Contract Marriage With My Ex's Boss

Hailey's POV

"What the fuck?!"

Jake's eyes snap open, and a mixture of fear and surprise flashes across his blue orbs.

The girl slowly turns to face me. At the sight of her face, I feel myself begin to lose balance, my consciousness slowly slipping away from me. The room tilts and falls backward. The last thing I feel is my body falling heavily to the ground, before darkness consumes me.

"Is she dead?"

"I'm not sure, let's find out."

I hear faint voices whisper over me.

Then, water splashes on my face.

I gasp for air, unintentionally swallowing, when I feel the water land on my face with force.

"She's finally awake," I hear my boyfriend say.

"Oh, thank fuck. I thought we would have to deal with a dead body," Charlotte responds.

Jake laughs. "She has always been such a pain."

Hold on, Charlotte? And why is she talking to Jake? Who are they even talking-?

The memories come rushing back to me at that instant. The image of Charlotte on Jake's cock, the look in their eyes when they saw me, and my momentary loss of consciousness.

I had just come home from a job interview - although it was postponed. I was tired and cold from walking home under the rain, because my car had broken down and I forgot my wallet. I expected to meet my boyfriend waiting to hear about how the interview went, instead, I was given a surprise that I would remember forever.

My boyfriend being intimate with my best friend.

Fueled by a mixture of hurt and rage, I shoot up from the ground, but instantly regret doing so when I feel a throbbing in my head.

Feeling the cold tiles under my already cold body, I realize that they didn't even have the decency to place me on a bed.

Such low-lives.

My movements take them by surprise, and I seize the opportunity to grab a hand full of Charlotte's hair. "You bitch!" I scream, pulling at it. "You were supposed to be my best friend, not going behind my back to shag my boyfriend!"

Charlotte screams, clawing, blindly trying to move my hand away. She is unsuccessful as my grip on her is strong. "Let me go!" she yanks my hand. "Jake! Do something!"

Jake comes behind me and tries to pry me off her, but I don't relent, taking her with me every time Jake pulls me.

He succeeds after a few attempts and I take to glaring at them. My chest rises and falls heavily as a take deep breaths.

Jake holds a crying Charlotte in his hands, rubbing her back affectionately. In this moment, I realize that I've truly lost him. If I ever had him, that is.

I should be the one getting comforted. Me!

He should be apologizing, telling me how it was all a mistake, but he doesn't do that. He doesn't even look at me without glaring. His eyes carry an unfamiliar coldness in them.

They had never been as warm as they are when he looks at Charlotte, but at least they weren't cold. He looks like he can't stand to see me, like I did something horrible. Like I'm in the wrong. It breaks my heart.

I know I sound pathetic, but a gesture like what he shows Charlotte was something I longed for, even if he didn't mean it. After the first month of our relationship, I don't remember him holding me so affectionately again.

Seeing him do something that he never did for me, so easily for my best friend, breaks something in me.

Tears stream down my face as little sobs escape me. Then, I break down. My body trembles as I fall to the ground, and I'm not sure if it's because of the cold, or the state of my heart right now.

"Why would you do this to me, Jake?" I ask, my voice thick with tears, blurred gaze shifting between him and Charlotte. "Did our relationship mean nothing to you?"

The question is directed at Jake, but my eyes are fixed on Charlotte, my supposed best friend.

We had known each other since highschool. When I decided to come to school in New York after highschool, she'd followed, even helped me convince my parents. She'd been there, after my college breakup, and even comforted me when Jake and I argued. How could she do this?

I step closer to Charlotte. "Did all the years we spent as friends, mean nothing to you?"

"Don't touch her," Jake says, staring at me with cold eyes, as he holds her defensively. "You are sick, Hailey. Why would you try to hurt your best friend? What did she do to you to deserve such cruel treatment?"

Wow. Talk about the king of gaslighting. He should write a book - 'Gaslighting 101'

"I'm sick?" I laugh, a harsh, broken sound. "Me?" I point at myself, "Because I'm hurt after finding my boyfriend cheating?" A sob escapes me. "And you ask what she did? Come on Jake, don't do this."

"Look. I don't know if you think we owe you an apology or something, but you aren't getting one," he says casually. "We are in love, and you were just in the way. It's a good thing you found out on your own. We got tired of pretending."

At this, a guffaw erupts out of me. 'Maybe I'm sick, after all.'

"Love? Do you even know what love is?" I ask. "I didn't force myself on you, you remember? You came to me. You said you loved me first. You, Jake. And now that same you is standing before me, saying he loves another woman. Did I ever stop you from leaving? Did I make you feel like you couldn't just end things?" I question all at once, my voice cracking.

I wish I didn't have to be so vulnerable.

I almost wish I could start the day over, but then I'd still be living a lie, and would have been continued to be taken as a fool.

Charlotte finally looks at me. The moment our eyes meet serves as a confirmation that there hasn't been anything left of our friendship for a long time.

Her eyes lack any form of warmth, resentment taking its place. I can't help but wonder where it all went wrong.

"Hailey. One problem I've always had with you is that you never seem to understand things," she starts, her voice filled with venom. "Jake has already told you we are in love, what more do you want to know? That we've been seeing each other, even before you guys started dating?"