Married to His Uncle

"Cut!" the director yelled. "And that's a wrap! Great job, Miss Hamilton." He smiled as the crew clapped.

"Thank you, Sir. It's all thanks to your hard work." Amber smiled gracefully as she stepped off the set. The shoot had been exhausting, but she had given it her best.

"Pierce!" Amber exclaimed as her boyfriend ran up to her. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek as she took the bouquet of roses he was holding.

"Congratulations on another amazing movie!" He exclaimed.

"Thank you so much," she replied, grinning from ear to ear. "I wouldn't have done it without you."

"Oh, don't be silly," he said, his eyes sparkling. "Now, this calls for a celebration!"

---

"An exclusive nightclub?" Amber bit her lips, a hint of skepticism in her voice. "But I thought we were going to have dinner at the usual place-"

"We always do that stuff," Pierce whined, playfully pouting. "How about we do something different for once? Let's get drunk and forget all our troubles, and worry about the hangover tomorrow?" He flashed her a mischievous grin.

"You know I can't handle my alcohol, Pierce," Amber replied, a little concerned at the thought of getting wasted.

"And that's I'm right here, Amber." He gave her a reassuring smile.

"And the paparazzi, it'll be"

"Oh, c'mon! You worry too much, Amber...For once, just let go, okay?" He told her,

Amber looked into his eyes and smiled, realizing that he was right. She needed to let go and have fun for once. "You're right, Pierce," she said. "Let's do this."

And so, they went to the bar and started having drinks. They danced and laughed, and for the first time in a while, Amber felt herself relaxing.

As the night wore on, Amber felt herself becoming more and more intoxicated. She was dancing like she had never danced before.

"Amber, remember you promised you'd give it to me if you got the lead role in this movie." Pierce began as he pulled her to the bar,

Amber smiled and grabbed a shot,

"Of course I do." Her words slurred as she leaned against the bar.

Pierce smirked,

"What was the promise again?"

"My V-card." She drawled, "I think-"

"Well, I want it now." He cut in.

Amber chuckled,

"We're so in sync. I was going to give it to you anyway; you've been a very supportive, loving, and caring boyfriend, Mr Pierce Astor." She pouted and tugged his cheek.

"There are guest rooms upstairs, so you don't have to worry about the paparazzi." He smiled at her.

"Sure." She nodded. "Let's get out of here."

Pierce quickly led her up the stairs to a room on the upper floor. He took her to the bed and let her down. She held his shoulders, but he pulled back,

"Wait here for me." He said, walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Amber whined,

"I'll be right back." He turned off the lights and quickly walked out of the room.

A few minutes later, the door creaked open. Only the moonlight streaming in illuminated the room, so she couldn't see the person.

"Is that you, Mr Astor." She said in her most seductive tone.

The person paused, "I hope I didn't keep you waiting..."

In the morning, Amber woke up to the scent of cologne. She was lying on a man's chest. Even though the events of the previous night had been hazy, she recalled she had finally agreed to give her virginity to Pierce.

They had been together for over two years, and Pierce had been everything she asked for in a man.

"No regrets," she murmured as she looked up at the man's face. She screamed as she suddenly realized it wasn't Pierce.

"Who are you?! What are you doing here!" She pulled up the covers to her chest,

The man scoffed,

"A new format, huh? Pretend to forget the client after the night." With a smirk, he pulled out his pen and checkbook, then wrote a check. He handed it to Amber, saying,

"I also had no regrets last night-"

"I don't need your filthy, tainted money! do I look like a whore to you?!" Amber exclaimed, flinging his hands away from her.

"I... I thought you were someone else," she said, her voice trembling and her breath catching in her throat. As she spoke, she felt tears threatening to spill over; her eyes stung, and her cheeks grew warm. Quickly, she grabbed her phone and dashed towards the bathroom. She slammed the door behind her and slowly slid down the wall.

Then she tried calling Pierce, but the call went straight to voicemail. The phone rang and rang, the sound echoing in the tiny bathroom until the screen went dark. Quietly, she let out a sigh of frustration.

"Please tell me this is a dream," she sobbed, her words barely a whisper, her breath coming in gasps. She buried her face in her hands, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. She felt dizzy and overwhelmed, like the world was closing in around her.

Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to calm herself down as she stared at her reflection. Just then, she heard the front door close.

Amber stood up slowly and unlocked the bathroom door. She crept out of the bathroom and peered into the room, but the stranger had disappeared.

Several weeks passed after the incident, and Amber didn't hear from Pierce. It started to become clear that Pierce had probably set her up.

One afternoon, she got a call from her stepsister, Sophia.

"Hello?" Amber said into the phone, her voice flat and unenthusiastic.

"It's me," Sophia replied as a wave of annoyance washed over Amber.

"What do you want this time?" she asked, her tone making no effort to hide her irritation.

"Well, hello to you too!" Sophia replied with a note of sarcasm in her tone. "And if you must know, it's my birthday today, and I wanted to let you know we're having a small celebration this afternoon. Grandpa says you have to be there.

"I'll be on set, Sophia," Amber said, the lie slipping easily off her tongue.

"You're not, though, are you?" There was an accusatory tone to her sister's voice. "I've heard you won't be anywhere near any sets for the next two months at least. Your last gig just ended, didn't it?"

Amber felt her cheeks flush with anger. "How did you even find out about that?" she snapped. "You have no business going around digging into my professional life!"

"I know people, Amber," Sophia said smugly.

Amber let out an exasperated sigh,

"Look, I'm just not in the mood to play 'happy family' with you and everyone else, okay?"

"You don't have to play happy families," Sophia said reasonably. "But you do have to show up and be polite for a couple of hours. Be here with my gift and wear something nice, see you later, bye!" She quickly hung up,

"That little brat!"

As Amber's cab reached the top, the long driveway was lined with luxury cars, shining in the sun.

"I hate coming here. Never felt like home anyway." She murmured as she made her way up the long driveway. She could hear the sound of laughter and music drifting through the air.

The scent of freshly cut grass filled her nose as she approached the grand front door. She rang the bell, and a few moments later, the door opened to reveal a butler dressed in black and white. He bowed slightly and said, "Welcome to the Hamilton House, Miss Hamilton. May I take your coat?"

"Thank you." She nodded.

Quickly, she swam through the pool of unfamiliar faces towards the stairs. The party was just getting started, but she didn't want to stick around for that long.

As she climbed up, the walls of the grand house that rose around her were hung with portraits of the Hamilton family, with their stern faces staring down at her as she walked. Amber had always found them intimidating, and she avoided looking at them as she made her way to Sophia's room.

All she wanted to do was hand Sophia her gift, meet her overbearing grandfather, and leave at once.

Suddenly from the door, she heard two muffled laughter, drifting from inside. Her hand trembled as she reached for the doorknob, hesitating for a moment before pushing it open.

The scene before her made her blood run cold. Sophia and Pierce were half-naked on the bed, their lips locked in a passionate kiss. Amber's eyes widened in shock, her mind reeling with disbelief.

"P-Pierce?" she stuttered, her voice barely audible.