Chapter 1- The Photograph

Elena pov

The coffee's gone cold in my cup but I can't seem to care, my fingers hover over my phone screen as I stare at the notification that just shattered my morning into a thousand pieces.

Billionaire Alexander Harrington Spotted Leaving Hotel with Mystery Woman at 3 AM.

The headline screams at me and I click it even though every part of me knows I shouldn't.

My name is Elena Martin-Harrington, twenty-seven years old, wife to one of New York's most powerful billionaires, mother to a beautiful, three-year-old boy, and apparently the most pathetic woman in Manhattan.

The photo loads and there he is, my husband, Alexander Harrington in all his six-foot-two glory, walking out of The Plaza with a brunette so stunning she could be a model.

His hand is on the small of her back, that same possessive gesture he uses with me at public events except this time it's three in the morning and there are no cameras he knew about.

Or so he thought.

My hands shake as I scroll through the comments.

Poor Elena, I always knew that marriage was fake. 

She's just a trophy wife, He married her for appearances and now he doesn't even bother hiding his affairs.

Each word is a knife and I'm bleeding out right here at this breakfast table in this cold mansion that's never felt like home.

I click to another gossip site, the photos are everywhere, different angles, same story.

Alexander and the mystery woman, she's laughing at something he said and that's what kills me most because I can't remember the last time I made him smile.

Four years, I've been his wife for four years and I still feel like a stranger in his life.

The memory hits me without warning, our wedding day, I was twenty-three and desperate.

my world had fallen apart two years before when my parents died in that fire and Alexander's father had offered me a lifeline wrapped in a contract: Marry Alexander for five years, play the perfect wife, help stabilize the Harrington empire after some scandal I didn't understand

 In return I'd get financial security and a chance to rebuild my life.

It seemed simple then, just five years and I'd be free.

But that was before I fell pregnant, before Julian came into the world, before everything got so complicated I can't see a way out anymore.

I remember standing in that beautiful Vera Wang gown, feeling like a fraud as hundreds of guests smiled and took photos.

The ceremony was perfect, the reception was flawless, but afterwards Alexander drove me to his father's office where we signed the real papers, the contract that bound me to him, his father had smiled like he'd won something and maybe he had.

Alexander hadn't even looked at me, he'd just signed his name and walked away.

That should have been my first warning.

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway makes my heart slam against my ribs, he's home.

Alexander never comes home for breakfast, he leaves before I wake up and returns long after I've gone to bed, but today of all days he's here and I don't know if I'm ready for this confrontation.

"Mama," Julian's sweet voice calls out as he runs into the kitchen, his dark curls bouncing, those gray eyes so much like his father's sparkling with joy.

"Mama, I'm hungry."

I shove my phone face-down on the table and paste on a smile.

 "Good morning baby, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Pancakes," he giggles and climbs onto the chair beside me, "with chocolate."

"Chocolate pancakes coming right up," I say but my voice sounds hollow even to my own ears.

The front door opens and closes, footsteps echo through the marble hallway, each step feels like a countdown to an explosion I can't stop.

 Alexander walks into the kitchen and my breath catches because it's not fair that he looks this good after being out all night.

His tailored navy suit fits him perfectly, not a hair out of place, his sharp jaw clean-shaven, those steel-gray eyes cold as always.

Alexander Harrington, thirty-three, CEO of Harrington Global, Manhattan's most eligible bachelor until I came along, over six feet of controlled power and calculated ambition, the man I married, the man I share a son with, the man I don't know at all.

"Daddy," Julian shouts and scrambles off his chair to run to his father.

Alexander's expression softens for exactly two seconds as he picks up our son.

"Good morning Julian, have you been good for your mother?"

"Yes," Julian nods seriously, "Mama's making chocolate pancakes."

"Is she," Alexander's eyes flick to me and there's nothing in them, no guilt, no explanation, nothing, "that's very kind of her."

I stood up slowly, my phone gripped in my hand like a weapon, "Julian, sweetheart, why don't you go wash your hands, breakfast will be ready soon."

"Okay Mama," he wiggles out of Alexander's arms and runs off toward the bathroom.

The silence that falls is suffocating.

I hold up my phone, screen facing him, the photo of him and that woman clear as day.

"Care to explain this?"

Alexander doesn't even glance at it, he walks to the coffee maker and pours himself a cup like I've just asked him about the weather.

 "Don't believe everything you read Elena."

"Don't believe," I repeat with voice already shaking.

 "Alexander, there are photos, multiple photos from multiple angles, you were with another woman at three in the morning."

He takes a sip of his coffee, "It was a business meeting."

"At The Plaza, at three AM," I can hear the hysteria creeping into my voice and I hate it.

 "what kind of business requires a hotel at that hour?"

"The kind that's none of your concern," his tone is ice, final, dismissive.

 "We have an appearance at the Bennett Charity Gala tonight, be ready by seven, wear the emerald dress, the one that photographs well."

I stare at him, "That's it, that's all you're going to say?"

"What else would you like me to say," he sets down his coffee cup and finally looks at me, really looks at me, and I see nothing in those gray eyes, no love, no remorse, nothing.

 "Our arrangement has always been clear Elena, don't make this more complicated than it needs to be."

Our arrangement, that's all I am to him, an arrangement, a signature on a contract.

"I'm your wife," I whisper.

"You're my employee," he corrects and each word is a bullet, "a very well-paid one, remember your position."

He walks past me, pausing only to call out, "Julian, come say goodbye to Daddy."

Our son runs back in and Alexander crouches down, kisses his forehead with more warmth than he's ever shown me.

 "Be good, I'll see you soon."

"Bye Daddy," Julian waves.

And then he's gone, the door closing behind him, leaving me standing in this kitchen that's too big, too cold and empty.

I look down at my wedding ring, the massive diamond that means nothing, then I think about the contract locked in my desk drawer upstairs.

The one that controls my entire life. For the first time in four years I think maybe it's time to break this cage, maybe it's time to walk away.

But then Julian tugs on my hand.

 "Mama, pancakes?"

And I remember why I can't leave, the contract isn't just about me anymore.

Clause forty-seven, section three: If I file for divorce before the seven-year term I forfeit all parental rights to Julian.

Alexander made sure I could never leave him, not without losing everything that matters.

I'm trapped and he knows it.