Page 56 of Wife By Accident

And there was nothing Leo could do about it.

Every fiber in his being had screamed for him to stop Olivia when she left, to run after her, to beg her for a second chance. But he’d held himself back. One of the biggest rules Kyle had taught him was that if a woman said it was over, it was over. It wasn’t Leo’s place to push. He had to respect her wishes, no matter how much it broke his heart.

Anyway, he was the one who’d drafted the prenup that had chased her away. He’d let his worry over protecting his fortune win, and that was a mistake he’d always have to live with. Olivia had probably been right to leave.

“Still here, boss?” Jake appeared in the doorway of Leo’s office as he knocked on the frame with one hand.

“Yep,” Leo looked back at his laptop. “There’s no reason to rush home.”

It was after ten p.m., and most people had left. Back when Olivia was here, just weeks ago, Leo would have hurried home with them, ready to see her and spend the evening together. Now, there was no point. His apartment would feel just as empty, dark, and echoey as this office did.

“Did she leave?” Jake asked. Leo glanced up at him and nodded. “Did she sign the postnup?”

“She did. And that’s why she left.”

“Sorry.” Jake rapped on the doorframe again. “But better you found out now than when you woke up with half your money gone.”

“She was never after my money.” Leo looked away. “She signed the postnup without a second thought. It was the fact that I didn’t trust her that chased her away.”

“How could you have trusted her, though?” Jake asked. “You barely knew her.”

Leo looked out the window. He thought of all he knew about Olivia, from how she took her coffee to her professional dreams, her love of everything s’mores-flavored to her ability to see the good in people. He knew her.

It just hadn’t been enough.

“Good night, Jake,” Leo said. He couldn’t blame Jake for what had happened — Leo had been the one to pursue the postnup in the end. But he didn’t want to talk to Jake anymore right now, either.

“Good night, boss.” Jake left, shutting the door behind him, and Leo was alone again. In truth, he didn’t have more work to do. Hoping to stall for time, he clicked on his emails, and a new one popped up. It had the subject line Wedding Video.

Leo frowned. He didn’t remember ordering a wedding video — and the wedding had been weeks ago. Then again, he’d been very drunk, so he probably wouldn’t have remembered, and the wedding chapel hadn’t seemed particularly professional. Maybe it made sense that a video would show up weeks later, right when it would be the most painful to watch.

Leo knew that watching the video would hurt, but in the same way that he might poke at a sore tooth with his tongue, he couldn’t stop himself. He clicked on the link.

An image of himself and Olivia filled the screen. She wore that gorgeous red dress that had first caught his attention, and she was leaning on his arm. Her cheeks were flushed, just as Leo’s were, and they stood in front of a bored-looking officiant in a black robe.

“Do you…” The officiant looked at a piece of paper in front of him. “Leo Barclay, take this woman… Olivia Keller, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” Leo said, and even from the fuzzy video, Leo could see just how drunk he’d been. Beside him, the on-screen Olivia giggled.

“And do you, Olivia Keller, take this man, Leo Barclay, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, as long as you both shall live?”

At the question, Olivia’s eyes widened. She looked up at Leo and blinked several times.

“Um, Leo?”

“Yes, Olivia?”

“I think this might be a real wedding.”

The pair of them looked around with exaggerated suspicion, and the officiant nodded.

“It is.” He sounded bored.

“Should we be doing this?” Olivia bit her lip. Despite her flushed cheeks and slurred words, she seemed less drunk than Leo.

“Getting married?” Leo asked.

“Exactly. I mean, we just met. Did we think this through?”