Arranged •{ONC 2020}•

《 Chapter Seven 》

Many weeks had passed since Ashlynn Whittaker became Ashlynn Marker—Aunt Leah insisted she take his last name to keep up the façade. The warmth of summer was long gone, and the coolness of fall was fading to winter's bitter cold. Thanksgiving was a little over a week away, and the company was as busy as ever.

Whittaker United was one of the largest tech companies in the Eastern United States. Running it was not easy. The first couple weeks were the hardest; Ashlynn was totally clueless about the world of business. Having to rely on Wesley for help was the worst of it, especially when he gave her a smug little grin while telling her everything she was doing wrong. They'd spend the day going over reports and listening to presentations—many of which put Ashlynn to sleep—and come home exhausted (well, only Wesley was exhausted).

At home they avoided each other. On good days the sat in the same room, but mostly they were as far away from each other as possible. They didn't get married to be friends; they got married to save the company.

Besides, it was also a well-known fact around the house that Wesley's girlfriend paid him visits. He still hadn't told her that the whole thing was fake, but she was too obsessed to care. She even showed up at dinner once, crying about how she loved Wesley more than Ashlynn. That was an undeniable fact, and Ashlynn would have told her so if Wesley hadn't led his sobbing, raving girlfriend out of the room.

It was a few days after this event that Aunt Leah snapped.

She caught them together in the living room (it was a good day) and demanded their attention. "You two are the worst married couple I have ever seen!"

No argument there.

"You come home and you don't even look at each other. You don't go out; you don't talk; I have to force you to even eat together!" Aunt Leah waved her arms in frustration. "Well, it all changes now. You've had your chance to groan and gripe, but I won't tolerate it any longer. No more girlfriends showing up, no more secret meetings—don't think you fooled me, Ash—and no more avoiding one another. You're married, for Pete's sake! Try acting like it!"

The two stared at her in shock. Aunt Leah wasn't the type to shout and fuss. She also spilled something Ashlynn didn't want Wesley to know.

"Secret meetings?" His book fell into his lap. "Are you meeting with that guy from the club?"

"What's it to you? Your girlfriend shows up every other day, threatening all sorts of nonsense until you take her away somewhere," Ashlynn replied defensively.

"She's not my girlfriend anymore. And I just take her home."

"Whatever."

"Ash, are you meeting that Dylan guy?"

"Ashlynn," she corrected. "And no, I just bump into him at the club from time to time." That wasn't a complete lie; they never planned on meeting, they just happened to be there at the same time. Regularly.

"And you drink with him?"

"We're friends! He's sweet, and fun to talk to!"

Wesley shook his head, laughing bitterly. "You're unbelievable."

"You have no right to say that! You're the one with a girlfriend!"

"I'm not seeing her right now! I'm not the one who's cheating here!"

Ashlynn winced at that. She would tolerate many things, but being accused of cheating wasn't one of them. There were too many bad memories surrounding that word. "I don't know why you care, anyways. It's not like you love me or anything. You're just here for my money."