Chapter 2

Ellie's POV

After graduation, I found a job.

Asher joined his fathers company.

He worked harder than anyone I knew-.

He was brilliant. I had always known he would be.

At first, his promotions made me ridiculously proud-.

He had call me after a good meeting, sounding tired but pleased with himself-, and I'd listen to him talk about numbers and projects I barely understood-.

Then came the bigger responsibilities.

More meetings.

More travel.

More late nights.

And, somehow, less of him.

I never wanted to become the wife who complained about her husband's success.

So I didn't,.

When he cancelled dinner two hours before we were supposed to meet-, I told him it was fine,.

“I'm sorry,” he said over the phone. “Something came up.”

“It's okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course-.”

I always said that,.

Of course, Its okay- Don't worry about it.

When he forgot our anniversary plans I told him we could celebrate another day.

“I am really sorry, Ellie-.”

I remember sitting on the edge of our bed still dressed for dinner-.

“Its okay,” I said. “We can celebrate when things calm down-.”

He promised we had make it up.

I believed him.

For a while.

Then he stopped calling as often.

At first, I noticed every missed call.

Then I started making excuses for them before I even had time to feel hurt.

He was busy.

He was travelling.

He had meetings.

People at his level didn't have the luxury of calling their wives whenever they wanted.

That was what I told myself, anyway-.

When he came home late exhausted and barely able to keep his eyes open- I wouldd make him tea-.

“Here.”

He'd take the cup without really looking at me.

“Thank you.”

Sometimes I wondered if he even noticed that I had been waiting-.

I had sit on the sofa with a book open in my lap-, pretending to read while listening for the sound of his key in the door,.

Sometimes I had wait an hour.

Sometimes two.

Asher usually live at his penthouse, near his office. I asked him if I can move there wih him this will eventually reveal our relationship. So I stayed in this home only and sometimes he would come here-, shower-, answer a few emails, and fall asleep without saying much at all,.

If he forgot to kiss me goodnight, I would lean over and kiss his cheek anyway.

Small things.

That's what I told myself they were.

Just small things.

Because love meant understanding.

Didn't it?

And Asher had so much to carry.

His father's expectations.

The company.

His future.

I didnt want to be another thing he had to worry about-.

So I made myself easy to love-.

Or at least I thought I was.

---

Then he became CEO.

I was so proud of him-.

I remember finding the announcement online one morning,.

There was a photograph of him beside the headline:

---ASHER THORNE NAMED CEO OF THORNE INTERNATIONAL---

I stared at the screen for a long time-.

He looked different in the photograph-.

Older, somehow.

Sharper.

Confident.

There was a seriousness in his face I'd noticed more and more over the years, but seeing it there, beneath his name and title, made it feel official.

I smiled.

“That's my husband,” I whispered to myself.

I wanted to tell everyone.

I wanted to call my friends and say, *You know that man everyone is talking about? That's my husband.*

I wanted to scream it from the rooftops,.

Instead-, I just sat there with my phone in my hand, smiling at a photograph that millions of other people could see-.

Because nobody knew.

Nobody knew that the man in that photograph came home to me.

Nobody knew he'd once held my face between his hands and promised me forever.

Nobody knew about the registry office.

The tiny flat in Notting Hill.

The ring on my finger.

Nobody knew that the powerful new CEO everyone was congratulating was the same man who used to steal food from my plate and complain that I took too long to choose what to order-.

Nobody knew he was my husband-.

Nobody knew he was mine.

_________________________

It was one of the Friday's morning when I found out I was pregnant-.

I stared at the test for what felt like an entire lifetime-.

Two pink lines.

I checked it again.

Then again.

As if the result might change if I looked hard enough.

It didn't.

I sat on the edge of the bathroom floor one hand resting against my stomach even though there was nothing to feel yet-.

There was a baby inside me-.

Our baby.

For the first time in months-, I didn't think about how often Asher had cancelled dinner or how long it had been since he'd called just to hear my voice-.

I imagined his face when I told him-.

I imagined him going completely silent first-, the way he always did when something caught him off guard,.

Then smiling.

Maybe laughing.

Maybe pulling me into his arms and asking me how long I'd known.

I smiled despite myself, He was going to be a father.

And somehow that thought made everything feel right again-.

Maybe this was what we needed-.

Maybe this was the reason things had felt so strange lately,.

Maybe Asher had simply been overwhelmed-.

He had become CEO. His life had changed overnight.

But this...

This was ours.

I spent the rest of the day thinking about how to tell him-.

I even bought a tiny pair of white baby socks-.

They were ridiculous-.

They were so small that I kept holding them between my fingers and smiling-.

I wanted to give them to him after his celebration-.

His mother Helan Throne had already invited me herself.

The company was holding a huge party to celebrate his appointment as CEO-.

I almost didnt want to go-.

I hadnt met most of the people in Asher's new world-, and I knew exactly what I would feel standing in a room full of women who looked like they belonged there-.

Women who wore dresses without worrying about how their stomach looked from the side-.

Women who didnt pull their jackets closed every time someone walked past-.

Women who didnt wonder whether the fabric was clinging in the wrong places-.

Still, I went.

Because Asher was my husband.

And tonight was supposed to be about him.

I spent almost two hours deciding what to wear,.

In the end-, I chose a long black dress with loose fabric around my waist and a structured jacket over it-.

Nothing fitted,.

Nothing that showed my curves,.

Nothing that made me feel exposed,.

I looked at myself in the mirror before leaving,.

The woman staring back at me looked polished.,

Put together.

Safe.

I smiled.

