Next Door

Chapter 14

"I'm sorry what?" she asked completely shocked.

"Before you panic, just listen," Axel said in shock as well. Everyone was shocked by what Mr. Blackbourne just said.

"Then hurry because she is starting to panic," Roxas said with hope in his voice.

"Mr. Ridley explained married couples have twice the income to support a child so there will be no financial stress when it come for raising a child. My name as well as the rest of the family all carry a higher status so it would look very beneficial if we were together. It would show security in being able to provide for Roxas. I tried explaining to him that we have just met and it would look a little suspicious but he pointed out that with our names no one would dare to question it. Also if your mother was to question it all we would have to say is that we met the day you moved in next door and we instantly felt a connection," Owen explained. "Mr. Ridley honestly feels that once the team and I walk in that you that she will be too shocked and scared to try and debate the custody because if she is smart she will know there will be chance against us."

"But" She shook her head. "But we barely know each other, wont people question it? Won't it look suspicious getting married so quickly? Your name means something? What about my house? What—"

"I have already thought of everything," Owen interrupted and she got quiet. "As for the marriage, if you were to go through with it, I have to be completely honest with you. The guys and I would like one wife for all of us. Poly marriage is legal so if you were to marry me, you would also marry all of us. We have determined years ago that since we are so close it would not be beneficial to have multiple women that would not understand our closeness. We have tried having different relationships and it only caused problems due to jealousy, so we decided that it would be better to have one wife that understood our family dynamic. If you were to marry us, we would have a court marriage. You would keep your house but you would move into our house. Once the announcement is released because it will eventually be leaked, it would look better to be living in the same house. You would definitely have your own room here as will Roxas. We completely understand this will be a fake marriage and we will not pursue a romantic relationship unless you want to. Everything will be on your terms but you will have to portray a romantic relationship once you step out of the house so that everyone thinks the marriage is real. We would most definitely not keep you from working and Roxas will still be home schooled. Nothing would change other than you would live here and you would have to portray a relationship once we are out in public. It would look better to the courts if we were married, that is all he is suggesting."

Ivy sat there in shock and tried to absorb everything he just said. After a few moments of silence she asked, "You don't think people will think it is suspicious that you all of a sudden are married and what you do mean all of your names mean something?"

"We are all very wealthy in what we do," Kota explained. "We also come from old money, with our knowledge in different areas we have been able to profit well. We could all retire right now and our grandchildren would still be well off."

"So people will automatically think I am a gold digger?" She asked and they shook their heads.

"I have also thought of that," Owen said. "Some of the pictures we have taken together over the past few days have been leaked so to speak so it already looks like we all have been courting for a bit now."

"But what if I say no?" Ivy asked.

"I didn't think you would due to trying to protect Roxas," Owen said fixing his tie.
"True," Ivy sighed. "Are all of you okay with this?" She asked the group.

"Fuck yes," Gabriel beamed. "Even if it is a fake fucking marriage right now, who is to fucking say things won't change in the godamn future?"
"It's almost like an arranged marriage," Axel said. "They tend to last longer than other marriages because they learn about one another while already being together."

"We all think it is a great idea," Silas nodded.

"I think Roxas and I will go home and talk about it first," She said standing. "I just need to think everything over first."

"Of course," Owen said nodding.