Chapter 1: Apologize Antonia, Now.

Antonia’s pov.

My boss and husband Malachi Finn chats excitedly with his first love in the office. I stand outside, and through the glass door, I can see a warm smile on his face. It’s a smile I've never seen before.

I know the right thing to do as a competent secretary would be to leave, but as his wife, every bone in my body screams at me to go in there and tell them to stop it.  I know I can't.

For the three years we’ve been married, Malachi has never treated me like his wife. He’s only ever seen me as a secretary. He’ll talk to me while we’re at work because I plan the company calendar, handle negotiations with his clients, and make sure he’s ready for every presentation he needs to be ready for, but at home, he ignores me.

Laughter comes in from Malachi’s office again and my heart throbs with a strange kind of pain at the sound of his laughter. 

It’s rich, and silky.

I dart a peek towards his office once more and my eyes fall on Skye Rogers. 

I stare at her because everything about Skye is gorgeous. 

From her pretty round face to the last gold bangle on her dainty wrists, she doesn’t have a single hair out of place and she always looks stunning. My mind takes me back to the comment she had made earlier today. The look on her face was one of amusement as she asked, 

“You still work despite being married to Malachi? That’s odd, isn’t it?”

Her words had sounded so overbearing and I had been unable to do anything about it, just wring my hands nervously beneath the table and think of how I must look - my hair in a tight bun with strands flying all over, my clothes - a dull white and gray, the same as every other day.

Nothing like her luxury brand ash jeans, platform high heels, and bold red lipstick. 

I look at the ring on my finger once again and let out an angry and helpless breath. 

The irony of this marriage is that after three years, I'm now pregnant.  The report in my hands is warm from how much I've been clutching it. 

I hear a creak come from the hallway and I turn my attention to it. My heart begins to race immediately and I quickly put away the report.

Malachi… has always been ridiculously handsome. 

With hair like burnished gold and bright green eyes like emeralds beneath a lake, he commands the attention of everyone around him when he walks into a room. His black suit fits him perfectly, showing off his broad shoulders and fit body. He’s pulled off his jacket and the white shirt stretches tight over his broad chest and outlines his biceps. I look away as my chest warms with hope since he’s coming towards me.

That hope crashes because the moment Malachi reaches me, the smile on his face falls and he drops a file onto my table as he issues an offhanded command, “Fix the sixth clause in that.”

Before I can utter a single word he’s gone again, already chuckling over his shoulder at something Skye is saying in his office.

 A scream builds up in my body. 

I grab the file almost furiously and begin reading through the contents of the document inside, but I can't focus. Whenever I hear Malachi’s laughter my head threatens to whip towards the sound. Each time I hear Skye’s voice, my mind reminds me that I could crack the funniest jokes and they wouldn’t elicit a chuckle from Malachi, but a single comment from Skye would have him chortling his eyes out.

His pretty… enticing… green, green eyes.

I chuckle in pity at myself and the state of my marriage.

My head jerks up again out of curiosity and i know i shouldn’t, but my eyes roam to his office windows. I dart them away just as fast but I know I've been caught. The sound of Malachi’s window blinds being let down greets my ears a few moments later and along with the hurt that fills me comes a sudden bitterness, because why should he be acting all secretive to me, his wife?

Ever since Skye came back two months ago, he’s been all over her. It’s clear he still adores her, still enjoys her feminine charm… and that he would rather spend time with her, but he’s married to me, and that should mean something.

In one quick action, I grab the coffee I'd made fifteen minutes ago, head to Malachi’s office, and knock twice, not waiting for an answer before going in. The sound of ongoing conversation reaches my ears. 

Malachi and Skye are seated on the same couch, one of his arms thrown behind her, and the space between them, awfully close. 

A nervous sweat breaks out on my forehead and my breathing becomes shaky but they ignore me and continue with their conversation. It feels like I'm invisible though I'm standing right in his office. Malachi doesn’t even pay any attention to me. 

All his attention is on Skye.

A twinge of embarrassment runs through me as I walk over to Malachi’s table as bravely as I can and place the teacup on it, intending to turn around and head out at once, yet for some reason, my heart won’t let me. I pick the teacup up back and turn to him.

