Billionaire Bonds: Arranged in Love

“Will you be coming back for dinner?” Lily asked as Ethan sat at the table, reading the morning’s newspaper as he ate breakfast in quick bites.

Ethan, already dressed in one of his tailored suits–it was a blue that matched his eyes, glanced at her briefly. “I have an important business dinner.” He answered flatly, getting up without another word and leaving the room.

Today was their wedding anniversary. And once again he would be spending it elsewhere. A familiar ache welled in her chest. She wondered why she bothered anymore, like she hadn’t been disappointed enough, three years of marriage and he was still as cold as their wedding day. She should be used to this by now. But somehow, every year, it hurt even more.

After breakfast, Lily told the butler to cancel the dinner she had planned since she was going out with friends. The butler–uncle Dan– watched Lily go upstairs in pity, she had been planning the dinner for weeks, and even personally baked a cake to celebrate.

“What about the cake?”  He asked quietly

Lily paused. She debated telling him to toss it in the trash, but decided against it. “Put it in the fridge.”

When she got to her room, she looked at the gift box she had left on the nightstand. Picking it up, she put it in the cupboard with the other undelivered gifts of past years. The ring she designed for their wedding. The vintage watch she spent a long time searching for. The cufflinks she designed for him, she had used Aquamarines–his month’s birthstone. The ties she carefully picked out. Lily had lost count of the number of gifts she had prepared for his birthday, holidays, and their anniversary. He never spent time with her for her to have the chance to give them to him. Now there was a new addition to the collection. She locked the cupboard and got dressed to go to her flower shop– the only place where her efforts paid off.

The flower shop had been an unexpected inheritance. Before her cousin passed away after a long battle with cancer, she had insisted–pleaded even for her to take over the business. With her cousin dying a few days after her wedding, she reopened the flower shop in her stead. Lily hadn’t imagined herself dealing with flowers. But she took the leap of faith and resigned from her position of head designer at her father’s company. As she stepped into this new world of colors and fragrances, learning about different flowers and what they stood for had filled her with a newfound purpose, she also got new inspiration for design. With her brother serving as CEO and her sending her designs on the company, her parents had nothing to worry about while they travelled around the world.

Her phone pinged pulling her from her thoughts. Multiple messages from Chloe, her best friend.

“I heard Stacy is the new brand ambassador for Ethan’s company. What is your husband thinking, flaunting his mistress in public?”

Lily’s heart sank as she opened the attached photos. Ethan stood next to Stacy—Smiling, she tried to remember the last time he had smiled at her, but couldn't. Was it high school? Or even longer before that? Stacy Peters was beautiful and confident, always attracted attention when she walked into a room. She was one of the top actresses of their generation, holding the company’s latest product in her hand as they posed for the press. Today they were a picture-perfect couple.

The last time she had taken a picture with Ethan was on their wedding day.