The Wrong Wife by Maya Alden

Chapter 6

Esme

“How did it go?” Mark asked as we sat at Verve, a coffee shop, after my interview at Keck.

I took a sip of coffee and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

He raised his eyebrows. “The job description seemed designed with you in mind.”

Mark Caruso was a neurosurgeon and had moved from Seattle to LA for his residency at UCLA. We were neighbors in Seattle who’d become friends. He knew more about my life than anyone else, and I knew about his. For all purposes, he was my best friend, as I was his. It was because he was in Los Angeles that I started to apply for jobs here. I had never thought I’d have no choice but to move here because my husband lived in LA.

Husband.

“The chairman of the board came down for the interview,” I told him. “It was so weird. He was difficult and…I don’t know, it was like he’d decided that I wouldn’t get the job even before he spoke to me. He was almost hostile. He kept bringing up why I wanted to work as a social worker when I was married to Declan Knight. I don’t know how he knew about the wedding because it’s not public yet. He basically told me that I should stop dabbling and work at a Knight Foundation.”

“Esme, it’s not so strange. He probably called your father.”

“Why would he do that?”“Because…my innocent, Esme, this is how the world of networking functions.”

My shoulders slouched, and I wondered if I should waste my time with the UCLA interview. If I hadn’t married Declan, Daddy wouldn’t have cared where I worked, but now he did, so he’d expect me to do what he wanted me to do.

Be a good wife in public and private, Esme, he’d warned me as we drove to the courthouse the previous morning.

And none of your shenanigans with helping kids or women or dogs, of whatever the fuck you do.

As a Knight, you’ll be expected to…well, I can’t imagine you could show the sophistication that Viv does but try to, at least, not embarrass the family.

Mark put his hand on mine and squeezed. “How’s the marriage?”

“A total fucking disaster,” I confessed. “It’s been a day and keeping the pretense that this isn’t tearing me apart is…well, exhausting. It’s not helping that Declan is angry and frustrated.”

“And he’s taking it out on you?”

I nodded. “He is lost and confused. And I get it. Imagine loving someone and then finding out that they were cheating on you on your wedding day. Knowing Viv, Nick was not the first person either.”

“Tell him that,” Mark encouraged. “Why are you protecting Viv?”

I laughed. “I don’t want to hurt anyone needlessly. And if I told him that she was sleeping around throughout their relationship, it would only hurt him. It’s only for a year, Mark. I’ll find another job. I have a few other interviews; something will work out.” It will not be easy, but I would persevere until I got what I wanted. Maybe my personal life was a disaster, I wanted my professional life to be fulfilling.

“If you don’t want to live with him, you can come live with me. I have two bedrooms…now that Francois left.”

Mark and his partner of three years had recently broken up. They’d grown apart, and the move from Seattle to LA had not helped. Francois had not been able to adjust to LA. He went back to Seattle and as breakups went, theirs was amicable. There was sorrow that it didn’t work out but not grief. Their relationship had changed over the years and in the end, they’d been just roommates.

“He wants to show the world we have a real marriage. And honestly, my parents would lose their shit.” I drank some more coffee, which had become lukewarm. I looked at my watch, a present from my grandmother when I graduated. It was a used Rolex. She’d saved up to buy it for me. It wasn’t shiny and was obviously old—but I loved it.

“And you? What do you need?” Mark asked, surprising me.

I closed my eyes, terrified of where my life stood right now. “I need to find a job. I need to have a life that’s my own. Declan doesn’t want a real marriage—only one that looks like it. He’s going to keep doing what he’s doing. And I don’t want to get too dependent on his lifestyle. It’ll all be gone in a year.”

“I still think you shouldn’t have signed that contract,” Mark admonished. He hadn’t been happy that I would get nothing from Declan at the end of the marriage contract. The morning of the wedding, the Hartley family lawyer had told me that Declan Knight himself had demanded a stipulation be put in that I receive no compensation for the year-long marriage. I had told him that was fine and signed on the dotted line. My mother was proud of me and told me so. I felt like cattle that had been sold.

I looked at Mark’s handsome face and smiled. “Money isn’t going to make me happy.”

Mark laughed. “True.”

And he’d know. Born and raised as an heir, he’d turned his back on his father’s company to become a doctor. His sister now ran the company, and they were close, but his father still had not forgiven him. His mother, on the other hand, was a gem. Julien Caruso, artist extraordinaire, treated me like a daughter, and I got from Mark, Julien, and his sister Maria the love and affection I never got at home.

“I need to buy some groceries. I want to cook dinner. Calliope mentioned that Declan likes Cajun food, so I thought I’ll make him Louisiana barbecue shrimp,” I said.

Mark made a face. “Why waste that on him? Seriously, Es, your heart is too big.”

“No such thing as a heart that’s too big. Want to walk with me to Whole Foods?”

“Sure,” Mark sighed, giving up. “If he hurts you, Es, come home to me, okay? Or to Maria or my mother. You’ve done enough for your family.”

I hugged him then, tightly. I needed it. It had been a tumultuous week and he was my safe space.

“I love you,” I whispered.

He put his arms around me and held me. “I love you too.”