DANIELLE'S POV

I glanced at my phone, which hadn't stopped buzzing with messages and calls that I had intentionally been ignoring. I let out a sigh and picked it up, going through the messages that had come in.

Shoot, I checked my wristwatch and checked the time, seeing I had about twenty minutes left of my lunch hour, but I didn't let that derail me. I knew Lucas very well, and since he had promised to come to my office if I didn't show up at the café, something I couldn't let happen, I needed to meet him as soon as possible.

Still bent over my bag, the boss' office opened, and I watched as he walked towards me. I put my phone into my bag and stood upright.

"Are you going to have lunch? Let's have lunch together." He said, and I looked regretfully at my phone that had started buzzing with another message.

He studied me, as if just seeing I didn't look like I was headed to the cafeteria. "Where are you going?" He asked, his voice mildly curious.

"I have a lunch appointment I must make." I informed him, feeling the pressure of every second I spent talking to him.

"Looks like it's important. We can meet tomorrow or something." He said, making me feel guilty. It was obviously the wise decision to take, as I knew the cafeteria would be buzzing with gossip and people staining my reputation. One of the reasons I'd intentionally closed my mind off to eating lunch until I'd checked my phone.

"I'm sorry." I apologized and silenced my phone as it began ringing again. I was so going to kill Lucas. I just needed to make it to him in time, plus I wasn't really anticipating our meeting.

"It's fine. What of dinner? We have some plans we need to re-discuss since the news has already spread."

I nodded. "That will work." I wanted to ask about Julia. After her hissy fit before she'd left, I hadn't been able to ignore her, and I had a feeling she wasn't going to let me just go like that. Maybe I should have been the one to ask about past partners from him before I'd agreed to the marriage, but I didn't forget everything was going according to plan. Well, not exactly everything, I thought as my phone began buzzing again. Lucas was supposed to have accepted my decision with meekness, for crying out loud.

"You can go. Sorry for the delay." Jonathan said, and with a grateful nod, I left him standing there, my mind going to the way I could escape the company without any employee seeing me. This wasn't really a good time to explain to them. Something I knew they would want to get.

************************************************************

The elevator dinged for the ground floor, and with one deep breath, I stepped out, seeing immediately that my wish/prayer hadn't been answered. It was like I had been anticipated to arrive at that very time, with the fact that nearly everyone was there, and all eyes turned to me the moment I stepped out of the elevator.

"Please don't come to me." I whispered, increasing my footsteps, but I had to stop as two employees I hadn't seen before stepped in my way.

"What's the rush? It looks like you're running away from something when you behave like this." The man said, and I didn't miss the other employees nodding their agreement.

"I have an appointment I'm already late for." I said and tried escaping, but the woman stepped closer to me, making me take a step back. What happened to privacy, really?

"Is it true?" She asked, eyes lit up in curiosity, and I stepped back again as the remaining employees there moved around me, so I was in the middle of about thirty employees. What nonsense did people say about men not being gossips, again because about half of them were men and looked as curious as the women?

I tried feigning ignorance. "What?" and realized that was the wrong step as the fake smile donning their faces dropped. The woman, the ringleader, moved closer to me.

"You know what exactly I'm talking about." She sneered. "I've worked in this company for the last three years and never has the boss given any woman any second glance, regardless of all our advances. Maybe except Julia." She finished as an afterthought. "So, tell me, what's your secret?"

I shook my head. "Nothing." My phone buzzed again, and I felt my eyes widen. 'You're not responding; I'll soon be in front of your company. Did that jerk stop you from coming outside?' The text said.

I looked at the faces of the people around me; more than half of them, including the women, looked over twenty years older than Jonathan. It was a wonder what they thought they could use to seduce him. Their ages? But of course, since I wasn't suicidal, I didn't say any of that out.

I put on my best charming expression. "We met since college, and we've liked each other since then. When I applied for the position of his secretary, I didn't know he was the owner, since I had transferred in my freshman year and we met then. Old sparks were reignited, and now we're getting married." I explained the fake plan we'd come up with. Since we were in the same age group, it had seemed better than trying to convince people we had fallen in love in mere months.

The woman's jaw dropped, and she grabbed my hands. "That's so cute."

