Divorce!
Sequel to Mirror Man.
If you haven't read Mirror Man this story will be a little confusing, but I hope you enjoy it anyway 😊.
It is MXM as stated, if this makes you uncomfortable please don't read, if there are any trigger warnings these will be indicated at the beginning of the chapter.
Happy Reading 😀
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"Thank you Harry, for everything, you've been an excellent trophy husband", Fenella laughed as her ample chest heaved with laughter and her bright blue eyes shone, her dark blonde hair pulled into a ponytail jiggling joyfully as she pulled her now EX husband into a hug.
"Fenella, it's been fun my darling, but let's not do it again", Harry laughed hugging the woman tightly.
"Definitely not" the woman laughed, "irreconcilable differences remember", the woman laughed again as Harry grinned widely.
Pulling away checking her watch the woman sighed, "well, I must leave you now, Petal is waiting", she winked slyly as her eyes lit up at the thought of her girlfriend waiting for her back home, "thanks John, Rachel, you've been true friends", she smiled widely again at Harrys business partners, giving one last cheery wave before she left the room.
"Well Harry, how does it feel to be back on the market?", John Chandler, his business partner winked and chuckled as he and his wife Rachel sat themselves down on the small sofa by the wall, as their business partner flopped back into his big leather chair flinging his feet up on the desk and yawning loudly.
Looking over at the man who was running his slim fingers through his thick sandy hair, loosening his tie and smiling softly the couple chuckled at the lanky man stretched out in the huge chair, leaning a tired head on one hand.
Harry sighed heavily as his smile dropped a little, "I don't know really, I was never really off the market the past ten years was I ?!, being as my marriage was a contract I could've found someone, I mean before that I was definitely OFF the market, so I guess yeah I'm....back on, I guess ?!".
He addressed his rhetorical question to his friends who looked at him with sad eyes, their own smiles fading a little, remembering the death of Harrys fiancé many years ago, the death that affected him so badly he'd closed himself off completely, refusing anyone that came near him with more than friendly intentions.
Then the ten year contract marriage had come about, so Harry had definitely been 'off the market' for the last 20 years.
Harry Hunter-Moore had once been very much in love, after struggling with his sexuality for years, never wanting to openly admit that was bisexual he'd dated women, all through uni and into his partnership with the Chandlers.
Until one day he'd chanced upon Alistair at a pub, serving behind the bar, a mature student studying law working bars and tables to pay his way, Harry took him on as an intern, and that shall we say, was that.
Love flourished.
His future, he thought, was made, set in stone, a career he excelled at, Alistair by his side, good friends, and when Alistair passed his bar exams and secured a job it was......perfect.
But perfect couldn't stop the 42 tonne fully loaded articulated lorry from a double blowout, couldn't stop the huge shredded tyre, ripped from its rim, from hurtling across the motorway straight through the windscreen of Alistairs car.
A few years later, aged 46, and not even having so much as looked at anyone, male or female Harry had signed himself up to a contract marriage,
Fenella Parker, long time friend from uni, had approached him, desperate and pleading after her father, notorious dodgy businessman and all round piece of shit, Ket Parker, had destroyed his own business, drinking, gambling and womanising his days away while his wife worked hard to build her own small firm, a bakery that grew from her own kitchen, to the garage, then to a shop, then to a factory.
Her mothers success grating on the ego of her useless estranged husband, he'd lain in wait one night at the office where he'd been watching, waiting for the staff to leave.
When Fenella had found her mother the next morning, in a pool of blood, she'd thought she was dead, but her mother was stronger than that, and after three months recovery she was back behind her desk.
Ket Parker hadn't been content though with just stabbing his wife, he'd also destroyed a good number of ovens and equipment, the damage running into tens of thousands, had almost bought the business to its knees.
So Fenella, struggling as a woman in the business world, against fat cats, reluctant investors, and a useless legal team that couldn't seem to pin anything on her father, even though the evidence was everywhere, had approached her long time friend and top lawyer, Harry.
Harry, furious at the incompetence of the womans lawyers had agreed, not only to open an investigation with their own team at Chandler and Moore, the company he owned along with his partners, but to enter into a contract marriage, boosting Fenella into the business world at the same, if not higher level, than the fat cat chauvinists she was battling against.
She helped him, took on the role of wife, if only in name, keeping his 'friends' off his back, stopping their endless nagging and ridiculous attempts to get him laid, and 'back out there', and he helped her, attached to his arm she was respected, able to gain investment, have her crooked father imprisoned for his crimes, and get the company well and truly back on its feet.
Ridiculous really that she'd needed to come to Harry.
Fenella was the driving force, the business brain, she was shrewd, intelligent and could knock spots off all those ridiculous arrogant men given the chance.
Harry gave her the chance, and his hand in marriage, and the name of Hunter-Moore.
A mutual agreement that suited them both, the fact that they were such great friends meant it wasn't hard pretending to love the woman, he did, but not in that way, and he knew that Fenella felt the same.
Now though, that ten year contract was at an end, and as he signed his marriage away Harry felt no remorse, no sadness, only joy that he'd helped his friend realise her mothers dream and bring justice down upon her now dead father.
