Too Late For Regrets [Extra #1]

Part 6

"Married? To whom? Why?" one of the chiefs asked incredulously, staring at me with wide eyes. There are no words to describe the shock that crossed the guys' faces at the news.

I would've found it funny had it not been for how crazy that whole marriage was.

I knew I shouldn't hide the truth from the chiefs, so I told them my husband's name and explained that our marriage was purely contractual. I also told them that I didn't want it to go public, so I asked them to stay quiet about it.

Their reactions were... unexpected, to say the least. The one who was the most stunned was actually my secretary.

"Oh shit, that's not good..." he grumbled under his breath then left the room for a moment only to come back with a folder. "It seems that your... husband... wants to do business with us," he said as he placed the folder before me. I quickly skimmed through the documents inside then sighed heavily. My husband's company wanted to work with us on building a new luxury apartment complex. The contract was worth over three hundred million dollars, so it would be difficult to refuse. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I could either negotiate the deal and reveal that I'm the boss here or give up the deal.

"What will you do, boss? If you agree to sign the contract, you might have to meet that guy at some point... and he'll find out about you," my secretary worried.

Needlessly. I already had an idea. "Then I'll need someone to be my proxy," I told him. "I can't possibly sign this with my name, can I?"

"I wanted to ask about this, actually. Why can't you just tell your husband who you are?" one of the chiefs asked curiously.

"I don't mix my work with my private life. The marriage will only last for two years, but I don't want that man to think he can reap benefits of our marriage. Besides, he's a public figure, so if it came out that I am his wife, it could be detrimental to our work."

"True, it would bring unnecessary attention to us," he agreed solemnly. "But him being your husband... doesn't it make him our boss as well?"

"No, it doesn't. It's not like he's my real husband or anything," I shrugged. The chiefs and I always talked about what it would be like if I ever got married. We used to say joke that my husband would actually become the boss and lead the group by my side. That was no longer possible, though.

I would not even allow my husband to find out what I do in secret; much less let him take part in it.

He would not become a part of my life. I was absolutely adamant about it.

The meeting with the chiefs ended quickly. We didn't have a lot to discuss, except for the most important issues, like my marriage, or the problem at our job in a different state. Thankfully, I could trust the men to take care of it without me, so I simply sent them on their way and asked for regular reports in case something unexpected happened.

Since my husband made it clear he had something to talk about with me, I decided to get off work early. However, I couldn't possibly show up at my "new home" in a limo with a private driver, so I changed out of the ridiculous clothes I had on and put on my riding gear then headed to the underground garage and took my bike. I liked riding, so I had a variety of motorcycles to choose from.

It took me roughly an hour to reach the huge villa my husband lived in, mostly because of how far it was from downtown, where my office was, so together with the time I spent with the chiefs, I made my husband wait for me for nearly three hours already. Thanks to the fact that I turned my phone off after our ever-so-pleasant altercation earlier, I was sure he was going to be mad.

I wasn't disappointed.

As soon as I showed up by the front gate, the security nearly ambushed me and asked for identification. I only told them my husband's name, since I didn't really want to admit I was his wife now, but apparently that wasn't enough to let me in. So I told them to call my husband and ask him. To be honest, the reason I didn't tell the security my name was because I wasn't sure they knew I got married to their boss instead of my sister. We no longer had the same last name, so there was no guarantee they'd recognize me.