Married On Paper To The Billionaire
Chapter 52: Deal Or No Deal?

"She's calling your bluff," said David Archer, Kane's attorney who drafted the NDA that Serena signed when she came to live in the Beaumont mansion. "What is she saying?" Kane asked.

"She said the NDA does not stop her from writing a book and it's simply an attempt by you to silence her and take away her freedom of speech." "Does she have a point?"

"She does."

"How so?"

"The agreement does not specifically say that she cannot write a book about her experience in the mansion, it simply restricts her from saying anything about her relationship with you." "Damn! Why didn't you foresee this?"

"I apologize for the oversight but I never thought the situation would drag on this long, let alone become the subject of a tell-all book."

"So, are you saying that we can't stop her from writing the book?"

"We can issue a cease-and-desist warning, threaten her with a libel suit or get ahead of her and issue a press release to notify the public of her wicked intentions."

Kane sighed wearily. "I'm tired of issuing press statements. I'm sure the world is also tired of my family's unending drama with random people."

"Well, there's another option."

"Which is?"

"Pay her a visit and threaten her to back off. She's probably doing all of this just to see you again."

"I'm not going to visit that lunatic in a psycho ward. Let her do whatever she wants."

"She has nothing to lose, Kane. You're the one with a reputation to protect and a family to shield from public humiliation. Serena doesn't have any of that and she's eager to get her five minutes of fame at all costs." "You're right. She's never going to stop coming after me and my family."

"You especially. She's obsessed with you."

Kane scoffed. "Please!"

"I mean it, Kane. I spoke with her today and her choice of words gave me the creeps. She's not right in the head but somehow, she's fixated on having you no matter what." "This is crazy."

"Are you going to tell your wife?"

"I have to. Keeping secrets from her was what led to all of this in the first place. I won't repeat the same mistake again."

After his meeting with David ended in his study, he went to the suite he shared with Emilia and found her playing on the floor with the twins.

When she saw the drawn look on his face, she instinctively knew that something wasn't right.

"Ok, my darlings, it's time for your nap," she said, rising to her feet.

"I don't want to sleep!" Tiara protested.

"Me too!" Travis added.

"Well, that means you won't get any cookies after dinner tonight," said Emilia. "but if you take a nap, you two will get double chocolate chip cookies for dessert."

"Yay!" They jubilated and hurried out of the room. Emilia followed them to make sure that their nanny was in their room, waiting for them.

Once the children were settled in their room, she returned to hers and found Kane sitting on the edge of the bed, looking frustrated.

"What is it?" She asked him and he told her about David's report from his visit to Serena.

"That spineless viper!" Emilia cursed after he was done talking. "How dare she?"

"She has become a thorn in our flesh that will never leave, no matter what we do."

"Oh, she will leave. She must!"

"David thinks I should go to her and warn her not to write the book. The truth is, I'm tired of this saga with her. I just want our lives to go back to normal without this embarrassing drama every other month." "I know how you feel. I hate how we keep getting in the news for all the wrong reasons. I'm tired of all that negative publicity."

"So, what do we do now?"

"I'm sure she's probably squandered all the hush money you gave her and she wants more. Let's give her more money and an iron-clad NDA that will prevent her from even whispering our names in public." Kane smiled. "That sounds rather drastic."

"It might be our only way to get rid of her permanently. We can't let her publish hundreds of pages filled with lies about us. Our children are going to grow up and see them."

"That's true," Kane said thoughtfully. "I'll get in touch with David right away so that he can start working on a fresh NDA. This time, all bases must be covered, even the farfetched ones. We can't leave anything to chance again."

****

"She rejected the money and refused to sign the new NDA," David informed Kane a couple of days later after their last meeting.

"What!"

"She said she's open to having a one-on-one negotiation with you. I said it. She's obsessed with you."

"Her audacity is unbelievable. What makes her think she's in a position to negotiate?"

David shrugged. "As I said before, she has nothing to lose and she knows it."

"Such a pest!"

"I think you should humor her. Hear what she has to say and then take things up from there."

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"If whatever she has to say does not involve her agreeing to sign the NDA, then she can simply go to hell. I will not be blackmailed anymore by her or anyone else!"

When he relayed this development to Emilia, she wasn't surprised.

"I agree with David. She's just trying to get your attention by all means," she said. "You should go and see her."

"I beg your pardon?"

"If that is what it will take for her to leave us alone, then you have to do it."

