The Lover Behind my Back

Helena's POV“You are getting married to him tomorrow, and that's final.”For a moment, I honestly thought I’d misheard my grandfather. The words sounded too absurd, too unrealistic, like something that shouldn't belong to the same conversation I’d been having just seconds ago. I stood up abruptly, frozen in the middle of the living room with my fingers curled around my phone tightly.My heartbeat thundered loudly in my ears, blocking out every other sound for what felt like a minute.“What did you just say?” I asked slowly.My grandfather, Arthur Hale was still sitting in his leather armchair like some sort of king on his throne.He looked composed and unbothered by my change in mood.His silver hair was neatly combed while his posture remained straight despite his age. He looked at me the way he always did when he’d already made up his mind. “I said you are going to marry him tomorrow, Helena,” he replied firmly.“No.” The word burst out of me before I could stop it. “Absolutely

Barron's POV“Hello. I suppose this makes us officially married.”Those were the first few words I shared with my new wife. Someone I hadn't seen or even know.It wasn't long before her reply came back. “I suppose it does.”And with that, I was left asking myself what I had just done.I rarely let emotions dictate my decisions.In my world, emotion was noise, something that clouded judgment and led to very bad investments. I built my company on logic, discipline, and control with every move being well calculated and every risk measured.And that was exactly why agreeing to marry a woman I’d never met should have bothered me more than it did.I wasn't able to get a hold of my thoughts before the car slowed down to a stop.I looked out through the window and realized that we had already made it to the front of my front porch.I flicked off my phone and took a deep breath before stepping out like nothing ever happened.I made the short trek over to the front door where the stewards were

Helena’s POVI woke up to the smell of coffee and the sound of heels clicking against tile.For a split second, I forgot where I was. Then slowly, the unfamiliar ceiling came into view.And followed by the bed beneath me, then everything from last night came rushing back in a painful wave.I groaned and rolled onto my side.“Tessy?” I croaked out.“In the kitchen!” She called back cheerfully. Way too cheerfully for someone who had watched me fall apart barely hours ago if I may add.I pushed myself upright slowly as my head pounded lightly, then made my way carefully to the kitchen.I shuffled into the kitchen and found her already dressed in tailored black pants and a cream blouse.Her hair looked sleek and pulled back while she had her laptop bag by the door and car keys in hand.I blinked at her. “Why are you all dressed by this time?”She grinned. “Because I have work.”I frowned. “You don’t usually leave this early.”“That’s because today is special,” she said, sliding a mug of

Helena's POV The words cleared the sleep from my eyes before I could read them twice.I blinked twice, staring at the words on the screen for the second.Then I followed the lines till I read a set of words that spread chills over my body.An Official Offer Letter from Barron TechnologiesI stared at it for a full ten seconds, wondering if this was the point I go call Tessy or not.After more thought, I pushed it aside, I couldn't be disturbing her by this time of the day.So I gave my phone a tilt to each side before finally opening the mail.Junior Strategy Analyst with a competitive salary and an immediate start.My chest tightened as those were the breakdown of the first few words I spotted on the small screen.Wait, does the mean that—?“I got it,” I whispered aloud. “I got it,” I repeated, still in schock.I mean, yeah, of course I did. The interview was intense, yeah, but I matched his pace as much as I could remember.Left for me, I deserved this.I rose to my feet as my legs

Helena's POVI grimaced as everything in me pressed me to take a step back. But his eyes planted me in that spot as my legs lost the ability to move.“Yes, sir?” I managed to respond to his call even with the way my body reacted to his gaze.He hesitated for a moment, staring at me still and looked to be searching out the right way to put the words.I fidgeted with my fingers on the table, partly praying that he'd just do it, say it I mean.But he didn't do, I mean say anything, he just leaned back first straightening up.“You handled the meeting well today,” he muttered hesitatingly, and something in me told me that wasn't it.But the compliment still didn't settle well anyway. It was strange, especially coming from him.“Thank you, Mr. Hale,” I managed to say after a while.He took a step back before continuing. “Most new hires wouldn’t challenge a projection on their first day,” he added carefully.“I just, noticed the numbers,” I replied with a small shrug.“Not only that, you no