.

"The wedding can't be off." He voiced out.

My brows furrowed, "What do you mean the wedding can't be off? Do you want to get married to my sister while she is still in coma?"

"I can't call off the wedding because... for some reasons. You look exactly like Maddison and that is why you have to help me."

A took a step backwards and my mouth fell open in shock when I realized what he was saying. He wanted me to pretend to be my sister and get married to him. That was ridiculously insane.

Tiana's POV

I took a step back as his words hit me. "What?" I frowned at him. "That is nonsense, I can't betray Maddie like that. What are you even saying?"

"Let me explain myself to you, then you can decide if you want to help me or not."

As if what I had heard wasn't crazy enough, I found myself following him to the coffee shop in the hospital. I ordered an ice tea while Seth just had a glass of water. I was curiously waiting for him to spew the rest of his nonsense so I could tell him how crazy he was.

I never thought my boss would suggest something like that to me. This confirms my suspicion that he and Madison weren't truly in love. Why would you even want to get married to someone you didn't love?

"Before I say anything, you should know that your sister knows about this and she agreed to it."

I didn't say a word, I took a sip from my drink and waited for him to continue.

Seth cleared his throat before saying, "In my inheritance trust clause, it is stated that I have to be married before my thirtieth birthday, which is in two weeks or I would lose everything, including the company I've worked so hard on."

I honestly didn't see how that had got anything to do with me or my sister getting married to him, but I let him continue regardless.

"When Maddison and I met at a bar some weeks ago, we hit it off and she talked about how she wanted to get married to a rich man one day and how she would do anything to get one. I saw her determination and proposed the idea to her since I was looking for a wife. She agreed, so I took her home to my parents and we set a wedding date."

I almost couldn't believe that Maddison would just jump at the idea of marrying a man she didn't know just because he was rich. But Seth was right, Maddison loved money and had always wanted a rich man. My sister and I were identical in physical appearance but that was where it ended.

Maddie was feisty, confident and a woman who got everything right. I was the opposite, I was clumsy and had a knack for choosing men who were in the business of breaking hearts. Maddie had always been the star of the show while I was her shadow.

I had never been jealous of Madison. How could I be? Her life was like a tightrope walk that I would surely fall off of if I tried. I was content to stay safely on the ground, out of the spotlight where I wouldn't be noticed.

"No, I can't do it. I can't marry you." I shook my head before he could finish.

"I'm not asking you to marry me, Tiana. You don't have to if you don't want to. I honestly don't want to get married either, but I can't afford to lose my inheritance. You don't have to take Madison's place forever, I just need you to be with me for two weeks."

"Two weeks?"

"The honeymoon." Seth said in a tight voice as he loosened the first button of his shirt, "My father booked a two-week trip to Maui as a wedding present. If I don't go, or if I go alone, then he would know that I didn't get married, he will freeze my assets and pull the inheritance. He also threatened to sell my company, and I can't let that happen. My employees' future is tied to me appearing as a happily married man for those two weeks."

His last words made me gasp. I was one of his employees and if he didn't pull this through, I was going to start a job hunt again. Berkley Empire was the only company that paid a large amount of money to the employees, I couldn't imagine being fired and hunting for a job that didn't even pay as much as I earned before. That would be disastrous.

"You only need me for two weeks, right?"

"Yes, just two weeks."

"But I don't know how to be Maddie, she's..."

"You don't have to be like her, looking like her is more than enough." He dug his hand into the pocket of his blazer and brought out a jewelry box, he opened it and passed the ring to me, "just wear this and I will take care of the Priest and the rest of the things already prepared for the wedding. All you need to do is to be ready by tomorrow evening, I will send my driver to come pick you up."

Christ! I couldn't believe this was going to make me change my mind. I was going to do the one thing I hated the most, lying. I was going to lie to Seth's parents and everyone we met at that honeymoon.

This wasn't how I pictured the next few days going. I thought I would be drowning myself in popcorn and laughter while listening to Maddie's gist about her married life.

Tiana's POV

I wasn't able to sleep that night. The effect of Maddie's accident was heavy in my heart, making me cry almost throughout the night.

The next morning, I tried to ignore the knot of guilt I was feeling in my stomach. It felt as if I was stealing something that belonged to my sister. I knew she must have been dying to tell me why she was getting married so soon but she must have signed some NDA with Seth.

I tried to convince myself that I was doing the right thing by not only saving Seth's ass, I was saving all the employees at Berkley Empire who would lose their jobs if Seth lost his inheritance.

