1+1 = Not 2
1799 Words
Morning light filtered through the tall windows of the room.
For a few seconds, I didn’t remember where I was.
The soft mattress beneath me felt too luxurious for my small apartment, and the silk curtains moving gently with the morning breeze didn’t belong to my usual view of brick buildings and crowded streets.
Then everything came rushing back.
The wedding.
The Cole mansion.
Victoria.
Adrian.
And what I saw in Daniel’s study.
My stomach tightened immediately.
I sat up slowly, pushing the blanket aside as the memory replayed in my mind.
A black folder had been partially open on Daniel’s desk.
Inside were documents.
And printed clearly across the top page were two names.
Victoria Hayes.
Daniel Cole.
I had only seen it for a moment before stepping away, but it looked like a financial document.
Why would Daniel have documents connected to Victoria?
Especially considering she had once been engaged to his brother.
The situation felt strange.
Too strange to ignore.
And for the second time since the wedding, I wondered if my sister had married the wrong brother.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.
Maybe I was overthinking it.
Maybe there was a perfectly reasonable explanation.
I climbed out of bed and got dressed quickly before leaving the room.
The mansion was quiet this morning.
Soft sunlight poured through the tall windows in the hallway, illuminating the marble floors and elegant paintings that decorated the walls.
Everything felt calm.
Peaceful.
Completely different from the tension I had sensed the night before.
A house staff member directed me toward the dining room.
When I entered, I noticed only one person sitting at the long table.
Adrian.
He sat near the window with a cup of coffee and a tablet resting in front of him.
He looked up when he saw me.
“Good morning.”
His voice was calm.
Like the tension between us in the garden last night had never happened.
“Morning,” I replied.
“You slept well?”
“Eventually.”
He nodded slightly.
“Sit.”
I hesitated briefly before taking the chair across from him.
A staff member immediately placed a plate of breakfast in front of me.
Coffee.
Eggs.
Toast.
Fruit.
The kind of breakfast that probably cost more than my entire weekly grocery budget.
“Is Sophia and Daniel still in bed?” I asked Adrian as I took a sip of coffee.
“No, they went out for an early drive. My guess is it’s a honeymoon thing.” He replied, with his eyes still focused on the tablet.
“Oh. Too bad. I wanted to see her before I take my leave.”
“You’re leaving this morning?” Adrian asked.
“Yes. I’ll call a ride after breakfast.”
He closed the tablet and stood.
“I’ll drive you.”
“That’s not necessary. Victoria might need a ride.”
“Driving you isn’t inconvenient either. And Victoria’s driver already picked her up this morning.”
I frowned slightly.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
I studied his expression carefully.
He looked completely serious.
“Okay,” I said finally.
***
The drive away from the estate was quiet.
The massive gates slowly opened as Adrian’s car moved down the long driveway and onto the private road.
Tall trees lined the streets as we drove back toward the city.
Neither of us spoke for several minutes.
But the thought of the folder kept circling in my mind.
Eventually I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
“Can I ask you something?” I said.
“You just did.”
I sighed.
“You know what I mean.”
“Go ahead.”
I hesitated.
“I was walking back to my room last night and…”
I paused, choosing my words carefully.
“I passed Daniel’s study.”
Adrian glanced at me briefly.
“And?”
“The door was open.”
“That happens.”
“I noticed something on his desk.”
He didn’t respond.
So I continued.
“A folder.”
“What about it?”
“It had Victoria’s name on it.”
The car grew quiet again.
Adrian’s expression didn’t change, but something about the tension in his jaw caught my attention.
“And?” he asked again.
“Daniel’s name was on it too.”
Another moment of silence passed.
Finally Adrian spoke.
“You shouldn’t have been looking through things that aren’t yours.”
The sharpness in his voice caught me off guard.
“I wasn’t looking through them.”
“You just said you saw a folder.”
“The door was open,” I insisted.
“That doesn’t mean it was an invitation.”
His tone felt colder now.
Like a wall had suddenly appeared between us.
“I wasn’t snooping,” I said quietly.
“Then stop acting like you discovered something important.”
The bluntness of his words stung.
“I thought you might want to know.”
“Why would I?”
“Because it seemed strange.”
Adrian’s voice hardened.
“Daniel’s life isn’t your concern.”
“And neither is Victoria.”
I stared at him.
“I wasn’t implying anything.”
“Yes, you were.”
Frustration rose quickly in my chest.
“Fine,” I said.
