Married By Mistake To My Ruthless Boss

(Zara) I knew something was wrong the moment I opened Ryan’s apartment door and heard nothing. Ryan always had music on when he was home. It didn’t matter if he was cooking, gaming, or pretending to clean, there was always some song playing. Tonight the apartment was silent, and something about it made my skin crawl. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, careful not to crush the white cake box in my hands. His keys were on the coffee table. His shoes were by the couch. His jacket hung over a chair. He was home. Good. A small smile touched my lips. I had planned this all week. Three years together, and tonight I was finally ready to say yes. Not to marriage. Ryan wasn’t there yet. Yes to moving in together. He’d asked again last Sunday while I was trying to drink coffee in peace. I laughed it off then, but I’d been thinking about it for months. I loved him. I was tired of dragging bags between my place and his. Tired of pretending I didn’t already spend most nights here. I’d even stopped at his favorite bakery and bought the chocolate cake he loved. “Ryan,” I called out. “If you’re hiding, I’m leaving with the cake.” No answer. I frowned and moved toward the hallway. Then I heard it. A laugh. A woman’s laugh. My steps stopped. I listened. Then it came again, lower this time, followed by the sound of the bed hitting the wall. The cake nearly slipped from my hands. No. I walked to the bedroom and shoved the door open. The cake box fell to the floor. Ryan was in bed. Chloe Bennett was under him. For a second none of us moved. Then Ryan jumped up so fast he nearly tripped. “Zara,” he said. “This isn’t what it looks like.” I looked at him. Then at Chloe pulling the sheet over herself. Then back at him. Three years. Three years of birthdays, dinners, late night calls, helping him when money was low, defending him when people said he’d never grow up. Three years, and he still thought I was stupid. “It looks like you’re sleeping with my best friend,” I said. “So unless another woman is hiding in here, I’d say it looks exactly right.” “Listen to me.” He stepped closer. I stepped back. “Don’t come near me.” Chloe sat up and fixed her hair like she had any right to feel comfortable. “Maybe you should let him explain,” she said. I turned to her. “Explain what? The part where you sleep with your friend’s boyfriend, or the part where you smile in her face after?” Her face hardened. “You don’t have to be rude.” I laughed. “That’s what bothers you right now?” Ryan dragged a hand through his hair. “Zara, calm down.” I looked at him. “Calm down?” “How long?” I asked. “Zara.” “How long?” He looked away. “A few months.” The room changed after that. Nothing moved, but something inside me did. “A few months,” I repeated. Chloe folded her arms over the sheet. “You were barely around anyway. You were too busy with interviews.” I stared at her. Then at Ryan. “You let her say that to me.” “Don’t make this worse than it already is,” he said. I blinked. Worse. He had been sleeping with my best friend for months, and somehow I was still the problem. I bent down, picked up the ruined cake box, and straightened. “You know what,” I said. “You’re right.” Ryan let out a breath. “Thank God.” Then I threw the cake at him. The box hit his chest and burst open. Chocolate and cream covered his face and shirt. Chloe screamed. Ryan cursed. I wanted to feel better. I didn’t. “You’ve lost your mind,” he shouted. “No,” I said. “I found it.” I turned and walked out. He called my name. Chloe said something too. I kept walking. I got in my car and locked the doors. Then I cried. I cried because I was angry. Because I was humiliated. Because I had shown up with cake, ready to build a future with a man who had already destroyed it. When I was done, I wiped my face and looked in the mirror. Mascara under my eyes. Hair a mess. Lipstick gone. I looked awful. I looked awake. My phone vibrated in my purse. Ryan. Then again. Then Chloe. Then Ryan once more. I turned it off and tossed it onto the passenger seat. I drove home with the windows down. By the time I reached my building, I was done crying. Anger was easier. I went upstairs, unlocked my apartment, and stepped inside. The place looked the same as it