I packed a few of Maddie's clothes that she had initially picked out for her honeymoon. Even though we wore the same sizes, our dressing style was different. I loved simple and modest dresses while Maddie loved flashy, short and slutty dresses. I was forced to pack some of my clothes too just in case.

After checking on Maddie at the hospital, I informed the doctor that I wouldn't be visiting for a while. I went back to our apartment to get dressed and waited for Seth's driver to pick me up.

I was wearing one of Madison's red silk slip dresses, the sparkling engagement ring Seth had given me was heavy on my left hand. Seth's driver came and he drove me straight to the hangar.

Seth was waiting by a sleek, black private jet, flanked by a single pilot and an intimidating security guard. He looked really handsome in his grey trousers and navy jacket. His face was utterly unreadable as I approached him. It made me remember that this man was the same untouchable CEO I saw at work almost everyday.

"You came." He said in a flat tone, his eyes traveling down my body, his jaw tightened.

"You left me with almost no choice, Seth. So, I'm here." I responded, shifting from one foot to the other under his stare. Now I was thinking if wearing Maddie's dress was a bad idea.

He didn't acknowledge my words, he just led me up the stairs into a cabin that was more like a flying luxury apartment. It had plush cream seats, dark mahogany panels, and a full-service bar. The flight attendant smiled professionally before discreetly vanishing into the cockpit area, leaving us alone.

"The flight is gonna take about eleven hours, that gives us enough time to do what we need to do before we land." He settled into a seat opposite, gesturing for me to sit in front of him.

He placed a tablet between us. It was open to a bullet-pointed document.

"What is this?" I asked, eyeing the tab curiously.

"You need to read and sign this." He said as he pushed it forward, the seriousness in his looks tightening the air around us. I picked up the tab and read the document.

It was a contract stating that I wasn't allowed to mention this arrangement to anyone and there should be no reason for physical contact unless completely necessary.

I was okay with that, I knew Seth and I would have to touch each other. It was unavoidable if we wanted people to believe we were married, but it would only be in the presence of other people.

There were other rules but they weren't really complicated. I read them all over again, making sure there was no line that stated that I would have to pay any certain amount if I breached the contract.

He even offered to give me a promotion at work after this was done since I clearly stated yesterday that I didn't want his money.

"Done!" I said as I signed and handed the tablet back to him.

He leaned closer to take the tablet from me, his cologne drifting between, it smelled clean, sharp and expensive. It wasn't fair that someone this cold could smell that good.

"There are a few things you need to know if we want to make this work. This..." He gestured to the both of us, "is make believe. There is a possibility that my parents will be visiting, we have to pretend like we are madly in love with each other in front of them."

My stomach made a funny movement at the mention that we had to pretend to be in love. The problem was, I wasn't good at pretending like Madison but I didn't mention this to Seth, he would probably just say that I just had to try. It was too late to back out of this deal now.

"My parents met Madison once and they don't know that she has a twin. I'm sure they'll barely remember what she's like, so you don't have to pretend to be Madison in front of them."

"Okay, I think I can do this." I breathe out, leaning back into my seat and trying to imagine what meeting his parents would be like.

"See, this is easy. Remember to introduce yourself as Madison Berkley, act like you love me and that's all."

He made it sound really easy but seriously, how hard could it be to pretend to love someone? It wasn't like I had never been in love before.

"So, what is going to happen after the honeymoon?" I asked him.

"I get my inheritance, you don't lose your job and even get a promotion, everybody wins."

"No, I mean if Maddie isn't awake by the time we come back, am I going to keep pretending?" It wasn't as if I didn't want my sister to wake up, I really hoped she would so that I wouldn't have to keep pretending.

Seth shook his head before adjusting himself in his seat, "no, I don't want things to get uncomfortable for you at work so you don't have to pretend when we are back. The deal will be off after two weeks, even if Madison doesn't wake up."

"What if your parents find out that you lied to them?"

"They won't, they will be traveling out of the country after I claim my inheritance, so you have nothing to worry about."

I smiled and nodded while he gave me a curt nod. As if sensing that we were done with our conversation, the flight attendant showed up and asked if we wanted anything.

I ordered a glass of wine while Seth ordered whiskey. I tried my best to stay awake after another glass of wine but my sleepless night eventually caught up on me.

When I woke up, I found myself in a moving car. At first, I panicked. I jerked up in my seat and looked around me, that was when I saw Seth sitting beside me with his tab in his hands, looking unbothered by my behaviour.