“Forget I mentioned it.”
“Gladly.”
The rest of the drive passed in silence.
By the time we reached my apartment building, the tension between us felt thick.
Adrian pulled the car to a stop near the curb.
“You haven’t given me an answer about the job,” he said as he turned off the engine.
I reached for the door handle.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea anymore.”
His eyebrow lifted slightly.
“You’re declining?”
“Yes.”
“Because I told you not to snoop?”
“Because you were rude.”
Adrian leaned slightly toward me.
“I was honest.”
“Well I prefer polite honesty.”
His lips curved faintly.
“That’s not how the world works.”
“Maybe just your world.”
I stepped out of the car before the conversation could continue.
“Good luck with the job search,” he said.
I closed the door and walked toward my building without looking back.
***
My apartment felt incredibly small after the mansion.
But the moment I stepped inside, I felt more comfortable.
The couch had a blanket thrown across it.
Books were stacked on one side of the coffee table. My laptop was carefully placed at the middle of the table.
A small plant near the window leaned toward the sunlight.
It wasn’t glamorous.
But it was mine.
I dropped my bag onto the couch and sat down beside it.
My phone buzzed almost immediately.
Maya calling.
I smiled and answered.
“Well?” she demanded immediately.
“How was the billionaire wedding?”
“You’re very subtle.”
“I’m curious!”
“You just want gossip.”
“Also true.”
I laughed softly.
Maya had been my best friend since college.
She was loud, opinionated, and impossible to intimidate.
Which was exactly why I trusted her.
“The wedding was… interesting.”
“That’s not enough detail. Spill the tea babe!”
“Okay okay, relax… Well, the house was insane.”
“How insane?”
“Like something from a movie.”
“Of course it was.”
“And Sophia looked happy.”
“That’s what matters. I’m happy she’s married to a billionaire, so we can spend his millions on shopping and he won’t feel a thing.”
“You are crazy,” I said shaking my head.
“So how’s the Cole family like?”
“They’re… complicated.”
“Drama!”
“The older brother is charming.”
“And the single younger one?”
I hesitated slightly.
“He’s intense.”
“Ooooh.”
“Not like that.”
“You’re blushing.”
“I’m not.”
“You definitely are.”
I rolled my eyes.
“We barely talked.”
“Barely?”
“Yes.”
“I smell a lie. Don’t you dare withhold valuable information from me, Lena Hart. Hold on, did he flirt with you?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Did you flirt with him?”
“Of course not! We barely talked.”
Maya groaned.
“You’re no fun.”
“I’m serious.”
“Well something must have happened.”
I thought about the garden.
The moment when he brushed my hair behind my ear.
The way he had looked at my lips.
But I pushed the memory away.
“It was just conversation,” I said.
“Boring.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
We talked for another fifteen minutes before hanging up.
I walked toward the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water.
The quiet of my apartment felt comforting after the overwhelming luxury of the Cole mansion.
For a moment, everything felt normal again.
Just me.
My small apartment.
And the long, frustrating search for a job.
I picked up my laptop from the coffee table and opened it.
If I had just turned down a job offer from Adrian Cole—which still felt surreal—then I needed to focus even harder on finding something else.
The job search website loaded slowly.
New postings appeared across the screen.
Marketing assistant.
Office coordinator.
Junior analyst.
Most of them required experience I didn’t have.
Or connections I definitely didn’t have.
I sighed and leaned back against the couch.
Then a new email notification appeared.
Subject: Interview Invitation
My eyebrows lifted slightly.
That was unexpected.
I opened it immediately.
Dear Lena Hart,
Thank you for your application.
We would like to invite you for an interview tomorrow morning at Cole Investment Holdings.
Please report to the executive offices at 9:00 AM.
We look forward to meeting you.
My eyes widened.
Cole Investment Holdings.
That was one of the companies belonging to the Cole family.
The company Adrian took over and grew in six months.
A strange feeling crept into my chest.
I scrolled to the bottom of the email.
My breath caught.
There was a signature.
Adrian Cole
Chief Executive Officer
For a long moment, I simply stared at the screen.
That made absolutely no sense.
I hadn’t applied to any company connected to the Cole family.
I was certain of it.
And Sophia was unaware of my jobless status.
My heart started beating faster.
Because there was only two explanation.
Either Adrian had somehow submitted my application himself…
Or someone inside that company already knew who I was.
And suddenly, the job interview felt less like an opportunity…
And more like a trap.
- Writer
