The Announcement
THE HIRED WIFE
Chapter 1
The Announcement
Skaggs Matt watched his wife hurry to pack her bulky travel case. Shaking his head in disdain, he asked, “Maria, does it have to end like this?”
Maria continued packing without lifting her head. “Yes, Matt. I am afraid this is the only way. I don’t want to be your wife anymore. We are done.”
“Does a diamond necklace matter to you so much that you would end a marriage over it? You can have it anytime. It is not a big deal. You are acting like a stubborn child.”
“Yes, it matters. At least to me.” This time Maria looked up and shut the lid with a hard snap. “I married you knowing you are a billionaire. But I would not have married you if I had known you were a billionaire on a leash.”
“No one controls me, Maria. It has been two months since we married. I have given you everything a husband can give his wife.”
“Say it if you must. I am addicted to a luxurious life, and I can’t stay in a place that won’t allow it. Your fussy old accountant even wants a receipt for a lace lingerie set. I just can’t believe you let him control your money.”
“He doesn’t control it. He acts on instructions from my grandfather.” Matt’s voice rose. “Don’t you think you have bought too many things in two months? Expensive clothes. Luxurious jewelry.”
“Yes, I am a young woman with ambitions. I don’t have to convince you, your grandfather, or your accountant before I buy anything I wish. It’s no use arguing now. As we agreed, you hand over the money if this marriage fails. It has.” Maria faced him with her hands on her hips.
Matt let out a long sigh and walked to his desk. He took out his checkbook, wrote an amount, and handed it to her without a word.
“I will send the divorce papers. Sign them without fail.” He looked into her eyes. She was quick to look away.
Maria took the check and studied it for a long moment before slipping it into her handbag. Then, casting a pitiful glance at Matt, she left without another word.
Matt walked to the window and stared outside. The sky was clear. His life was not.
Maria was his fourth wife. Like the three before her, she had married him for his money, not for love. All four had started shopping heavily by the end of the first week.
Matt stayed at the window a while longer. Then he turned away and walked down the hall to his grandfather’s door.
“It’s time I talk to Grandpa,” he said aloud, more to steady himself than anything else.
* * *
His grandfather, Henry, lay on his back with his eyes closed. An open book rested on his chest, and his old spectacles were hooked behind his ears. Matt watched him for a long second, deciding to let the old man rest. Carefully, he folded the page to mark it, closed the book, and removed the spectacles, setting them gently on the table nearby. Satisfied, he turned to leave as quietly as he had come.
“Tell me, Matt. What is bothering you?”
Matt stopped and turned back. His grandfather’s eyes were still closed.
He walked over and sat on the wooden chair beside the bed. “Grandpa, I need to tell you something.”
“Maria left with the money, didn’t she?” Henry said. “Well, I expected it to happen sooner rather than later. She never deserved you.”
“Grandpa, I am tired of all of this.”
“I understand, Matt. Things will change. For good. Just keep hope. You will find the right one.” The old man’s voice was steady and certain.
“The right one. If there even is one.”
Henry opened his eyes and looked at Matt, a faint smile crossing his face. “I am sure there is one, and I know you are going to find her.”
Matt helped him sit up, adding extra pillows behind his back. Then he poured green tea from the flask into a china cup. He sat at the edge of the bed and helped his grandfather drink it slowly, patiently.
“Ah, it feels so good, drinking tea from your hands, Matt,” Henry murmured.
“Grandpa, are you not upset? About Maria?”
“No. I have seen enough surprises in life. Nothing surprises me anymore, good or bad.”
“I understand that, Grandpa. But the truth is, I am tired of getting married and divorced, again and again. Maybe I should just stay single.”
“You are the heir to a fortune most men only dream of, and you are talking like a man who has already lost. I have an intuition. I see someone out there. The right one. It is your job to find her.”
Matt helped him finish the last sip of tea and set the cup down carefully.
“I will see what I can do, Grandpa. This will be the last time I try.”
“Yes, Matt. Next time you sit in this room, I want her name. Now, let me rest.”
Matt nodded and walked to the door, his grandfather’s words settling somewhere deep inside him.
* * *
Back in his office, Matt sat at his desk for a long while before something shifted in his expression. He picked up his phone and dialed the newspaper editor, a man he knew well.
“I want an unusual announcement printed. Tomorrow’s edition,” he said. “I will mail you the draft within the hour.”
The editor asked what it should say.
“A billionaire is looking to hire a wife. For one year only.” Matt paused, choosing his words carefully. “Make it clear the pay will be modest, and that no emotions are involved in this arrangement. Interested candidates should visit my office before ten on the night it runs.”
“You understand you may get no response,” the editor said.
“I understand. Print it anyway.”
He set the phone down and said aloud, “That should clear the weeds out.”
The next morning, the notice ran exactly as he had written it. It sat tucked between obituaries and stock listings, easy to miss unless someone was looking for it.
A man of considerable means seeks a wife. For one year only. This is not a proposal built on romance. The pay is modest. There is no access to his fortune, no public role, no promises beyond what is spoken directly to her and kept. She should understand this before she comes. He is not looking for a woman who wants to be his wife. He is looking for one who can be, when there is nothing easy about it. Visit before ten tonight, if you understand.
* * *
Across the city, Sana Williams stood outside her office building, a cardboard box of belongings pressed against her hip, rain soaking through her collar. She had worked there eleven months. It ended in less than eleven minutes.
Her manager’s words still rang in her ears. “You’re too rigid, Sana. Clients want warmth, not a woman who flinches when they touch her hand.”
She hadn’t flinched. She had simply said no.
A taxi pulled up at the curb, its wipers fighting a losing battle against the downpour. Sana climbed in, grateful for the dry seat, and gave the driver her address.
As the taxi pulled away, she noticed a newspaper left behind on the seat beside her, damp at the edges, folded open to the classifieds. She picked it up without much thought, more out of habit than interest, and let her eyes drift down the page.
One notice, small and tucked near the bottom corner, caught her attention.
A man of considerable means seeks a wife. For one year only.
Sana’s hand tightened around the paper. She read it again, slower this time, her heart doing something strange and unfamiliar.
He is not looking for a woman who wants to be his wife. He is looking for one who can be, when there is nothing easy about it.
She glanced at her watch. Quarter past eight. The notice said before ten tonight.
Her mother’s hospital bill sat unopened in her bag. The landlord had already asked twice about next week’s rent.
Sana looked down at the address printed beneath the notice, then out at the rain streaking the window, then back at the address again.
She had less than two hours to decide.
