Life had always been simple. Everything laid out in neat, predictable rows, like the spreadsheets at Hale Company—until it wasn't.
I never asked for this. To be some pawn in a game I didn't sign up for. Yet here I am, staring at a girl I barely know, Kathrin Vega, now my wife—if you could even call it that.
When she first walked into my life, carrying that letter from her uncle Jace Vega, I didn't think much of her. Quiet, obedient, almost invisible. Just another piece of this corporate chessboard my father, Jason Hale, and her uncle had set up. They wanted the Hale and Vega companies united, and I was the sacrifice. The perfect son, the perfect match for their business empire.
I remember the day my father dropped the bomb on me like it was nothing.
"You're going to marry Kathrin," he said. "It's for the company. You'll thank me later."
But I didn't thank him. I protested. Hard. Why should I give up my freedom for a girl I didn't care about? I already had a girlfriend—a life of my own. Why would I throw that away for someone so... meek?
But Kathrin, she was different. She didn't argue. When her uncle told her she was going to marry me, she didn't even flinch. She just said, "Yes," like it didn't matter. Like her feelings didn't exist, or maybe she'd already buried them so deep, she forgot they were there.
We've lived together for a year and a half now, in this big house that feels more like a cage than a home. And every day, I'm cold to her. I can't help it. It's not like I wanted this life. And yet, she just... takes it. The silence. The absence. The indifference.
She knows about my girlfriend. Of course she does. I thought for sure she would've told my parents by now, let them rip me apart. But she hasn't. Not a word.
I don't get her. She never talks much. Always keeping to herself, like a ghost in the house. When we're around family or at events, she smiles, but I can tell it's fake. Everyone can. Yet no one says a word. And when people ask her about me, why I'm not there, she always gives the same answer.
"He's busy with work."
It's a lie. Everyone knows it. I know it. But Kathrin—she's lying to herself more than anyone. Pretending everything is fine, that this sham of a marriage is okay. But I see the cracks. I see how she hides the pain behind those polite nods and hollow smiles.
Then, her uncle died. Jace Vega. I didn't even show up to the funeral. I should've, maybe. But I didn't. What was the point? She was left alone with her step-sister, Elizabeth, the only family she had left. And there I was, missing every event, every moment. She's always alone, putting up that same smile.
Every part of me hates this arrangement, but there's something in her that I can't ignore. Maybe it's the way she takes everything quietly, without complaint. Maybe it's the fact that she's never once called me out for being a terrible husband. Maybe it's because she's still here, even when she shouldn't be.
She's a mystery. An innocent mystery, or at least that's what I've told myself. But there's more to her, isn't there? Something deeper, something even I can't figure out yet.
And that scares me. More than I'd like to admit.
Finally, the meeting ended. I sighed and rubbed my temples. I couldn't wait to take Olivia out—just to get away from everything. But when I walked into my office, everything shattered.
There she was. Olivia. Kissing another man.
"Olivia?" I said, my voice barely steady.
She froze, eyes wide in shock. Then, she bit her lip, unable to meet my gaze. She didn't even bother to explain. The silence between us said it all.