I batted my eyelash, trying for innocence, and made my eyes water. At this rate, I ought to be awarded for best actress. "I know. I didn't expect to meet him again. We were both each other's first love, and it's just fate and destiny that brought us together again."

The woman nodded. "I knew it. That was why, even with so many more gorgeous and better dressed women at the interview, he had picked you. My instinct never fails me." She winked at me, and I smiled back, knowing that hadn't in any way been meant as a compliment, but I couldn't focus on that right now.

The woman and the other employees, obviously uninterested since they hadn't gotten what they had wanted from me, my humiliation, I could guess, soon dispersed, and I checked my phone again. Since the last text Lucas had sent, he hadn't tried to reach me again. That was a recipe for disaster.

I dialed his number and rushed towards the entrance and stopped in my tracks.

"Danielle." I heard his voice both from my phone and physically as he was about ten feet away from me. In front of my company, where it had just been announced I was getting married to my boss. I headed towards him, and he grabbed my hands, worried.

"What's the rush? Why wasn't I able to reach you?"

JONATHAN'S POV

I dropped my phone, determined to ignore it again, but before it hit the desk, a preview of the text flashed across the screen. I closed it and focused on the coffee I was brewing when the phone started ringing. I knew who was calling, so I ignored it, picked my cup of coffee, and went towards the window that looked towards the entrance of the company.

I focused on the scene that was playing in front of me. Was that Danielle? And who was that man with her? Was he the emergency appointment she'd had? My eyes narrowed as he grabbed her hands, and I took a sip of my coffee when she detached it. From where I was standing, it looked like they were having an argument, with the man having the upper hand. 

I grabbed my phone, belatedly realizing I had moved closer to the window because I'd seen Julia's message hinting that an emergency needed my attention and I laughed humourlessly, I guess I was more curious than I thought. I gripped my cup of coffee tighter, considering going down. If they wanted to argue, did they have to do it in front of the company? The most important element in the arrangement I was entering with Danielle was making our parents have no doubt in us, and I could imagine all the rumours that could possibly flit to my parents with my 'future girlfriend' having what looked like a flirtatious quarrel rather than an argument with another man, right in front of my company.

I looked closely at what was happening. The man was now pulling away from Danielle, who was talking calmly, but judging from what I could see of his expression, she might well have been yelling. The anger I was feeling lessened, and my lips pulled into a smile as I continued watching the scene. I opened my text and saw the last text Julia had left. I studied the picture Julia had sent me, trying to place where I had seen that face before. He looked oddly familiar. 

"You don't want anybody else misinterpreting what is yours." I looked at the text and opened the text box near Danielle's name and sent her a text, knowing the exact moment she saw the text as she looked up at the window I was staring from. "I need you back at the office in the next ten minutes." As annoying as it seemed, especially since it had come from Julia, the drama that was playing was an easily misinterpretable scene that would totally ruin our contractual arrangement.

DANIELLE'S POV

I checked my text and looked up at the window my boss' office was located. "What did he need me for?" I turned to Lucas, who was still looking furious. Well, he wasn't the only one that could feel that way. I also leveled up my glare at him.

"I need to go. My boss needs me."

He scoffed. "The same one you're planning to marry? Don't you think this is his way of already trying to control you? It's just past your lunch hour. I would think he would be able to give you ten extra minutes."

I shook my head. "Let's not start this again, and I asked that we go somewhere we could sit, but you refused." I looked at my wristwatch. "I really have to go. I'll call you later or something." Without waiting for him to agree or reject it, I left him standing there and walked hurriedly into the company. Thankfully, it was still as I'd left it and there was nobody there since the lunch break was over.

I'd known Lucas would have overreacted, of course, but I hadn't expected him to overreact the way he had. I didn't need an older brother fighting my battles for me, and it was the fact that he was treating me like an invalid who didn't have the wisdom to make her own decision that really got to me. Plus the insults he never really managed to leave behind.

I came down out of the elevator and rushed immediately to my boss' office, the result being my breathing a little bit fast as I knocked on his door. I really needed to stop staying at home and start working out. I was in a really terrible shape.

"Come in." He called, and I entered.

"You called for me, sir." I said, entering his office, and went to stand in front of him.

