His Wife (A Contract Marriage Story) by Heer Mangtani

Chapter 54 Three.

That was the number of people- men, more precisely- that Gabriel almost fired for hitting onin the first week ofworking here.

They didn't hit on me. One of them just asked if I wanted to grab drinks after work. I'm almost sure he meant it in a friendly way, and a few of our colleagues would've even joined us had I said yes.

I didn't say yes, because Mike was already smirking and heading towards Gabriel's office. That's a silly bet Mike and Benny made about what Gabriel will do if someone givesany problem here, or worse, hits on me.

Eye roll.

They were finding total amusement in their boss being 'whipped as they called it.

Gabriel didn't fire them. Any of them. He couldn't, because if he did, he opens himself up to being sued for wrongful termination. He was too smart for that.

Instead, he buried them in so much paper work that they wouldn't see the outside of the office for a week at least. Let alone have tto go out for drinks.

That weekend, the rings delivered. All the impulsive shopping at the jeweller's had caught up because there were thirty rings sitting in front of us in our room that Sunday.

Thirty. Diamond. Rings.

I hadn't worn my ring since I removed it, and I had no intention of putting it back on my finger after knowing the little story that backs it "Which one do you like?" He asked as if I'd gotten a lot of choice in picking them in the first place.

"All." I replied as I sat on his bed- ours now, and crossed my feet.

"Choose one, Freckles." "You choose." He got up from the chair he was sitting on, a couple ring boxes in his hand and placed them on the bed in front of me, sitting across. "I narrowed it down to five. Now, pick one." I shake my head again. "You pick," I emphasise on the word you. It's a replacement to my wedding ring and I don't want t choose it myself." His expression softens, and then he begins looking at the different rings. They were all so pretty, it was annoying how long he was taking to select one. Mid way through his selection process, he got more rings from the side table, and was now staring at eight of them.

I hid a smile looking at his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Finally, he picked one up. "This." I tried pecking into the box to see which one he had picked since I had been busy staring at him earlier, but he held it closer to him.

"Show me!" 1/4 "No. Let me." He pulls the ring out of the box, and then asks for my hand. I place mine in his forwarded hand, and he slips in a ring I hadn't seen earlier onto my ring finger.

It had two clear pear shaped diamonds almost touching, and a diamond band surrounding it. It went perfectly with my diamond wedding band.

This ring was a lot simpler than my last one, but for sreason, it felt more mine.

I look up at Gabriel, a little surprised. I haven't seen this one before. We didn't buy this together.

I placed an order for this two weeks ago when you left for your Grandpa's. He words it so carefully, as if I'll crack if he mentions after you found out that ring you wear wearing was Lily's, or before you got kidnapped.

In retrospective. I was glad he worded it that way because talking about the other two, even thinking about it, brought back the hollowness in my chest, which I was recognising was more like an anxiety pang.

I blink. "Then why did you take so long to choose it?" "Because those idiots sent it with all the other rings "So... you didn't remember which ring you chose for me?" What? No! Of course not. Do you think I have the memory of an Alzheimer's patient?" He scowled, trying not to look offended.

Now I was even more confused.

As if reading my expression, he adds, "I just wasn't sure if I should go with that one because it's a lot simpler than the other ones we chose." "Oh." Realisation settles in, and I fight a smile. And also the urge to lean to his side and kiss him. "I think this ring is much morethan the extravagant ones. It's perfect." I smule, “Thank you." His smile mirrors mine and he nods.

“Wait, does that mean I have thirty-one rings now?" "Yup." A naught glint sparks in his eyes. "For the months that have thirty-one days." My mouth hangs a little at the fact that I owned thirty diamond rings. Thirty-one, sorry. Thirty-two, if you count my old wedding ring that was in one of the drawers in a plastic wrap and a note that said, 'It was always yours.

Holy shit.

Just then, something else strikes me. "Wait! Is this all that was delivered? "Yeah" Gabriel leans back on the bed, his eyes focused at me. "Why? Are you unhappy with something? Do you want to go pick snew ones?" "No. No" I hastily reply before he gets any ideas. "..

He c*cks an eyebrow.

I sheepishly finish my sentence, "I had ordered a ring for you too "No I was charged for just these rings My cheeks heat. I don't answer, letting him reach the answer by himself.

"Wait, you paid for it with your money?" I nod.

"Freckles... what?" His lips part, and now he's sitting upright, all his attention on me. Eyes narrowed at me.

"I just wanted to... okay?" "No. Your money is yours." "And yours is yours." "My money is ours. Yours is yours... to save and do whatever you want with it. Not to be used on me." "I wanted to, Gabriel. A huff, a little annoyed. "Your family provided for your ring too at our wedding. At to be honest, I wasn't even in in a place to be able to pay for a good one. I am now So I did. Let me, okay?" "No." He frowns. "And while we're talking about this, I'm just realising that I haven't been notified of any transactions on my Amex card. When was the last tyou swiped it?" I turn sheepish. "When I bought that Hermes bag for your mom!" "You haven't used it in four months?" I shake my head.

"How are you covering your expenses?" "I don't have any expenses," I shrug. "My wardrobe was fully stocked. What do I spend on?" "I don't know. Whatever girls spend on? Hair and body things, I guess?" "I have everything I need." "Freckles.

"Gabriel." I mimicked his firm tone.

"I gave it to you for a reason. Use it. If you don't, I'll open a new bank m account, unt, put money into it and give you a card with your non it." He warns. "Is that supposed to be a punishment?" I grin, "That sounds like a reward." "Okay then. We're doing it.

"I was joking." I giggle. "I'll try to find a reason to use it." "By not donating to any more charities and pampering yourself instead." My eyes widened. "You know about the donations?" muz. "Do we have a deal?" "I know everything. He turns smug "Deal"

"Good," He smiles. Tm going to call the jeweller and ask them tomorrow about the ting you ordered, hm? chere till then so I can see my ring on your finger 1 smile back, scooting closer to him and he holds my hand, kissing my knuckles. He holdsclose, and it's in moments like 3/4 4/4

these, the small ones that are just for us, that my fear of losing him is reflected back in his eyes. It's in Le moments like these that I feel even though we were living in the now and not talking about the contact we had signed, this was real. We were real. X