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Match

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Chapter 7: Match (Evie's POV)

"One, two, three!" I held tighter onto Leo's hand before he jumped while walking beside me, his ice cream cone totally melting in his little hand. 

We were just coming back from lunch and I was a little worried that Nate would find out I took him to McDonald's. Nate's a great Dad, no doubt in anybody's mind, and I think it's healthy that he only allows Leo junk food three days a week, but today wasn't one of those days yet somehow when I left with Leo, he was suddenly craving chicken nuggets and using his gorgeous puppy eyes on me. 

He only tries these kinds of things with me. I swear, he knows I'll cave. 

Before we reached the entrance, I stopped in our parking lot and took out the mini-pack of wet wipes from my purse that I never even carried around until Leo was born and Nate was everywhere, panicking and asking for tissues while holding a tiny baby in his arms. "Okay," I said in a sing-song voice, pulling him to a halt. I squatted down in front of him, glancing at the mess of a cone. "Are you done with that?" 

He nodded, thrusting it at me. 

I laughed, taking it and throwing it in the nearest trash can and then taking a wipe to clean his hands, face, and the one stain on his t-shirt. 

Leo was a surprisingly clean kid. Never dropped any food, never made a mess of anything, not even his toys. He was a bit like Rowan when it came to that and it might be because he spends a lot, and I mean a lot of his time with Rowan. What could I say? His uncle was a bit of a... neat freak. He tried not to show it but you could move one pen on his desk and it would bring you piles of work huge enough to slowly suffocate you. 

"All right, let's go." I stood back, taking his hand and leading him back inside, letting him walk in front of me through the revolving door, my hands on his shoulders. We made it to the elevator and he tugged at my dress. "Yes?" I grinned down at him. 

He shook his foot with the open shoelaces. "Pwease?" 

"Of course." Laughing, I knelt down and tied his laces quickly while he played with my claw clip. The elevator opened with a ding but before I could stand up, he tugged the claw clip off and my hair slipped right out, falling down my back. I playfully narrowed my eyes on him. "I'm going to get you!" 

He ran out of the elevator giggling while I ran behind him, my heels clicking loudly on the floor until we reached our hallway. Quickly and blindly, he rounded a corner, and just as blindly as the two-year-old, I did the same thing, crashing right into someone. I let out a breath of air, steadying myself. 

"Leo, stop running," Rowan said calmly, looking over his shoulder before facing me. His eyes traveled across my face before going back to my hair, lingering. I don't come to work with my hair down a lot. 

"He has my clip," I huffed, trying to move past him, only for him to block my way. I rolled my eyes, running a hand through my hair. "What?" 

He brought up his hand, snapping my claw clip at my face, coming dangerously close to my nose. I jumped back, glaring at him. He watched me in amusement before taking my hand and dropping the clip in my palm, brushing past me but not without intentionally bumping his shoulder into mine. 

Looking over my shoulder, I flipped off his back. 

"I saw that Ms. Spencer!" he called out. 

I pulled my hand down quickly before catching up to Leo and dropping him off at Nate's office again. I was just about to leave when he stopped me. 

"Evie, wait, wait!" 

I spun back on my heels while tying my hair back up. "Yeah?" 

"You have any work to do today?" 

"Not right now. I did the work Rowan gave directly to me and the others are still working. Do you need anything?" 

"Rowan," he smiled. 

My shoulders slumped as I groaned softly. "Call him then." 

"No, I need Rowan here with you. Could you get him, please?" 

I blinked in confusion. 

What could they possibly need me here for? 

"All right," I mumbled before leaving and going to search for Rowan. 

He was on his way to the office when I saw him earlier, so I headed there and knocked on his door. "Come in!" 

I walked in, stopping across from him. 

He was standing behind his chair that his blazer hung on while he rolled up the sleeves to his white button-up and then loosened the crisp black tie. He turned around and started looking for something through the bookshelf behind him. "What can I do for you, Ms. Spencer?" he asked. 

"Nate's asking for you." 

"Why?" 

"I don't know. He just said he wants to speak to you with me there." 

Rowan paused for a brief moment. "Tell him I'm busy." 

"Do you think he'll listen to me?" 

"Make him." 

"How exactly?" 

"Talk." 

"And say what?" 

He faced me with a frustrated breath. "You ask too many questions." 

"And you don't answer any of them properly. I'd rather ask a hundred stupid questions than do something wrong, have you yell at me later—" 

"I've never yelled at you," he cut me off sternly. 

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, scold me calmly later. Better?" 

"Yes." 

"Okay. Plus, when I do something wrong, you make me redo it God knows how many times until I get it right. I'd rather get it right the first time, that's all." 