"I'm sure she wants a lot more than just to set eyes on me."

"I know. Still... we can't keep running away from her especially when she's determined not to back off. It's time to face our fears and close this chapter finally."

The next day, when Serena was informed by her handler that Kane Beaumont had arrived at the facility to see her, she was beside herself with joy.

She took extra care with her looks even though she only had a few plain day dresses at her disposal. Still, she brushed her hair feverishly, bit her lip to add some color and plastered a happy smile on her face.

When she got to the visitor's area, her big smile melted when she saw that Kane was not alone.

"What? Are you disappointed to see me?" Emilia asked her.

"What is she doing here?" She asked Kane coldly. "Do you think this is a game?"

"You're the one playing games, Serena. We're here to negotiate with you as you requested."

"I only wanted to see you, not her too!"

"That's too bad because this is a package deal. If you want to talk to me then you'll have to do so in my wife's presence."

For emphasis, he linked his fingers with Emilia's on the table in front of them. Serena's face turned red with rage.

"Fine, if that's what you want, then let her hear my terms."

"We're listening," said Emilia.

"If you want me to cancel my book deal, then you must divorce her and marry me!"

Emilia burst out laughing while Kane chuckled and shook his head in disbelief.

"My goodness, you're worse than I thought," he said in awe. "It's a good thing that I had you admitted to this place. You're a danger to society."

"I don't care what you think, Kane. I'm in love with you and I will be your wife whether you like it or not!"

"You're the most delusional human being alive," Emilia snapped at her. "you're so pathetic and shameless. You seem to have forgotten that we still have evidence of your connivance with Joyce Banks to abduct my daughter." "So?"

"So, if you don't stop this campaign of madness, we will finally press charges against you and make sure you never regain freedom once you are jailed."

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"You also seem to have forgotten that I have evidence proving that your husband got me pregnant and lied to the world that his dead brother was responsible for it."

"Big deal. You slithered your way to the boss's bed and tried to blackmail him. He decided to lie to protect you but you've decided to repay him by spreading lies about him and his family. It's our word against yours, Serena. Who will the world believe? I mean, look at you. You're in a mental hospital because your brain isn't functioning right."

Serena lost her temper and lunged at Emilia. Kane's reflexes were faster and he blocked the attack, pushing Serena away before she could make contact with her target.

One of the facility's attendants who was standing just outside the visitor's room stepped in to replace out what the commotion was about.

"She attacked me!" Emilia shrieked as if she'd been hit.

"Se provoked me!" Serena countered.

The attendant glared at her and said, "And your visitation rights are now revoked. It's time to take you back to your room."

"No!" Serena screamed and backed away.

"I want to file a complaint about this incident," Emilia told the attendant.

"Don't worry, ma'am. This will be noted in her file," said the attendant.

"She set me up!" Serena screeched while trying to fight off the attendant. She was eventually dragged out of the room, kicking and screaming like a crazy woman.

"That went well," Emilia mused when she and Kane were alone again.

"Wow... you deserve an Oscar," he laughed. "I didn't see that coming."

"I am a woman of many talents, my dear," she purred.

"I can see that now," he replied in admiration.

"We should strike the iron while it's hot. Let's invite Martin Santino from The Daily Cable to do a family feature with us in their magazine. We can lay everything out better that way than doing a press release. Anything Serena publishes after that will likely not see the light of day."

"Brilliant idea. I'll get in touch with the publishing house that is offering her the book deal too. I'm sure they'll appreciate a small donation from us."

"Spoken like a true Beaumont," Emilia laughed. "Come on, my love. Let's get out of this awful place. We should go home and toast to a successfully concluded deal."

Kane laughed. "I like this new Emilia. She's even more Beaumont than me."

They returned to the mansion in high spirits, eager to share the good news with the rest of the family. However, as they approached the front door, Lillian and Samuel stepped out of the mansion, holding hands and giggling like newlyweds. "Oh, hi. You guys are back. Where have you been?" Lillian asked.

She was dressed in a cut-out beige crepe dress that flattered her slight curves and complimented her skin tone. Samuel was dressed in a navy suit and his thinning hair was slicked back with hair gel.

"What's going on?" Kane asked, unable to hide his surprise.

"Do you want to tell them the good news?" Samuel asked Lillian and kissed her ear lobe. She giggled and nodded.

"What?" Emilia asked impatiently.

"We have decided to reconcile and cancel our divorce," said Lillian happily. "We have decided to stick with each other, for better or worse."