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

in me. for the sake of it, but I didn’t expect him to sleep with another lady on the night

has a lot of

“Luna, it’s okay.”

“Im sorry, Mrs. Whitlock.”

I corrected

parcel came for you earlier in the

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 since I couldn’t afford a new phone despite juggling between two

Until now, apparently.

to see that there was no contact in it

“Gabriel Whitlock.

1/3

TIL

Chapter 3

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

was tempted not to, but also afraid of

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

needed to get a new job since I left my old one when I moved three hours away to marry an imperious man, but I was confident 1 could get another one without

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

grandson to marry a nobody like me or why he agreed, but by his

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

while the housemaids, looked over me like I was a

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 to cook the more refined dishes, swimming, and even reading

from three out

competitor of the Whitlock company. They’d called me for an interview two days later, but didn’t send in my confirmation yet. Even though there wasn’t a formal clause in the agreement we had signed, Gabriel Had explicitly mentioned for

Probably not.

twelve, and I hadn’t seen him in the house

by myself the next morning, eating breakfast in haste. It was around nine- thirty in the morning when I sat alone in my room

rang, and on the fifth ring,

“Hello!”