I jumped and gasped when he hit a file on the table, but his face wasn't showing anything.

"Danielle." He called, and I jumped again. This was the first time he had ever called my name, but why did it feel like he was furious with me? He hadn't, right? There was no way he could have seen me with Lucas.

"Yes Sir." I whispered.

He took out his phone and showed me a picture, and my mind went blank. Obviously he had seen me, and that was why he had cut our meeting short.

"It's not what it looks like, sir." 

"What exactly does it look like? Look at the picture and let me know." He replied calmly, and I fought for words because he was correct. It looked very wrong. The picture had been taken right in the middle of our argument, and Lucas had been holding my hand. I remembered it was when he had brought up the fact that he still hadn't been able to get over his sister's death, and me getting married to a man he didn't know was basically the same thing his sister had done that had gotten her killed. I know. What was Jonathan so angry for, though? Wasn't it a contractual relationship?

"I remember asking you before, but I'll ask you again. Is there any old flame or somebody that will be a risk to our arrangement? I'm a very proud man, and everybody knows I don't share, so it will make no sense for me to marry a woman that has another man pinning for her." All these were said in a very calm and collected voice, but that somehow made it even more scary for me. I could still hear the edge of anger in his calm voice, and his pride kind of made his reactions make sense.

A knock sounded on his door before I could respond, making me jump, but before I could get my bearing, a woman came into the office. The woman was dressed impeccably in a blue suit and pantsuit and looked to be about sixty, but that took nothing from her beauty.

"Oh, sorry. Did I interrupt something?" She stopped when she noticed my presence.

JONATHAN'S POV

I turned to the familiar voice and stood up, a pleased smile crossing my face. I started towards her but remembered my secretary.

"We'll talk about this later. Be available for dinner today. I'll pick you up." I told Danielle.

"There's no need. I'll come and meet you there."

I narrowed my eyes. "We're getting married in a month tops. I'll come and pick you up." I remarked to her protest."

She crossed her arms, not the only sign she didn't appreciate my high-handedness. Her tense figure could snap with how stiff she had become. "But you don't know where I stay." She protested again and I smiled.

"This isn't the nineteenth century. Your address is on the application you filled. I'll call you when I'm done." I dismissed her and with a huff, she left the office, greeting the woman I'd thought I wouldn't be able to see again.

A smile lifted her face and she started towards me. "My boy." She said and hugged me tightly.

"Mrs. Brighton." I hugged her just as tight.

She pulled back and frowned at me, a playful glint in her eyes. "Lorraine. Not Mrs. Brighton."

I laughed as she pulled me in a hug again. "Alright ma'am."

She pulled back and surveyed my face. "It's been a while. How have you been?" She caressed my cheek in a motherly gesture, something she had done since we had met about five years ago. "I never thought I would see your handsome face again."

I laughed and led her towards the couch. "Me too. It's good to see you again. How did you find me?"

She crossed her eyes, "Don't mind me. I just came with no prior invitation."

"And it's good that you did. It's wonderful to see you again."

She smiled and blinked fast, a sign she was trying to hide her watering eyes. "Me too. After you two graduated, I knew you would make your impact, but you even surprised me with this." She said, looking round the office. I followed her eyes, seeing what she was seeing. The expanse of the office, the presence of the obviously expensive table, couch, things I couldn't really dream of when I was in college.

"I know right." I commented, and her eyes rested on me.

"Are you alright? I heard the news. You two were so close." Her eyes started watering again, and I dragged a tissue to her, which she used to blow her nose. "Sorry." She apologized and I shook my head.

"I'm fine. It's been years now."

She studied me silently. "Did I tell you this? The first time, you boys came to see me regarding your assignment and wanting to take extra curriculums so you could finish earlier. I was very nervous, I could barely keep my train of thought."

I thought back to those days at college. While I'd been a very studious student, knowing what I wanted in life, Ethan and I knew education wasn't really our end goal. This company had been our goal right from high school, but his parents hadn't supported the idea of both of us venturing into business with our little to no experience so we'd agreed to take business courses and try our best to finish early as they weren't also in support of us doing business while we were still at school.

"All the professors then were always whispering about how good both of you were, but the fact that you weren't interested in talking with anybody, and you only kept Ethan close, made you a force that couldn't be reckoned with, kind of."