"Tonight," I whispered,.

Tonight I would tell him.

And maybe after that, we'd finally tell everyone.

His parents.

My mother.

Our friends.

Everyone.

We had been married long enough.

Maybe it was time to stop hiding.

Maybe becoming a father would make Asher remember what mattered.

The party was already crowded when I arrived.

It was being held in one of London's grandest hotels, with enormous chandeliers hanging above the ballroom and tables covered in white flowers.

Everywhere I looked, there were people I didn't know.

Executives.

Investors.

Fashion editors.

Business partners.

People whose names I recognized from newspapers.

I suddenly felt very small.

Then Asher's mother saw me.

"Eleanor."

Her face lit up.

"I'm so glad you came." She crossed the room immediately and pulled me into a warm hug.

"Thank you for inviting me." I smiled.

"Of course." She held my hands for a moment.

"You look beautiful." she added 

I almost looked down at my dress.

Instead, I smiled.

"So do you." I complimented

She laughed.

"You must stay with us tonight. I don't want you standing around alone."

His father Richard Throne greeted me a few minutes later.

He was just as warm.

He asked about my work.

About my mother-.

About how long it had been since we'd last spoken-.

Nobody looked at me strangely-.

Nobody made me feel like I didnt belong-.

For a little while I forgot why I had been nervous-.

Asher's parents didnt know I was their daughter-in-law-.

But they treated me like they were genuinely happy I was there-.

And that somehow made what I was about to do feel even more special-.

I kept touching my clutch.

The tiny baby socks were inside.

I couldn't wait to give them to him.

I kept looking toward the entrance.

Still nothing.

"Asher should be here soon," his mother said.

I nodded.

"He will be happy you're here."

I smiled.

I hoped so.

Nearly an hour later, the room suddenly shifted.

People began turning toward the entrance.

Conversations quieted.

Cameras appeared.

And then I saw him.

Asher Throne.

My husband.

He walked into the ballroom surrounded by people from the company.

Black suit.

White shirt.

That familiar expression I had known since we were teenagers.

Except now there were hundreds of eyes watching him.

He looked powerful.

Untouchable.

Everyone wanted a piece of him.

I stood there, smiling.

My heart beating faster.

I wanted to go to him.

I wanted to tell him.

But before I could move, someone called his name.

Then another.

His father was pulled into a conversation.

His mother was speaking to a guest.

People surrounded Asher.

I waited.

Five minutes.

Ten.

Then the lights dimmed.

Everyone moved toward the stage.

Asher stepped onto it.

I smiled.

Of course.

His big night.

He deserved it.

I stood near the back of the room, my hands wrapped around my clutch.

Asher started his speech by thanking the board.

His employees.

His father.

The people who had helped him get there.

I watched him speak.

Proud.

So proud.

Then he paused.

"I'd also like to share something personal tonight."

The room went quiet.

My heart jumped.

I smiled.

He looked toward the crowd.

And then he said a name.

"Olivia Sinclair."

I stopped breathing.

A woman stepped forward from somewhere near the front.

She was beautiful.

Not just beautiful.

The kind of beautiful that looked effortless.

Tall.

Elegant.

Perfectly dressed.

I knew her face.

Everyone did.

Olivia Sinclair.

Heir to one of the largest multinational corporations in Europe.

Her family's company had been working with Thorne International for years.

I looked back at Asher.

He was smiling at her.

I'd seen that smile before.

At eighteen.

At twenty.

In our tiny kitchen.

In our first apartment.

On the morning after our wedding.

That smile had once belonged to me.

Then Asher reached for Olivia's hand.

My fingers tightened around my clutch.

"I think most of you already know Olivia," he said.

A few people laughed.

Someone whistled.

Then he looked at her.

"I've known her for some time now."

Now?

I couldn't understand the word.

Now.

As though there was nothing before this.

As though his life had begun somewhere else.

"As our families have grown closer through business, so have we."

My stomach turned.

No.

I shook my head slightly.

He wouldn't.

Not this.

Not here.

"I've spent a long time thinking about the future."

He smiled.

And then he said it.

"I'd like to officially announce my engagement to Olivia."

The room erupted.

Applause.

Cheers.

Cameras flashing.

People standing.

Olivia smiled beside him.

I didn't hear any of it.

I couldn't.

My ears were ringing.

My hand moved instinctively to my stomach.

The baby.

Our baby.

I looked down at my clutch.

The tiny socks were still inside.

I had brought them here to surprise my husband-.

I had spent the entire evening imagining his face when I told him he was going to be a father-.

And now I was standing in a room full of strangers while my husband announced that he was going to marry another woman,.

My husband.

He was already married.

To me.

I looked toward his parents.

They were smiling.

Clapping.

Proud of their son.

They didn't know.

None of them knew-.

And I had been standing in the middle of it-, believing I was still part of his future,.

The applause continued-.

Olivia leaned closer to him,.

Asher looked at her-.

And for one horrible second- I saw something I hadnt seen in months-.

Pride.

The same pride I had once felt for him-.

Except this time-, he wasnt looking at me-.

My eyes burned-.

I refused to cry.

Not here.

Not in front of his parents.

Not in front of everyone.

I reached into my clutch.

My fingers touched the tiny socks.

I pulled them out- and they looked impossibly small in my palm.

I stared at them for a moment-.

Then I closed my fingers around them-.

Asher had no idea-.

He didnt know about the baby-. He didn't know I was standing forty feet away-.

He didnt know his wife was watching him announce his engagement to another woman-.

And maybe...

Maybe that was the only thing keeping me from completely falling apart.