My Mystery Mate is My Boss

Chapter 1: Married Man

Richard’s POV

The company building for Dazzling and Flawless was flawless, just like its name. Standing inside my office, our strict standards and regulations reached even here, but they also showed why DF was the world’s leading cosmetic company.

Steel beams and big glass windows left the building standing out amongst the older architecture.

The interior was much the same, all clean lines and sleek features.

My office was designed to be private. Everything was carefully set in its place, including the art on the walls of our newest launched products and horizon views of our building amongst the rest of Manhattan.

The fine oak floors and expensive leather chairs made the room a bit imposing but much neater and cleaner than carpet.

“—with the launch of the Cloud Foundation, the company’s sales are projected to increase by at least twelve percent compared to the last project, the Rose x Mary moisturizing hair oil. DF Cosmetics will have beaten out the other companies by a whopping 21%.”

“Yes, we’re doing quite well.” I agreed, turning to look at my Beta, who straightened as soon as my eyes were on him. “How’s the progress on finding me a new assistant?”

“Not good. You’ve gone through twelve, so I’m not surprised we’re running out of them.”

 Alan, my second in command, my beta, and possibly the only reason I was able to run the company and the pack.

“Then hire another.”

“What was wrong with the last secretary? ”

 “It was the use of an exclamation point in official documents. Wholly unprofessional, and it killed the last of my patience.”

“Damn. No mercy—though, I suppose 70% of your decision was never in her favor.” Alan mused.

“She had the same onboarding training as everyone else and was warned about the strict requirements of the position,” I scoffed.

“Still, plant or not, man, that was the last person we had that could fill the position of your assistant for the company. I get that you expect professionalism, but the OCD for perfectionism in running the company is going to hurt you soon. You have to at least tone it down. You can’t keep on doing all the work yourself.”

My hatred for touch and the uncleanliness of it all, my lack of patience, and, of course, my demands for competence among everyone who worked under me, from the pack to the company workers—things that I knew shouldn’t wholly define how I operated but still had a hold on me.

“Richard, it’s Valentine’s Day—do you even remember that you’re married? You have a wife, and I know damn well you haven’t seen her in over a year. By the Moon Goddess, do you even call?” Alan demanded.

Last year was…certainly a time. Our pack, the Blood Moon Pack, had been at war with another pack, and the elders wanted a political marriage between the two packs to quell the fights.

They were going to force me into a marriage with a stranger, and just the thought of them trying to control me in such a way made both me and my wolf snarl. I didn’t need a political alliance to sway things in my favor, and I wasn’t just going to let the elders do as they wanted in MY pack.

To prevent that, I defied the elders and got married to a random woman who fit my requirements and wouldn’t get in the way of the business or the pack.

A simple contract marriage in exchange for money. It was easy, and came with the benefit of not being organized by the elders.

Straight after my lawyer had finished signing the contracts on my behalf, I flew off to deal with the other pack and straighten out our political issues to end the war. No ‘marriage’ necessary.

Even after a year, the war over and packs recovering, the elders were still bitter about my reaction, and I hadn’t seen my wife once or called.

He wasn’t wrong, and I had no real reason to miss another holiday now that things had FINALLY calmed down and the pack was in a stable position.

This woman was supposed to be my Luna, and I wholly failed to be a good Alpha to her.

“I should…probably bring her a gift…”

“Yes, that would be a good start,” Alan deadpanned.

“…What…exactly would be a good gift?” I asked awkwardly. “For a woman, I mean.”

“…Well, my hopeless friend,” Alan snorted. “You’re lucky your beta and best-est friend in the world can help you with that.”

“Look, you’re all set up for a BIG apology gift. Remember the auction you went to last month?”

“Unfortunately.” I grimaced at the remembrance of the hot, stuffy room.

“Forget that part—” Alan waved away, knowing exactly what I was remembering. “I’m talking about the priceless 200 million blue diamond necklace, you know, the kind that women would go gaga over?”

“Alan, you might be onto something.”

“Give her something like this, and at the very least, you’ll have your foot in the door for forgiveness.”

“It’s a start,” I agreed.

A few hours later, thanks to Alan’s help, I was standing outside of her apartment. The necklace was in my pocket in a velvet box.

I reached for my phone, only to remember that I didn’t have her phone number—I hadn’t saved it during the wedding signing. The remorse of my callous action hit me hard.