"You talk too much, Ms. Spencer." 

"You secretly like it, Mr. Rowan." 

"No, I very not-so-secretly hate it." He put the file in his hands on the table. "Lead the way." 

I walked out with him following me until we reached Nate's office. I opened the door for myself but Rowan walked right through, not even glancing at me, let alone thanking me. 

Asshole. 

Following him, I took a seat across from Nate while Rowan picked up an eager Leo who ran to him, grinning, and put him in his lap. I tried not to let him know I was watching and faced Nate instead. 

"Here we are. What do you want?" Rowan asked while Leo played with his watch. 

"I made the list," Nate smiled at us. 

"What list?" I asked. 

"Rowan knows, he'll tell you." 

"He will not," Rowan argued sharply. "I'm not uttering a word. I told you, I'm not doing it." 

"Someone has to conduct the interviews, you won't do it, I can't do it, that leaves us with your favorite girl." 

I'm so confused, what the fuck are they talking about? 

"Tell her," Nate pressed further. 

"No," Rowan said slowly. 

"No," Leo growled, bringing an angry frown to his face, agreeing with Rowan. 

Nate looked down at him, lifting a single eyebrow, and held his gaze. 

Then Leo giggled, "Yes!" 

"That's my son," Nate said proudly. 

I'm so lost here, are they talking about the assistant interviews? Why isn't Rowan taking them though? He said he will. 

"She doesn't know anything and nor does she need to, Nate," Rowan persisted. 

"She's part of the will, Rowan. Kind of," Nate added with a shrug. 

It dawned on me. "Are you talking about Mr. Volkov's will?" 

Nate nodded at me while Rowan sighed. 

I shook my head, frowning in confusion, "I'm not a part of it." 

"You are kind of. You're not a shareholder or a board of director, but you get a say in it." 

"In what?" 

"In deciding whether Rowan's capable of being a CEO." 

"Excuse me what?" 

Seriously, what? 

"Rowan still seems to be in shock, so let me explain," Nate chuckled, leaning back in his chair. "According to grandpa's will—" 

"I've read the will, Nate," I interrupted. 

They both sat up straighter. "You have? When?" 

I paused, looking at their expressions. "When Mr. Volkov wrote it?" 

"What?" they asked in sync. 

"He showed it to me. I know what you're talking about now. Rowan needs to get married, doesn't he?" I faced him, grinning, and then laughed. "Joke's on you." 

"All right, well maybe this is a change in the will, tell me if you knew it already," Nate continued. "It says, 'along with the board of directors and shareholders, Ms. Evelyn Rose Spencer will also get to vote for or against my grandson, Rowan Alastair Volkov in deciding whether or not he shall remain CEO Not only that, but she will also be responsible for answering to the shareholders, only as long as she wishes'," Nate recited from the file in front of him. "Did you know about that?" 

I blinked numerous times. "No." I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. "But I still don't get why I'm here." 

"Rowan needs a wife, right? So, I shortlisted a few women I think would agree to do this." 

"What? What do you mean? He isn't going to marry someone he loves?" I turned to Rowan. "How could you do that to yourself?" I asked angrily, sounding much more disappointed in him than I expected myself to.

He stared at me silently. 

"It'll be a contract marriage and after a year, they'll get a divorce," Nate explained briefly. "You'll get it as time goes on. The problem is, Rowan doesn't want to meet these women to find his perfect match, he wants someone else to do it for him." 

I rolled my eyes, "How can someone else do that for him? Who is even capable of that?" 

"You," Nate answered nonchalantly. 

My eyes widened. "Me? You think I can find his perfect match? You're delusional," I laughed, "I don't know enough about your brother to choose his wife." 

"You're not choosing her, just meeting her and telling us what you thought. The same way you separated those files for his assistants today, you separate the women who can handle him from the ones who can't. Once you meet them, Rowan will. But only the ones you approve of." 

I watched between them in disbelief. "You're not seriously about to treat a marriage like a job, are you? You're interviewing women like candidates to be his fake wife?" 

"Yes. Do you think it's a good idea?" Nate asked. 

"No," I scoffed. 

"See, even she agrees with me for once in her life. We shouldn't do this, it's stupid," Rowan finally spoke up. 

"You agreed earlier, now stick to it," Nate told him. "Evie, here's the list of women you need to meet. Your first appointment is for coffee in an hour with Lilah Blossom." 

"I'm sorry, what?" 

"Good luck, tell us what you think." 

Is this... a fucking joke? 

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Chapter 7

I'm literally updating from school rn lol

I got lost the moment I walked in guys even after being in this school my whole life fml

next chapter: fail