Tiredly waving to his business partners as they left his office, Harry sank back in his big leather chair, pulling the gold ring off his finger he twirled it around before opening the desk draw and dropping it in, sliding the draw closed softly.
His gaze resting on the framed photo on his desk, of him, his nephew Danny and husband Mark, grinning widely drinks in hand at Mark and Danny's surprise wedding he smiled as he stretched out a hand and lifted the photo, setting it down in front of him and leaning back on his hand, his mind drifted back to the day years ago when Rachel had burst into his office and announced that she thought she'd found his nephew.
"Harry, Harry", Rachel Chandler burst in through his door, sweeping on through and letting the door swing closed behind her the woman flumped down into a spare chair slapping a thick file down in the centre of his desk.
"We've found him, your nephew, Daniel".
Harry's eyes widened as he grabbed the file, flicking through the pages to the place where the yellow post-it note stuck up above the edge.
"The Cross and Taylor case", the woman chirped, "Daniel Cross, Dylan's husband, you know, the one Mark is in love with, I'm convinced he's your nephew".
It was standard practice to investigate everyone in high profile cases and this case was no exception, Daniel Taylor had been sold into a marriage by his parents, to one of their corrupt business associates after they'd frittered almost every penny they had away on the high life, resulting in the near collapse of their own business, they'd sold off their adopted son to save their necks.
A stupid family feud long ago had separated Harry and his younger brother Daniel, a ridiculous disagreement that saw Daniel enter the army and Harry stay at the family business.
Daniel had been killed in action, leaving behind a pregnant wife, who had borne the child then passed away of cancer six months later, but not before having the child adopted out without telling Daniels family where he'd gone.
Harry and his parents had tried hard to track down the boy, also Daniel, named after his father, but had drawn a blank, all trace of him having seemingly vanished.
The death of his parents had thrown Harry into the driving seat of the family law firm and Daniel had sadly been long forgotten as Harry struggled to keep afloat, finally teaming up with Rachel and John Chandler, forming a truly formidable team.
Their son Mark had joined the firm as an investigator and had been assigned to a nasty case a few years later, money laundering, fraud, people trafficking, and worse, and while there had seen, and fallen in love with Daniel, the trophy husband of the object of their investigation, Dylan Cross.
Daniel Taylor, sold off to save his parents from bankruptcy, a sad, lonely, empty young man had caught Marks eye straight away, but his hands were tied, if he'd approached Danny his cover would've been blown, so he'd bided his time, determined to get Danny away from there as soon as the case blew wide open.
"He's disappeared though", Rachel looked away as Harry looked up at her, his eyes wide, "disappeared?, what do you mean he's disappeared?, the incredulity in his voice making it higher than usual.
"Dylan, he...um.....he's been having an affair with the Taylors daughter, and Daniel, he......walked out, no one can find him", Rachel slumped back in her chair, "Mark's taken up the search but he seems to have just vanished", Rachel sighed.
And that it had seemed, was that.
Mark had finally tracked Danny down 4 years later, and, determined to see him had set off one evening, only to be callously ploughed into by a drunk driver right outside Dannys flat, a driver hired......by Dylan Cross.
Leaving his bed and running to Marks aid Danny had finally resurfaced after almost 4 years, and saved Marks life.
His friends son had almost died that day, but Danny had saved him, not knowing who he was, and so the rocky love story of Mark and Danny had begun.
After four long years Dylan Cross had been ruined along with the Taylors, and all legal avenues had opened, allowing the Chandlers to finally access the birth records that proved that Daniel Michael Taylor, was in fact Daniel Michael Hunter-Moore.
"Four years Harry and we finally have it", Rachel beamed widely in triumph, "we've finally got the adoption file, and the DNA is back, Danny is your nephew".
Attending Danny and Marks wedding had been emotional for Harry, Danny was so much like his brother and it made him regret that ridiculous argument and the last stilted conversation between them, but he'd smiled because he had Danny, his nephew, his only family, back where he belonged.
Pulling out of his reverie Harry sighed, pushing the photo frame back into place and sitting back in his chair.
Danny and Mark were the perfect pair, the love between his nephew and husband that was so strong despite all they'd been through together, warmed Harrys heart and he yearned to have that for himself again.
He was a free man now, free to live and love and 'get back out there' as his friends would say.
But did he want to?, could he really actually love again?, had he forgotten how to love, having stayed firmly out of circulation for almost 20 years?.
He missed a warm body beside him, even if it was only Fenella on the odd occasion she'd stayed over after movie night, for no other reason than she couldn't be bothered to drive home.
They'd lain together, cuddled up and slept, but that was it, he'd never wanted to do anything, neither had she, but the comfort had been nice.
Was 56 too late to start again?, could he really find love at his age?, would he even know what to do if someone took an interest after all this time?, how would he even begin to get himself 'back out there'?.
With a deep sigh and a yawn Harry hauled himself out of his chair, wincing at the pain in his back where he'd been sat at an angle, cursing at the ache he grabbed his coat from the hook on the wall, left the office and headed for the lift.