It was—just a setback. This would just be a surprise meeting and reconnection—people like surprises, right? After she let me in, I could present her the necklace, we could talk, and then work on repairing our relationship—marriage.

As I made my way up to her apartment, I carefully scrolled through my chat history with the pack lawyer until I found her number and a PDF of our marriage license.

It didn’t take long for the call to go through.

“Hello?” It had to be my mate’s voice.

“Yes, hello, this is Richard,” I said, getting a hum.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know any Richard’s,” my mate said apologetically, and I froze. I knew it had been some time, but to completely forget who she was married to?

“Richard, your husband.” I clarified.

On the other end of the phone, I could hear the faint echoes of moaning.

“Baby, I want more…” the voice of another man said. Ah, that was why she didn’t remember her husband's name.

“I’m sorry—I couldn’t hear you. Can you repeat where we might have—” Before she could finish, I hung up, storming away from the apartment door and back to the car, slamming the door.

“Back to the office,” I snapped at the driver, throwing the roses out the window without a care, flinging the necklace to the other end of the limo, not wanting to even be near it. Neither of them was necessary now.

Grace’s POV

I looked at my phone in confusion as the dial tone echoed, the strangeness of the call sticking with me.

Richard…Richard…I swore I knew a Richard. Still, I could’ve sworn he said ‘husband’.

After rummaging through my memories for quite a while, I finally remembered. That's the name of the husband I signed the marriage contract with.

While technically I was married, it was a contract marriage, one where my supposed husband hadn’t visited or called even once in the duration of us being ‘married.’  

So, I didn't have much of an impression of this name or even of this person.

The sounds of moans echoing in the apartment made me sigh. Stumbling off the couch and stretching, my blankets falling to the ground, I kicked them out of the way, moving to knock on my roommate’s door.

“Daniel! What time is it?” I called. “And turn down the porn!”

“It’s Valentine’s Day, Gracie! Let me be lonely!”

I rolled my eyes, leaning against the wall as Daniel popped out of his room, fixing his pants and running a hand through his hair before smirking at me.

“Fun time?” I asked, c*****g my brow.

“It sure was, before you butted in,” he huffed playfully, rolling his eyes. “Also, it’s 5:15.”

“That’s good,” I sighed in relief. “I really thought I was out cold for longer.”

“You usually are,” Daniel snorted. “So why aren’t you?”

“I got a call that woke me up. I thought it was a callback for one of my job interviews, but it was just…weird.” I frowned.

Before Daniel could ask about more topics, my stomach growled. "Fortunately, I bought some groceries earlier. Otherwise, should we cook something to eat before Rachel gets back?"

Rachel was another one of my roommates. The three of us were sharing this apartment together.

"Yeah, I can't wait," Daniel said as he opened the fridge door. "Oh! Perfect timing, we're starving." Daniel scooped up some bags and for a while, it was just cooking and chopping.

"So~, any luck with the job search?" Daniel asked, and I groaned.

"No, not a single place has called me back. A bachelor's degree is apparently just not enough to cut it here in Manhattan. You'd think with all the marketing positions, I'd land one, but no dice."

"I'm sorry, Grace, that sucks."

"Hey, at least I still have my other job," I said, trying to remain positive. But being a cosmetics salesperson wasn't exactly making a lot of money. I had wanted a better-paying job for my adoptive mother's hospitalization so that I could give her some better care, but it was a struggle to even take care of myself on my current paycheck.

"And besides, it's still too early to give up!"

"That's the spirit!" Daniel cheered. "Now someone grab the plates, the hash is done."

"So are the eggs."

"Breakfast for dinner, we're surely heathens," Daniel snorted, but I still went and grabbed the plates while silently grabbing the silverware.

Yeah, it was way too early to give up, I thought. I'd been through too much to give up now, and there was no way in hell I'd ever go crawling back to my old pack, I'd rather die.

I'd figure something out and make it work. Being in the Blood Moon pack was a blessing compared to where my mom and I had been before. Things were good now, and I'd do what I could to ensure they stayed that way.

Actually, I didn't initially want to apply to DF Company. It's a well-known enterprise, and there wasn't much hope for me to get accepted. It was Daniel who persuaded me, and then I decided to give it a try.

If there's a better opportunity, why not give it a try? After all, I'm really short of money.

"What about that application to DF? How'd that go?"