Alice closed her eyes while sipping a cup of hot tea that was already available on her desk. Early in the morning, he was already struggling with important documents so they could be handed over to Mr. Hendrawan.

These deadlines must be completed quickly, considering Mr. Hendrawan will be on an official trip in the next few days.

Still enjoying the tea in her hand, Alice heard her name faintly being shouted.

"AL... ALICE!!"

"You have to see this!"

Dinda's scream from a distance broke the silence that Alice had been deliberately creating so she could concentrate on finishing her work.

"What are you looking at?"

Alice was still indifferent and more concerned with the documents in front of her eyes.

"Try to read the news on my cellphone now," said Dinda while showing her cell phone.

Curious, Alice snatched Dinda's cell phone. Then the woman paid close attention to what it was that made Dinda enthusiastic about showing her.

A minute later, Alice's face immediately turned red. He was too surprised to see some of the writing plastered on various Headline News Titles this morning.

"Jacob Fernandez, the leader of BlackHorse Corporations, will marry Alice Swan Wijaya, her fiancé, next month in Bali."

"In order to refute his love scandal with a famous model, Jacob Fernandez is forced to marry her best friend Alice Swan Wijaya next month."

"Alice Swan Wijaya is pregnant with Jacob Fernandez's child. Their wedding will take place next month in Bali."

"In order to marry a wealthy businessman, Alice Swan ended her relationship with musician Raditya Miller."

"Suddenly impressed, entrepreneur Jacob Fernandez is holding a wedding next month in Bali."

"CrazyRich Asia, Jacob Fernandez will hold a Luxurious Wedding in Bali next month with the woman of her choice."

And many other news headlines make him snort in annoyance when he reads them.

Recalling momentarily, Alice concluded that it wasn't just yesterday afternoon that she accidentally met journalists. I don't know if it was an accidental meeting or if the journalists were stalking her and Jacob's activities at the boutique yesterday.

Alice is self-aware that Jacob is indeed an influential person in this country. And it is also undeniable that anything related to it must be news that sells, whether it's about facts or just cheap gossip that his rivals deliberately created in the business world.

Then, does he have to start getting used to it when his privacy becomes public? Remembering the first time when she was dating Radit, who was, in fact, a celebrity, she had never come across exciting news like this. That's also because Radit is good at maintaining his privacy.

So now, that privacy has been disturbed, even when her status was just a 'future' wife of a Jacob Fernandez. Can't imagine when she becomes his legal wife someday.

"Al, your phone has been ringing since earlier. You better pick it up now. Maybe it's an important call,"

Alice woke up from her trance when Dinda suddenly reprimanded her. His hand then stretched out to reach for the cell phone that was lying neatly on the table. He saw a phone call from someone he didn't know, forcing him to answer it immediately.

"Hello..."

"Meet me after work at my office, we have something important to talk about. You know where my office is, right? If you don't have a car, I can send a driver to pick you up."

Then the call just hung up without waiting for Alice to answer first.

Aish, this person!

I didn't have time to answer. He had already hung up the phone.

Besides, how did he know my phone number?

His attitude is always like this because he is the boss.

When evening came, Alice kept her promise to meet Jacob after work. Entering the skyscraper owned by BlackHorse Corporations, security directed him to meet the receptionist in the lobby of the building.

"Can I meet Mr.Jacob Fernandez?" asked Alice to the officer who was on duty at the reception desk.

Throwing a smile, the officer replied. "Have you made an appointment before miss?"

"Just say Alice Swan Wijaya is looking for him."

The officer was a little surprised after hearing Alice say her real name.

"Ah, you are Mr. Jacob's future wife, it turns out. I apologize for my ignorance. You can go directly to his room on the tenth floor. He has been waiting for you since earlier." Then the officer got up from his seat, intending to accompany Alice.

"Let me take you to his room."

Alice cursed the words that came out of the receptionist's mouth. That stupid news has spread everywhere, so it hasn't even been 24 hours since everyone can know the status now. Once again, Alice had to give up everything in herself to be widespread public consumption. It's a risk, he thought.

Alice directed her feet to follow the receptionist, who took her to the room she was referring to.

Had heard a glimpse of him, the people around whispered while staring like seeing a perpetrator who was caught red-handed. Alice hated their intimidating stares.

"Please Miss, Mr. Jacob is waiting for you inside," said the receptionist in front of her when she arrived in front of Jacob's office.

"Thank you," Alice replied.

***

"Jack, sorry I didn't knock before entering your room. But I think this is very important."

Jacob averted her eyes from the documents pile when Richard suddenly entered her study.

"What do you mean, Rich?"

A look of astonishment was evident on his face at this point.

"Have you been watching tv or just reading the news today?"

Jacob shook her head.

"I haven't had time to do all of that. Can't you see the pile of documents I have to sign. I have to finish everything this week before I leave to prepare for the wedding."

"Then let's take a look at this news."

Richard walked hastily to the plasma TV in Jacob's room. His hand stretched out to immediately turn on and search for the tv channel he meant.