“I made you some coffee.”

The words leave my lips in a shaky tone but it’s audible enough. 

Skye shoots a glance at me while still actively speaking to Malachi and her look is scathing. Like she’s asking me what the hell I think I’m doing when she’s having a conversation with my husband. I ignore her and call out again,

“Mr Finn.” My voice comes out louder this time. 

Skye laughs at something and her tone is amused as she chuckles, “Oh Malachi.”

I bristle silently because I can't even call him by his name in the office. He’d rebuke me and accuse me of being insolent.  I call out again, speaking louder this time, loudly enough that it’s almost a shout, “Mr, Malachi Finn.”

The conversation finally stops, and Malachi regards me with an imposingly cold look that sets my heart racing, but I stand my ground refusing to squirm outwardly under his gaze. I avert my eyes from him as I say, “I need to talk to you.”

My voice comes out steady and I thank myself for that, yet that momentary victory is shrouded by Malachi’s annoyed response. 

His tone is ice cold when he asks, “Can’t you see I’m busy right now?”

He turns right back to Skye who’s more than happy to engage him in another conversation but I do not let them, I interrupt them again. “It’s urgent. 

I need to speak to you now, Malachi.”

The tension in the air is thick enough to touch but Skye’s annoyed scoff sets it all off. She asks in a disgusted tone, “Is this how you let your employees treat you, Malachi? That’s so rude and it shows an obvious lack of work ethic.”

My annoyance flares immediately, because how dare she refer to me as his employee when she knows fully well who I am? My voice holds a bit of a bite as I respond, “I have as much right to be in here as anybody, and I've done this job perfectly for the past three years.”

Skye scoffs derisively, her gaze one of annoyance as it lingers on me and her smile a mocking one. She bites her cheek and twirls a thick strand of her silky ebony hair in a perfectly manicured finger as she looks away, “Seems someone has a bit of a bone to bite with me, Malachi. I won’t sit here and be insulted.”

Malachi’s form is menacing as he gets up, his naturally tall frame and the severe cut of his jaw making me feel small as he gazes at me and commands coldly. “Leave Antonia, now.”

Malachi’s words go through me is like a punch to the gut, and though something asks me why I expected anything different, I ask as calmly as I can, my voice lower now, “Why should I be the one to leave, Malachi? You heard her referring to me like I'm just some employee.”

“But that’s exactly what you are.” Skye’s retort is filled with obvious disregard and disrespect this time but Malachi says nothing.

Skye gets up, picking her bag with an offended look on her face, and starts making her way out of the office. Malachi shoots me a glare, walking to his table and picking up his car keys, his intention obviously to follow her.

I understand that she’s his friend, but this…

I take a deep breath, my emotions still reeling, when someone bumps into me. 

It’s Skye.

The action is so forceful; her shoulder slamming into mine in an all too deliberate way, that the teacup in my hand tips and spills over her expensive dress. Skye lurches away and lashes out angrily, “What the hell Antonia! Look at what you’ve done to my dress. I know you don’t like me but this has crossed the line, just look at it!”

Skye sounds so annoyed and pissed, that for a moment I’m dazed and i forget that it’s just a little bit of coffee that poured on her, that my skirt is presently drenched in it. Malachi’s anger reaches me immediately, a frown appearing on his face as he glares. “Apologize Antonia, Now.”

My heart twists both in hurt and annoyance because Malachi always issues commands to me like I'm some senseless halfwit and not the person who’s been handling his most valued information for the past three years. 

He never speaks to other women this way. I retort in a shaky but firm tone, “She’s the one who bumped into me. I didn’t even move an inch.”

Malachi’s tone is impatient as he speaks again, “Yet you’re the ome who ruined her dress. Apologize. Now, Antonia.”

I turn my head up to fully look at him, my eyes meeting his and looking at them imploringly as I insist, “I didn’t bump into her.”

Malachi’s voice is tight as he commands through gritted teeth now, “I said Apologize.”

I find myself cowering at his tone, yet a bit of my patience wears out because I raise my voice as I ask, “Why should I be the one to apologize? I’m your wife, Malachi.”

Malachi’s response is like a knife to the ribs.

“A wife I never wanted.”