The Wrong Wife by Maya Alden

Chapter 5

Declan

"Ask her to go fuck herself," Mateo advised. "She dumps you, and now that you're married, she's got the nerve to bitch about it?"

Mateo Silva was one of my closest friends and the chief technology officer at Knight Technologies. We met in Harvard. I was studying business, and he was getting a degree in computer engineering. It was a match made in heaven. When I took over Knight Tech, Mateo became my right hand, and we'd diversified from industrial electronics to security software; and were now unbeatable with the merger with Hartley Industries.

"She's hurt that I married her sister." I scrolled through my email.

Viv had called in the morning in a panic. She'd never imagined I'd marry Esme. I don't know why when she knew that this merger required a marriage, and the only other Hartley available to me was her younger sister.

"Who else would you marry?"

"I asked her the same thing. She was crying, Mateo."

Mateo never liked Viv, even though he never said it until we broke up. He admitted she was an excellent corporate lawyer, but beyond that, he didn't think she had much to redeem herself.

"Vi is just spoilt. How's your new wife, Dec?"

I looked up at him from my computer and shrugged. "Fine, I guess."

"Are you going to try and make this marriage work?"

"Why?"

Mateo sighed. "Come on, Dec. This young girl married you to save her parents' company. Show some compassion."

"She seems fine." The way he put it made my hackles rise. I wasn't being compassionate. Instead, I took my anger out on her because she was there.

"Have you spent any time with her?"

"Sure. We talked last night. It was pleasant." And I wanted to fuck her.

"You had dinner with me and the other morons we call friends. You stayed at the restaurant until past ten, Dec."

"Mateo, what the fuck do you want from me? She knows we're getting divorced in a year. This is not a marriage. It's a business agreement that will be moot in 364 days."

Mateo rose from the chair he was sitting in across from my desk. "Is she coming this Friday?"

"Yeah. I told Esme we'd go to the gallery and then for dinner at Melisse."

"I look forward to meeting her. She seems interesting."

As he walked away, I stopped him to ask, "Why?"

"Because she seems untouched by your big society nonsense. She's a social worker. I had some great social workers help me growing up, and without them, I'd have ended up in a gang or worse. It's a noble profession."

I thought about Esme after Mateo left. I agreed with him that she was interesting. There was a grace about her. She didn't make a fuss when things didn't go her way. She found a way to settle into my apartment even though I had done nothing to make her feel welcome.

My day became busy, and Esme slipped my mind. I had always been raised to put work first. If Viv and I had a problem, it was that we both put our work first, which meant we missed some birthdays and anniversaries. I didn't mind so much, but for Viv, it was the end of the world. Mateo was right; Viv was spoilt—and I smiled at the thought because I hadn't cared that she was. I had spoiled her myself.

And while I was doing everything I could to make her happy, she'd been balling some other guy. I knew his name. I had a complete dossier on him but didn't want to give him an identity; it would tear my heart out of my chest to do so.

I had just finished a lunch meeting when my mother entered my office. Nina Knight was a force to reckon with—and I had fallen in love with Viv, as the cliché went, because she was so much like my mother. She'd retired as a California Supreme Court judge two years ago and had been relentlessly working with the Democratic National Committee to support political candidates nationwide.

She was an elegant woman with not a single hair out of place. Today, she wore a Chanel suit that made her look about a decade younger than her sixty years. Her blonde hair was expertly coiffed in a short bob, and the diamonds on her neck, ears, wrists, and fingers sparkled. A small light blue Chanel bag matching her suit was clutched in her hand. Viv had been the same. Coordinated, confident, and classy.

And then, unbidden, I saw Esme in my mind. She wore only her wedding ring and a pair of small diamond earrings. She didn't carry a handbag. She'd used the pockets in her dress for her phone and the key fob I'd given her. Her phone had a case that included a wallet.

I kissed my mother lightly on the cheek and ushered her to the seating area in my office. She sat on the leather sofa, and I sat across her on a matching armchair.

"Your wife is looking for a job as a social worker," she hissed.

"Yes."

"Well, if she wants to do charitable work, we have several foundations she can work with. Julien got a call from the Chairman of the Board at Keck, and he wanted to know why a Hartley was interviewing for some low-level social worker job there."

I leaned back on the chair. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Get her involved with the Knight Foundation."

"I'll ask her."

"Dec. You tell her what to do. This isn't Vivian, who has a career. Esme is…well, according to Julien, she's a bit of a flake." My mother headed many charities but never got her hands dirty. Regardless, she did a lot of good, and I was proud of her.

“How is she flaky?” I wanted to know. I hadn’t seen a flaky woman, maybe one who was not assertive but not foolish.

“Julien got her some earrings for Christmas, and she sold them to raise money for some women’s shelter. This is why he’s not set up a trust fund for her.”

"Because he’s worried she’ll give it all away? That’s noble, not—"

Nina waved her hand as if it didn't matter. "She's married to you for a year, and in that time, she needs to behave as expected. I don't know why Julien hasn't managed her better. Monica has some of that…you know—"

"No, I don't know.” I didn't mind that my mother was a snob, but how she talked about Esme, who had done our families a huge favor, didn't sit well with me. It was one thing to think that Esme was not as desirable as Viv to be my wife, quite another to say it out loud as my mother was.

"Monica didn't grow up with the money," my mother announced haughtily.

"Mom, I have to get to a meeting." I looked at my watch.

"Get her to stop this job nonsense. If she wants a job, she can run a foundation. No Knight is going to have some eighty thousand dollars a year government job," she announced and added, "I've made sure she won't get this job."

"Mom…"

"And make sure she's presentable this Friday. Did you see what she wore to the wedding? I get it was in chambers, but…it was some off-the-rack nonsense. If there had been time, I'd have ensured she wore something decent."

My mother loved Viv—and it was apparent she didn't care for Esme. It didn't matter to me. I was married for a year, and after that, Esme was out of my life. I'd keep the peace with my mother.

I kissed her on the cheek again and assured her that Esme I would be at Melisse LA for dinner after the gallery opening; and that Esme would be dressed as was required for a Knight. We were going to have dinner with Mateo, my parents, Senator Rivers, and his wife. We also had business with Senator Rivers, so this was more of a business-plus-pleasure dinner.

I had thought about not taking Esme, but the Knight PR team was going to announce our marriage in the media, so the all-about-family values Senator Rivers would expect her there. The PR head had tutted at the dress Esme had worn and declared that we'd have to go with a close-up because she didn't know how to salvage that dress, so they had published a close-up photo.

The dress had been simple, but it wasn't offensive. It probably wasn't designer wear, and maybe that was because Esme didn't care about these things—but she’d have to learn if she wanted to survive my mother and the media.