I nodded, agreeing with her. I hated company for the most part and college wasn't exactly a place people could thrive on their own, but being in the school we were had taught us we had only each other to rely on. It was more like a world of competition where people didn't mind eating other people to keep their place at the top.

"I didn't think you were nervous. You looked so collected even as we told you our ridiculous requests." 

She laughed. "That was only an external front, and that was because I also had Margaret to contend with. Young adults are terrifying when they set their minds on something, especially something the university doesn't agree with or support." She mock shuddered, and I smiled, remembering her daughter. Margaret was one of the few people I could say I was scared of as well. She had a way of seeing through people and making people do what she wanted, not at all in a manipulative manner. I just didn't know how she did it.

"How is she doing now?" I asked. When I had graduated, she had still been studying law. But that was after changing her major from journalism and initially from economics. Like I said, things always went the way she wanted, regardless of how illogical.

"Oh, she's fine. She now owns a bookshop where she manages a café and a children's park near it. This could be what she'll do, as she has stuck with it for almost a year now, or she might discover something else she wants to do. You never can tell with her, but one thing that has stuck is her love for you. She wants to know what your plan is."

I shook my head. "I rejected it." She had made a deal when I had graduated that if I wasn't married at twenty-five, she would have no choice but to marry me, and while marriage to her wouldn't necessarily be a terrible thing, I felt nothing for her and didn't consider it right to do that to her. I respected her and her mother way too much for that."

She sighed. "Well, I'll have to let her know. You should thank me, though; she almost insisted on coming with me." She mock shuddered again, making me laugh. Your company would have been on fire now.

I nodded, and we fell into a comfortable silence.

I stood up and offered my arm. "Let me show you around the company." Mrs. Brighton, my best and most knowledgeable professor, was one of the main people that had impacted both my life and Ethan's, and to a large extent, we owed the success of the company to her. She had been one of the few people that had believed in us and backed us up when we had almost gotten in trouble with the school before she had gone abroad for a sabbatical leave, a few months before we had graduated.

"It would have been nice if Ethan had been here as well." She whispered and rubbed her eyes. "I'm so sorry I keep on bringing him up. It's just..." She sniffed. "... I think he would have really felt at home here. This was a big dream for both of you."

I nodded. "Yeah. He would have."

She looked at me. "I heard the news at the last reunion we had. It's such a pity, what happened. He was such a bright boy and full of joy. Always lighting up every room he walked into."

Unlike me, I didn't say that out. Which was why it made absolutely no sense. How would a bright boy like that choose and decide to take his own life? Right at the pinnacle of the success of his company. The day before the company's one-year anniversary, a day we'd planned and prepared for months. I wasn't believing that nonsense, and I was determined to find out the truth.

She hugged me, and I hugged her tightly, trying to take her comfort. "But it's okay. I just came to see for myself that you really were doing well. It's been years, and I've been wondering."

I released her. "Thank you so much. It's so good to see you again. Hopefully, in a few years, I'll be able to see you at Margaret's wedding. Unfortunately, not as the groom." She winked, and I laughed.

"Unfortunately not. I'm getting married. Very soon."

Her jaws dropped. "What? That's great news. I thought you were never going to."

I nodded. "That's what I used to say, but I recently reconnected with an old flame in college, and we decided not to waste any time again. I'll invite you to the wedding, if we have one." I felt bad about lying to her, but the goal of the wedding was to make everyone believe the news. I couldn't leave any stone unturned, including my former course mates.

She started clapping. "Wow. That's great news. Make sure you invite me to the wedding; I would love to see the woman that captured your heart that was so closed to my Margaret."

DANIELLE'S POV

I opened the door to my childhood room, breathing in the smell of dirt and dust. It had been a while since I had come home, and, as per my mother's normal behavior, she hardly entered my room. It was a wonder she had been able to live in the house where my father had been murdered. I couldn't do it again even if I was threatened to. I looked at the bed, the place that had always been plagued with nightmares since that very night, each one worse and more graphic than the last, all involving my father being murdered while I hid and watched like a coward.

I turned at the sound of footsteps and fell into my mother's arms. "Mum."