Soon Jacob was a little shocked, and it was clear on the screen that her face and Alice were plastered as Main Headlines of a news channel. That's not what worries him, but several news headlines lead to wrong opinions about his and Alice's marriage.

"This is not good, Jack. Their reporting is too cornering your future wife. I'm afraid the bad image they have built about your future wife will affect our company,"

Jacob was stunned, considering what Richard had said to her earlier. Even though he doesn't love Alice and even hates her, he still doesn't want to make his future wife look bad in other people's eyes. This could affect his credibility as a famous Entrepreneur.

"Can you take care of this, Rich? I don't want this to drag on. Don't let my parents get sick again from this kind of irresponsible news."

Richard nodded in agreement. "With pleasure, Jack. I'll make sure that tomorrow the news won't appear again on any news portal. But you should also contact and inform your future wife so there won't be any misunderstandings."

Jacob nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I'll call him now."

"Then I'll excuse myself." Then Richard came out of Jacob's room.

Not long after Richard came out of the room, Jacob reached into her cell phone in her pocket. Calling Luna, her mother, to ask for Alice's phone number, and after finding what she was looking for, she immediately contacted Alice to ask her to come to her office this afternoon.

Just as Jacob had expected, the woman finally came to her call.

Alice immediately entered the room, whose door had been opened first by the receptionist who escorted her.

A workspace dominated by black and white patterns indicates an owner is a man. Upon entering, the room's owner was seen sitting on the guest sofa reading a book. The look on his face was so serene. Her good looks are undeniable now, unlike the usually annoying Jacob.

Directing his feet in, Alice immediately threw a sentence of question.

"What made me come here?"

"Sit down," Jacob replied curtly.

Closing the book he was reading earlier, Jacob stretched out his hand, inviting Alice to sit across from him.

"Have you seen today's news? After this, you must be more careful in your actions because it seems the media crew will continue to follow and cover whatever you do.

Alice smiled wryly at Jacob. "This is all because of you, Jacob Fernandez. Even when I'm not married, my freedom is just taken away. I hate the news that corners me. Some even openly say I'm pregnant and steal you from your model boyfriend. Oh, my God, I look like a prostitute now, huh ? Even when I was in a relationship with my boyfriend who was an artist, there had never been such slanted news. Is it really your hobby to embarrass me?"

Jacob chuckled at what Alice said to her. Alice was right. All of this happened because the media crew was pleased to chase any news related to him. It is a risk if their private lives become public consumption in this country. Some even deliberately spread cheap gossip to lead to wrong opinions about Jacob Fernandez. Jacob was used to it. Since his business shot up and became number one, many business rivals deliberately wanted to destroy it by spreading news that undermined its credibility.

Jacob smiled at Alice. "That means your boyfriend is still outmatched by me. The proof is that you've only been with me once, the whole country is already excited about you."

"Then do I have to be proud? Have you gone crazy Jacob Fernandez. Come on, they are cornering me, not making me proud. Oh my God, I think you should see a doctor. It seems your brain is damaged!"

Jacob couldn't hold back her laughter anymore after hearing Alice's chatter. The woman took a deep breath and then looked at Jacob with a murderous look that made the man realize and immediately stop laughing.

"All right, Princess, since I'm being kind to you. Tomorrow my messenger will clean up all the news that has been spread. You don't need to worry about that. It's just a small thing for me."

Alice smiled slyly.

"I keep your promise young master. Then I'll go first. I can't stand having to look at your annoying face for so long."

Humiliated many times, Jacob laughed again.

"You have to get used to it. Remember, in a little while in seven days, twenty-four hours you will continue to see this handsome face of mine," Jacob chirped in a deliberately mocking tone.

Immediately Alice showed an expression that wanted to vomit hearing what Jacob had just said.

"Keep dreaming young master, I've made sure that marrying you will make me go crazy fast!" said Alice emphatically.

"You won't go crazy. All you have is you will fall in love later," Jacob teased.

Alice exhaled exasperatedly, increasingly unable to bear listening to the nonsense Jacob said to her. "If there's nothing to talk about anymore, I'm going home"

"My driver will take you home. I don't want anything to happen on the road to my future wife. Or do you want me to drive you directly?" Jacob said mockingly.

"Thank you, but I don't think it's necessary."

"Oh, yes, Princess..." Jacob stopped Alice's steps for a moment then spoke. "Don't forget that starting next week you have to take time off because we have a lot of wedding preparations to take care of."

"Agrhh … Jacob, stop calling me Princess. And about wedding preparations, I don't care. I don't think it's any of my business. I see you are excited to have this wedding, right? Then finish everything your way. I'll excuse you."

Yes Alice is right. Indeed, it was Jacob who insisted that this marriage take place, after the woman desperately begged it to be annulled. Jacob just doesn't want to disappoint her parents.

This wedding, ah yeah ... when Jacob's marriage is mentioned, she immediately thinks of Kiano, the damn older brother who made her fate like this.

If only she hadn't run away when their father asked her to get engaged, it would have been the man who would marry Alice now, not Jacob.