always did, but I didn’t. I kicked off my heels and looked around. The mug he bought me sat by the sink. The blanket we picked together lay across the couch. The framed pictures on the shelf smiled back at me like a joke. I walked over and grabbed every photo. Then I went to the kitchen, found scissors, and started cutting. His face disappeared first. Then his hand in mine. Then every version of us I had believed in. When I was done, scraps of paper covered the table. Better. Not healed. Better. I went back downstairs, grabbed my phone from the passenger seat, and returned to my apartment. Once inside, I turned it back on. The screen lit up at once. Missed calls from Ryan. Messages from Chloe. More calls from Ryan. One missed call from my sister Mia. I called her back. She answered right away. “Where are you?” “At home.” “What happened?” I sat on the couch and closed my eyes. “He cheated on me with Chloe.” Silence. Then, “That disgusting man.” “And that fake friend.” “I’m coming over.” “No.” “Yes.” “No. I don’t want company.” “You need company.” “I need a shower, a new life, and maybe a lawyer.” That got a laugh out of her. “Fair enough. What do you want?” I looked at the scraps of photographs on the table. “I want tonight gone.” She was quiet for a second. “Then come out with me.” “I’m not in the mood.” “That’s exactly why you should.” “I don’t want to talk about it.” “Then we won’t. We’ll drink something and remind you Ryan Carter is not the last man alive.” Despite everything, I smiled. “I’m not sleeping with anyone.” “I didn’t say that.” “You thought it.” “I absolutely did.” I shook my head. “Mia.” “Zara, listen to me. You start your new job Monday. Your life is moving forward. Don’t spend tonight crying over trash.” She was right. I hated that she was right. If I stayed home, I’d replay tonight until morning. If I went out, maybe I could breathe. “Fine,” I said. “One hour.” “One and a half.” “Mia.” “That’s my final offer.” I sighed. “Fine.” “Wear the black dress.” She hung up before I could answer. The black dress still hung in my closet with the tag on it. I bought it months ago and never wore it because Ryan said it was too much for a normal night out. Tonight seemed like the perfect night for too much. I showered, washed my face, and stood in front of the mirror. Then I looked at myself. Too familiar. Too much like the woman Ryan knew. I opened a drawer and pulled out the dark wig I’d worn to a costume party last year. I put it on. Then I added the large glasses with clear lenses. Different enough. Good. Tonight I didn’t want to be Zara Morgan. Zara Morgan had just been betrayed. Whoever walked out of this apartment next owed nobody anything. When Mia arrived, she looked me over and whistled. “Well,” she said. “Ryan’s about to suffer.” “I’m not doing this for Ryan.” “Of course not. His suffering is just a bonus.” I laughed for the first time that night. We took a cab downtown and entered a bar full of music, lights, and strangers. Mia ordered drinks. I took one and had just enough to feel the burn. “Easy,” she said. “I know.” I looked around the room. Men smiled. I ignored them. Women laughed. Servers moved between tables. For the first time all night, I didn’t feel like crying. Then I saw him. He sat alone in a booth near the back. Dark suit. Dark hair. No smile. He looked like a man who didn’t waste words. Women looked his way when they passed. He never looked back. Mia noticed where my eyes had gone. “No.” I frowned. “What?” “Not him.” “You don’t even know who I’m looking at.” “I know enough.” I looked back. At that exact moment, he lifted his eyes and met mine. He didn’t smile. Didn’t look away. He just held my gaze like he already knew I’d come over. Something warm and reckless moved through me. Mia saw my face. “Zara, don’t.” I set down my glass. “One hour,” I reminded her. “You’ve been here twenty minutes.” “Then I’m ahead.” Before I could think better of it, I walked across the room. His eyes stayed on me the whole way. When I reached the booth, I stopped. Up close, he looked even more dangerous for my peace of mind. “Is this seat taken?” I asked. His gaze moved to the empty space across from him, then back to me. “It is now.” I smiled and slid into the seat. Maybe that was exactly what I needed.