The Wife He Forgot To Love

Ariel's POV Today marks five years of my marriage. Most women celebrate anniversaries with cake, laughter, and photographs. I’m celebrating mine with a countdown. Five years ago, Matthew Garfield didn’t ask me to marry him because he loved me. He married me because his grandfather’s will required it. I wasn’t chosen, just selected. According to his grandfather’s will, Matthew would only gain full control of the Garfield estate and other enterprises after five years of marriage to a "suitable woman." That suitable woman was me. I had a career I loved and a life I had built with my own hands, but my parents forced me into this marriage, and I had no choice. Two years into the marriage, they died in a car accident, leaving me alone with Matthew. It was after their death that I realised that I was forced into this marriage because they had a debt only the Garfields could clear. But the private contract I signed had its own rules. The marriage would remain secret. No children, no public scandals, and no emotional claims. After five years, we would divorce quietly, and I would walk away with a settlement and my freedom. I didn't know what was on Mr. Andrew Garfield's mind. Maybe he thought we would love each other over the course of the years. Well, that was partly true. I began to gain feelings for Matt, but he never did... not for the 1,826 days I had stayed with him. But there were nights he came home late and draped his suit jacket over my shoulders when he thought I was asleep on the couch. Mornings when he made coffee and left a cup outside my door without a word, checked on me when I was sick, and always called to know how I was faring. They were tiny gestures, but enough for a foolish woman like me to hope. Matt never broke the rules; he just bent them. I heard her name in whispers, pop-up texts, late-night calls, and a sweet perfume that was never mine. Two weeks ago, he handed me the divorce papers just before he traveled for his work trip, as casually as if he were passing me a file from work. "We both knew this day would come. I'll be coming back in two weeks, and you shouldn't be here any longer. My accountant will settle you afterward." The divorce papers were currently lying on the bed, and I hadn't even opened them. I brought myself to open them this morning before he'd return, but I couldn't. Snapping me out of my thoughts, I heard the sound of a car engine, and my heart fell into my stomach. He was back, and I rushed to the window, hating myself that I was looking to see if she was with him. Strangely, he killed the engine and stepped out alone, without anyone. My heart leaped with joy. Maybe he had changed his mind. Matt was finally in love with me. Quickly, I shoved my hair back, letting it rest on my shoulders as I ran down the stairs to him. I opened the door just before he knocked and wrapped my arms around him. Matt didn't move; he just stiffened at my touch. "Welcome," I greeted, inhaling his earthy, warm, familiar scent. "Have you signed it?" he said calmly. I pulled away from the hug, and something inside me cracked so quietly I almost didn't hear it. "I... uh." I shook my head, still trying to get myself together. "No," I answered. "Why?" he said softly. "Beatrice would have been back here with me tonight, but I didn't bring her because I wanted to respect you." "Thank you for—" "Just sign the papers, Ariel," he breathed. "Let’s not make this more complicated than it needs to be." "I will..." I muttered. He nodded, then walked past me to get into the house, his shoulders slightly brushing mine. "One more thing..." he said after he'd taken a few steps. "Check the back seat of the car. I got you something." Then he went in. He got me something? A gift? I shut my eyes, grounding myself immediately as I didn't want my heart to hope again. Slowly, I walked to the car, wrapping my arms around myself even though the night wasn't cold. I opened the back door, and right there, lying on the seat, was a velvet box. My hands began to shake as I picked it up, some stupid part of me wondering if this gift meant something. I opened the box, and inside it was a diamond necklace. Not just anyone, but the exact one from my sss wishlist. The one I'd added four months ago on a lonely Tuesday night when Matt was working late again. I never thought anyone would see it, let alone him. "Oh God," I whispered, pulling it out. I put it on right there in the driveway, my fingers fumbling with the clasp. When it finally clicked into place, I let it settle on my neck, and it felt... expensive, beautiful, heavy, cold... not like a gift but more like a chain. I touched the diamonds gently, then walked back inside. My feet found their way up the stairs to his room. He was seated at his desk, typing something on his laptop. My eyes moved from him to the divorce papers on the bed, and with a deep breath, I took a few steps into the room. "Thank you," I cleared my throat, my fingers still feeling the necklace. "For what?" he asked without taking his eyes off the screen. "The necklace," I responded. He finally stopped typing and turned to me, his gaze steady on my throat. For a second or two, something passed across his face. His mouth opened to say a word but then closed as he turned back to his laptop. "You're welcome." He went back to typing. I stood there like an i***t, waiting for more. Waiting for him to say something, anything that would make this hurt less. His phone buzzed on the desk, and with how fast he grabbed it and the smile on his face as he replied to the text, I knew it was her... Beatrice. "I should go sign those papers now," I heard myself say. "Yeah." He nodded, still with a smile on his face. "Thank you." Thank you? Like I was doing him a favor. Like I was his secretary finishing up a project. I picked up the documents from the bed and sat down. I reached for the pen he had placed inside the envelope, but my hands were shaking so badly I almost dropped it. Then Matt's phone began to ring. "Hey, beautiful," he answered. Beautiful. Matt had never called me that. Not once. "I'm wrapping things up now," he said over the phone in a way that made my stomach turn. "Yeah, she will be leaving tomorrow." My eyes fell on the signature line. My hand hovered over it, the tip of my pen touching the paper but not pressing down. "I know, baby. I can't wait either." He laughed quietly. That kind of laugh that comes easily when you're talking to someone you actually love. "Tomorrow we'll celebrate properly." Tomorrow. While I was packing up my entire life, he'd be celebrating. I wrote the first letter of my signature. A. "I love you too," Matt said into the phone. The pen stopped. Either the ink stopped flowing, or I couldn't feel my wrist any longer. I had waited for a long time to hear him say those words... well, I just heard them, but why did it feel like a stab to my heart? My vision blurred, but I managed to keep writing. R. I. E. L. The letters looked shaky and broken, just like me. Five years reduced to five letters. "She's almost done, you have nothing to worry about," Matt said to Beatrice, like I wasn't sitting right there. Like I couldn't hear every word. "You forgot your purse? In the car? Give me thirty minutes, and I'll bring it over," he assured her. When I set the pen down, I let out a deep breath, and something inside me went silent. It was the part of me that had been holding on for all these years. It finally let go.