His Wife (A Contract Marriage Story) by Heer Mangtani

Chapter 3

Before the wedding. I had put a lot of thought into how my wedding night would be. I wondered if I would have to have sex with a man I hadn’t known before that day, and in all the fear of that, I had forgotten staying alone in a huge room with nothing to do and no one to talk to as a possibility.

1 tossed and turned all night, barely getting any sleep.

The next morning, I wore one of the outfits that someone had stocked in the wardrobe for me to use. Growing up poor, I never got to splurge on myself. Any money I could save would only go into covering my grandpa’s treatments, and we still fell short most times.

Wandering alone in that big house, I wished I could confide in ber about the fake marriage I was stuck in.

But there I was, eating breakfast meant to feed twenty alone in the dining room.

I una stared at me.

“Have you eaten?” Lasked her.

“After you, Mrs. Whitlock.”

“Please call me Ms. Baker.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Mrs. Whitlock. Sir wouldn’t like it.”

“I don’t think Sir would know.” I tell her, looking around. The house was huge, and the chances of running into the man that

I wanted to actively try to avoid for the next six months was less. “Where even is he?”

“He left home last night after talking to you, and he hasn’t returned since.

I knew our marriage was l

I didn’t expect him to sleep with another

added. He has a lot of meetings with clients who live abroad and he functions on

“Luna, it’s okay.”

“Im sorry, Mrs. Whitlock.”

I corrected

“A parcel came for you earlier

leaving the food I did not have the appetite to eat as she disappeared for a moment to return with a box that I opened quickly to reveal a new phone inside. The latest model in my hand was a far stretch from the half broken one 1 had been using for the past five years, but I made it work

Until now, apparently.

already set-up phone to see that there was no contact in

“Gabriel Whitlock.

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TIL

Chapter 3

drafted agreement like he’d said yesterday. I’d gone over

afraid of how low Gabriel’s ‘stooping

in an art gallery. I tinkered with my new phone for a while, I checked in on my grandfather who insisted he was enjoying every moment of being reunited with his old friends and asked me to not

when I moved three hours away to marry an imperious

my previous company. I earned well, but cancer cost more. So even after working a full time job as their financial analyst, and then working part time as a waitress in an overnight diner, I still struggled to make ends meet, With no health insurance, we were considering taking a loan or putting out small house on mortgage when Gabriel’s grandparents, who happened to be my grandpa’s friends from school got in touch with him and agon and offered to pay out his entire treatment with one simple condition: I had to marry their grandson. I was still convinced I could manage by myself and marrying a complete stranger was off the table but when my grandpa had to come out of retirement and take up a job for some extra cash, my heart broke looking at my sick grandfather work despite being in

me or why he agreed, but by his anger towards me, I could guess he was forced into it

to sympathise with him, because at least I got something out of this wedlock. It seemed like he got nothing except losing his freedom and the title of the hottest bachelor in front of the world. But at the same time, I knew he was no saint. He was an arrogant man, self-centred, and had implied that I was a

ate dinner by myself while the housemaids,

see Gabriel at all for the next few days, and being alone turned into a habit. I spent my time getting pally with Lunat and the others, learning how

heard back from three out of seven places I had applied

there wasn’t a formal clause in

Probably not.

idea of calling him. But it was a quarter past twelve, and I hadn’t seen him in the house

I woke up early by myself the next morning, eating breakfast in haste. It was around nine- thirty in the morning

rang, and on the fifth ring, it was picked

“Hello!”