His Wife (A Contract Marriage Story) by Heer Mangtani

Chapter 64
I didn’t know if he was the culprit for lying, or I was the culprit for letting him.
Gabriel left.
And I left him. I pretended to be okay. I pretended to smile at him, to kiss him goodbye at the door. He called after he” reached,
he called that night, and I pretended to be perfectly okay when he told me he was at home, when all I wondered was if Lily was
lying next to him in our bed.
She called, and he left.
I was more important than his impending work, but not her.
I pretended that didn’t break my heart the way it did,
I signed the papers the lawyer brought me, dodged the calls from my work friends probably asking me why their boss has
returned to work but not me, and then told Gabriel I needed a few days more over here to say goodbye to the last memories of
my Grandfather.
And I did. Now that Alister and Gabriel were gohe, I could go through the things of my grandfather lying around and put them in
his wardrobe. I didn’t have the heart to give them away or donate them just yet, but maybe someday. Maybe.
It was three days since Gabriel left, and he called every day- some times even thrice a day. I picked each one, pretending things
were completely okay between us when I was swimming in a pool of self doubt.
Over thinking became my best friend on the journey back home. That call, her name, it all seemed like a reality check I wasn’t
ready for, especially not after my grandfather died.
I wanted to preserve things the way they were, but I knew I couldn’t. It had been six months since we were married.
Our six months were over.
Gabriel didn’t know I was coming back today because I hadn’t planned to. It was when I realised how much I had been sulking
here and that any answer I get after going home couldn’t be worse than the assumptions I had made that I decided to head
home.

I called Gabriel before leaving, but his phone was switched off.
For the rest of the way, I was hit with a wave of grief for locking my childhood house, the keys feeling heavy in my bag.
When I reached, I assumed Gabriel would be at work.
“You’re back?” Luna asked as soon as she spotted me while I was going to my room, and before I could reply, she flung into my
arms. “I missed you.”
I melted into the hug. “I missed you too.”
She pulled away. The house doesn’t feel the same when you’re not around, Sofia..
1 gave her a small smile, not telling her how this was technically the last day of my marriage. This was the day I had dreaded for
months now. “Has Gabriel been around?”
“Only at nights,” she replied. “He seemed tired.”
He probably was, since he barely got any sleep when he was with me, I couldn’t sleep a lot. Sorrow does that to me. It keeps me
awake with a fright and fear I can’t shake. “Has he...” I hesitated. “Has he got anyone home when I wasn’t around?”
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Luna seemed confused: “Like guests?”
“No.” The discomfort was clear in my tone. “Like girls. Like... Lily
Her eyes widened, and she broke into an expression of panic.
I repeat, “Has she been coming around?”
“No.” Luna shook her head. “Nobody liked her here any way. Good riddance.”
“Are you lying to me Luna?” I asked. I wasn’t a distrustful person but her previous panic made me suspicious. And not to forget, if
Gabriel can lie to me, he can ask his employees to as well.
“No.” She shook her head faster. “Swear on you.”

I sigh. “Okay.”
“Is everything okay?”
I nod. “Just tired. I’m going to head to my room, hm?”
By my room, I meant Gabriel’s. I tried his number again to tell him I’m home, but his phone was still switched off. I didn’t have his
new assistant’s number (since Peter was still on leave), so I dialled Ethan.
Ethan was broody and quiet. The only one in the group who would answer my question without asking a million in return.
He thankfully picked up, but the voice wasn’t his, it was Liv’s. I face palmed almost as soon as I heard her voice. “Hello?”
“Hey Liv? It’s me, Sophia,” I said.
“Guys! Guys! It’s Soph. Soph is calling. Ethan, you ididi, you couldn’t save her number?” Her voice was muffled and there were
so many voices around her. I saw the time and realised it was the lunch break.
“Liv, you there?”
Yes. Yes! Sorry. Mike got excited looking at your call. He tried snatching the phone. I won.” She almost seemed proud. “Any way,
we’ve all been calling you every day. Why’re you ghosting us?”
“Liv, I’ll explain everything later.” I promise, “I need to talk to Gabriel and his phone is switched off. Can you please, please,
please head to his office and make me talk to him?”
There was silence for a few seconds on the other end. “Sophie.. I can’t do that.”
“I know it’s your lunch break Liv, I promise I’ll ask Gabriel to give you ten minutes extra. It’s just really urgent-
She cut me off. “No, you idiot, it’s not that. Of course I would sacrifice my lunch break for you. It’s just that... he isn’t at work.”
“Oh.
She added, “He hasn’t been coming since like.. ten days now. I mean, he did drop in for an hour or so a couple days earlier.
Wait. Her voice turned muffled again. “Guys, when did boss conte? You sure?” It turned loud again. “Like three days ago, Soph.”

The day after he got back from my Grandpa’s place. He really had lied. Every day I asked him how his day was, every day he
talked to me about being at the office and working all day and it was all a lie.
My heart sunk again. Tears I hadn’t cried since the past three days threatened to make their way back and I took a deep breath. I
had cried so much in the past ten days, I couldn’t cry more.
“Yes Yes. You’re right.” Imanaged to say, “T had completely forgotten he isn’t coming to work. Right. Shit. Sorry, Liv. I’ll just call
you back, yeah?”
I disconnected the call, entering my room and falling onto the bed. Gabriel’s scent lingered in the sheets and the blanket we
shared, and it made me want to scream out.
Luna said he had been here every night, but I knew it was a lie because everything in this room was the way I had left it,
including the jacket I had worn the day my grandfather died, one that I switched right before I left and so I threw on the bed. It
was unmoved.
No one had been in this room. Not the cleaners, not Luna and especially not Gabriel. Everything was exactly the same except a
white folder that lied on the table, which I was sure was one of Gabriel’s files. Maybe he had been in this room (because the
housekeepers weren’t allowed inside when we weren’t here), but he had definitely not slept in this bed.
Where had he been sleeping since the past few nights?
Why was he lying to me?
I dialled Zach. Almost when I thought he wouldn’t pick up, he dill. “Hey Sophia”
“Hi Zach, is my husband with you?”
“Nah. I asked that b*stard to meet last night but he’s apparently drowned himself in work since he skipped a week.”
“Is it?” I asked. voice breaking. “Where was he last night?”
“Work. Zach sounded confused. “Why? Is everything okay? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Yes. His phone’s just switched off, so...
No.

it isn’t.”
1 blinked. It isn’t?”
“No, I’m sure it isn’t. I just called him like two minutes ago. He didn’t pick up, but it wasn’t switched off.”
“Oh, perfect. Thanks a lot. Bye. I disconnected before he could ask me anything else, because I knew he would.
Gabriel wasn’t just lying to me, but to everyone including his best friend.
My heart rate picked up when I dialled him again, and this time, the call went through.