Chapter 6 The Plan

• Sebastian’s POV
• "Dude, you are screwed," Asher said with a grin as he flopped down onto the soft black couch in my room, stretching out lazily. His legs hung off the edge as if he owned the place, his tousled dirty blonde hair falling over one eye.
• "You think I don’t know that?" I cocked an eyebrow at him, resisting the urge to punch the pillow beside me.
• "Why’d you agree to this crazy plan in the first place?" His dark eyes watched me with that same sharp, calculating look he always wore when I was doing something reckless. Asher wasn’t shy about calling me out, even if I was the one who usually had the brains in the group.
• "Because if I don’t, I’ll be handing over the CEO position to that good-for-nothing brother of mine," I said, my voice tight with frustration.
• "Hmm." He tapped his chin thoughtfully, his fingers tracing his lip in that annoying way he did when he was pretending to think deeply. "So how do you intend to find a bride in less than a month then?!”
• I grabbed a water bottle, unscrewing the cap and gulping it down furiously. The sun had beaten us senseless on our endless search. We'd spent five hours touring New York—going round and round, hitting up dating sites, Tinder matches, blind dates, churches, fancy restaurants, malls, clubs, bars. You name it. We’d searched every corner for the perfect girl, and yet, there had been nothing.
• "I don’t know where to find a bride, but I can’t just give up," I muttered, throwing myself back into the couch. "This is insane."
• Asher leaned forward, cracking his knuckles. "Dude, you’re not thinking of doing something crazy like kidnapping a girl and forcing her to marry you, are you?" He eyed me suspiciously.
• "Shut it, asshole," I shot back, laughing despite myself. Asher chuckled along, but I could see his thoughts ticking away.
• "Alright then, so long as we’re not breaking the law, I’m in. Let’s hear it," he said with a shrug, clearly ready for whatever ridiculous idea I was about to come up with.
• I rubbed my hands together. "Okay, so there’s this woman I’ve been stalking online. Her name’s Cece."
• Asher raised an eyebrow but didn’t interrupt.
• "I sent a massive tip, got her mother flown to the best surgeon for surgery. The whole thing," I said casually, as if I wasn’t talking about spending a fortune on someone I barely knew.
• Asher’s eyes widened. "You did what?" He blinked rapidly, clearly taken aback by the scale of my plan.
• "Yeah. I’m sure she’s dying to know who her benefactor is," I continued, already feeling the rush of adrenaline. "I’ll send her management a message and set up a meeting."
• "Okay, okay," Asher said, his face lighting up with excitement. "That sounds dope." He raised his fist for a fist bump, which I returned.
• "But the day’s almost over. Do you think they’ll respond this fast?" He eyed me with doubt.
• I cracked my knuckles. "Let’s find out." Grabbing my phone, I fired off a quick email using my unofficial account—one specifically set up for Cece and her management. I wasn’t about to use my real name to contact them.
• Asher Fredrick was never just a rich kid at university. He was the rich kid. The one everyone looked at and thought, Yeah, that guy’s got it all. His family was as big as mine. His dad was a business tycoon, and his mom came from old money. Asher had that magnetic, carefree energy that made people gravitate toward him without even trying. Women loved him, men wanted to be him. He was the definition of charm, and everyone knew it.
• I met Asher when we were kids. Our families had been business partners for years, and we were both thrown together in an elite boarding school in the UK. Back then, I was still learning what it meant to live up to the Carnall name, to have the weight of the family empire on my shoulders. Asher was in the same boat, but he wore his title with a smile, like it didn’t even faze him.
• The truth? It did faze him. He just didn’t show it. The pressure was as heavy on him as it was on me, but unlike me, he was a master of deflecting it with that easygoing attitude. Asher was always the one to make light of things, especially when the world seemed to want to pin us down. If I was the reserved, responsible one, he was the wild card. It worked.
• When it came time for university, we both decided to go to the same school in London—partly because it was the easiest thing to do, and partly because it felt like the one place we could escape the expectations. I went for accounting, the path my father wanted me to take. Asher? Engineering. Or, at least, that’s what he told everyone. In reality, I knew he didn’t care about the textbooks as much as he cared about the freedom that came with it.
• We rented a flat together in the city. That was when our bond really solidified. Asher had this way of making everything feel like an adventure, even if it was just a night of getting drunk on cheap vodka and crashing in front of Netflix. He never worried about the future, never thought about the “right way” to live. He just was. And honestly? I envied that. I couldn’t remember the last time I didn’t feel like I had to live up to someone’s expectations.
• One night stands out more than the rest. It was just after another fight with my father, one where he told me yet again that I wasn’t doing enough to live up to the family legacy. I came back to our flat, feeling like my life was crumbling around me. My father’s voice was still ringing in my ears, the pressure so thick I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t know who else to talk to, but when I walked through the door, there he was—Asher, lounging on the couch like he had no care in the world, a glass of whiskey in hand, watching some game on TV.
• "You good?" he asked without looking at me, but I could hear the underlying concern in his voice. We both knew that when I walked in like that, it wasn’t just a bad day—it was a war with my own family.
• I didn’t say anything at first. Instead, I sat on the couch next to him, and for a long time, we just sat there in silence. Finally, he turned to me, his eyes narrowing with that knowing look he always gave me.
• "You want to talk about it?" he asked. "Or should we just grab another bottle and pretend like the world doesn’t exist for a couple of hours?"
• I laughed, despite myself. "I think I might need the bottle first."
• He didn’t hesitate. Asher grabbed the nearest bottle, filled two glasses, and shoved one into my hand. We didn’t talk about my father, or his expectations, or the family empire. We just drank. And for the first time in ages, I didn’t feel like I had to carry the weight of everything on my own shoulders. Asher knew how to make me forget, even if it was just for a little while.
• The rest of the night passed in a blur of bad jokes, bad movies, and plenty of booze. Asher played video games while I just zoned out, and in those few hours, I realized that there wasn’t anyone else in my life who understood me the way he did.
• "Sent!" I announced triumphantly, tossing my phone onto the bed.
• Just as I settled back, a notification pinged from my phone.
• Asher shot me a look, his grin widening. "Could that be—"
• I stared at my phone, heart pounding. "I don’t think they could respond that fast. Probably spam or something," I muttered, scratching the back of my neck.
• "Dude!" Asher hollered, yanking the phone out of my hand before I could stop him. "Pick the damn phone up and find out!"
• I hesitated, the familiar pang of doubt gnawing at me. What if she says no? She was my only hope right now, and I didn’t want to risk rejection. But Asher’s enthusiasm was contagious, and with a deep breath, I opened the email.
• My eyes went wide.
• It was Cece’s management, confirming that she had accepted to meet with me. She’d be joining me at my penthouse at 9 pm.
• Excitement hit me like a freight train. The rush of victory surged through my body as I felt my smile widen uncontrollably. "Well, it looks like we have a better lead." I looked at Asher, who was now grinning ear to ear. "I’m going to leave you to nurture it."
• "Are you leaving me already?" I frowned, suddenly feeling the absence of his playful presence.
• "I’m leaving you to seal the deal." Asher snapped his fingers at me, stopping at the door. "Don’t disappoint me, Sebastian."
• "Fine!" I laughed, feeling lighter than I had all day. Asher winked at me before slamming the door behind him, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
• A wave of realization hit me. I was actually going to meet Cece. The girl I had watched on my screen for months. She was real. She was here. And the best part? She wasn’t just any girl. She was my chance—my ticket out of this mess.
• I grabbed my phone and glanced at the time. Quarter past six. That left me plenty of time to freshen up. This was it. The moment I had longed for, and I wasn’t going to waste it.