"You are awake," he said, not looking up from his tab, "you slept all through the flight, I tried to wake you but you didn't answer. I almost thought you were dead."

I blinked and adjusted myself in my seat, he must have carried me into the car.

I let out an awkward laugh as I fixed my hair, "I'm a heavy sleeper." I told him. I quickly checked my face to make sure there was no drool.

He didn't respond, just continued with whatever he was doing. I was reminded that this man was a machine and he was always working, even on his honeymoon... fake honeymoon.

I sighed and looked out the window, the sky was clear and bright making a smile appear on my face. I kept gawking at the beautiful buildings that we passed by on our way to the resort.

This city was beautiful. It almost made me forget what I came here for.

Soon, we got to the resort. I climbed out of the black SUV with Seth while the driver helped with our load. The air was warm, heavy with plumeria and salt. It was the smell of paradise.

Seth stood beside me, his hand robotically moved to my waist, holding me firmly. I swallowed, ignoring the way his palm burned through the fabric of my cloth and into my skin.

That was when it dawned on me, this was really happening. I had no choice now, there was nowhere to run to. I had to be Madison Berkley to survive the next two weeks.

"Are you ready?" Seth asked calmly.

"Yes." I answered as I nodded stiffly.

We started to walk towards the entrance of the resort. A man in a white linen suit, who I guessed was the manager, welcomed us and ushered us in.

The resort was painted in all white and was sparkling clean, I had never seen anything so bright in my life. I tried my best to maintain my composure as I stayed close to Seth, whose body was rigid as hell.

"Mr. And Mrs. Berkley, welcome to the Honeymoon Serenity Suite." He beamed at us, "Let's get you signed in before I lead you to your lodge." He led us towards the receptionist who was also smiling brightly at us.

I wonder how much these people were paid to smile at their customers like there were friends with them.

"Can I have your name, ma'am?" The lady spoke as she typed on the computer steadily.

"Tiana pa-" Seth drew me closer to his body, clearing his throat loudly to block out my voice. I gasped and looked up at him to see him forcing a smile at me with his brows raised.

I immediately understood what he meant, it hadn't been up to five minutes into the pretense and I was already screwing up.

Lord, help me.

"Madison Berkley." I smiled at the receptionist who was patiently waiting, "You know, I'm not used to the name yet. It still feels strange that I'm a married woman now." I laughed awkwardly.

Oh my God, Tiana, shut up! This was one of the things I was afraid of, I always rambled off whenever I told a lie because of how nervous I got.

Seth forced out a laugh as his hand tightened on my waist like a sort of warning, "you don't have to tell them that, baby. You will get used to it soon." He then leaned down and kissed my cheek before whispering into my ear, "no more talking."

My face burned bright red from the contact while I bit my lips to stop myself from blurting out more nonsense.

The lady must have thought we were flirting with each other, she smiled at us and then continued typing, she handed me a book and told us to have a nice stay.

"I will lead you to your suite." The manager who had been waiting for us said.

He continued to blab about some things as we got into an elevator and pressed the fifth floor. Seth answered him while I tuned out of their conversation when I saw two couples coming out of a room before the doors closed, they both looked flushed. There was a large sign on top of the door with 'NO SEX!' boldly written there.

It didn't take rocket science to tell what they had done in that room.

As the door slid open, the manager swiped his key card to open the door of the first room, which I guessed was where we would be staying. "Your personal butler awaits to help you with whatever you need. There are lots of activities you can do while you are here in this book, you just have to register for whichever one you are interested in the morning."

As soon as the manager was gone and we were inside the house, Seth's hand was off my body.

"You have to be careful next time, you almost fucked us up back there." He said in a calm tone as he surveyed the room.

I was surprised at his reaction, I had half expected him to yell at me or scold me for not being able to tell a simple lie.

The way he used the word 'us' and not 'me' made me realise even more how I was also going to be affected if I failed at this, Seth was obviously good at pretending, I needed to be good too.

"I'm not really good at lying and pretending. But, I'll do better next time."

"If those staff notice anything strange between us, they won't waste a second to call my father and inform him."

I nodded at him as he walked away into the suite. It was then that I noticed how breathtaking the suite was. Floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a view of the ocean that wasn't far from here. There was a sitting area, a massive private balcony, and a large bedroom.

I walked into the bedroom and saw a single, enormous king sized bed, layered with white linens and lots of pillows. I looked around for a couch, futon perhaps, or any other piece of furniture but there was none.

That was when it dawned on me that my boss and I would be sharing the same bed... for two weeks!!