Oopss... I Married My Boss

"Bianca," Adrian said clearly.

Zak, who was mid-sip of his white wine, immediately coughed violently at the name.

"Wait, what?"

What neither of them noticed was how Rafael, who had been curious and intrigued just seconds ago, suddenly clenched his right fist tightly. His whole body tensed. His gaze turned cold.

With a strained voice, he turned to Adrian and asked, "Bianca? Which Bianca? Don't tell me it's your secretary?"

Adrian didn't flinch. "That Bianca, Raf. My secretary. I'm marrying my secretary."

At that very moment, Rafael's heart shattered. The pain was instant and sharp, like someone had punched the air out of his lungs. His chest tightened, and suddenly, it felt like there wasn't enough oxygen in the room. A bitter taste filled his mouth. Numbly, he leaned back in his seat, completely blindsided by the revelation.

The woman who was about to become his best friend's wife... was the same woman he had quietly, hopelessly loved all this time. The woman whose memory never quite left him.

"Bianca? So your fiancée is your secretary, Ad?" Zak asked, squinting at Adrian like he hadn't heard him right.

"You didn't hear what I said earlier?"

"Oh, I heard you. Loud and clear, actually. I just needed to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. So? Your secretary's gonna be your wife?"

"That's right," Adrian replied, calm but firm.

Zak blinked in disbelief. "How the hell did that happen? I thought she wasn't your type. How did it end up with you marrying her?"

"Who said Bianca isn't my type?" Adrian shot back, challenging.

"Uh, hello? Weren't you always into the human Barbie types? Tall, skinny, silky hair, perfect face. You've literally dated magazine covers, bro."

"Screw you, Zak."

"But I'm right, though."

"No, you're not."

"Sure, sure, whatever helps you sleep at night. I've only got one real question here," Zak said, narrowing his eyes. "Are you marrying her because you're in love, Ad?"

Adrian leaned back in his chair, lips curling into a faint smile. "Of course I'm marrying her because I love her," he said, voice calm but firm. "How could I marry someone if I didn't have feelings for her?"

He didn't flinch. Didn't blink. If there was even a trace of doubt behind those words, he didn't show it.

Not even a flicker.

Zak tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing with suspicion. "Then why don't I believe you?"

Adrian shrugged, the corner of his mouth twitching in amusement or maybe annoyance. "If you don't believe me, that's your problem, not mine."

Zak's question hit Adrian right where it hurt. He could have easily explained why he was marrying Bianca. But for some reason, he just didn't want to. He didn't want to tell his two best friends that the whole marriage thing was a charade, just something he agreed to do to fulfill his grandfather's last wish. Maybe he didn't want to admit that the reason he had chosen Bianca to play this role was because she didn't have even the slightest romantic feelings for him. A man like him, wealthy, charming, and supposedly every woman's dream, wasn't even close to her type.

Bianca. Bianca.

He didn't even notice the small smile tugging at the corners of his lips the moment her name popped into his head.

"Yo, Ad, are you seriously smiling to yourself right now?" Zak rubbed his eyes like he couldn't trust what he was seeing.

"I wasn't smiling. You need your eyes checked."

"Oh? Don't tell me you were thinking about your secretary, huh?"

"So what if I was? She's about to be my wife. What's wrong with thinking about my fiancée?"

Zak scoffed. "Bullshit. Since when do you ever talk about your secretary? And now, what? Out of nowhere, you're suddenly marrying her?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Don't lie to me, Ad. I know you. You're not the kind of guy who even thinks about marriage, let alone actually going through with it."

"Everyone changes, Zak. Hearts change too. I fell for Bianca. I want her to be my wife," Ad said firmly, a faint smile on his lips like he was trying to convince even himself.

"You hear that, Raf? Our guy actually fell in love," Zak chuckled, turning to Rafael for a reaction.

But Rafael wasn't listening. His face had gone pale.

"Hey, Raf. What's wrong with you?" Zak leaned forward, his voice filled with concern. "You feeling sick or something?"

Ad, noticing how unusually quiet Rafael had gotten, furrowed his brows and looked worried. "You okay, Raf?'"

But Rafael didn't respond to either of them. He couldn't. His brain had gone completely offline, hijacked by a single name. Bianca. When Ad first said it, Rafael's gut twisted. He had hoped, prayed, that it wasn't his Bianca. New York had to have more than one woman named Bianca, right? The odds were in his favor.

But fate clearly had other plans.

When Rafael still didn't say anything, Zak got up and walked over to him, then touched his forehead with the back of his hand.

"No fever, Ad," he muttered.

The touch seemed to snap Rafael out of it. He jumped to his feet so fast that Zak instinctively stepped back. Before Zak could even ask what was going on, Rafael was already walking away.

"Raf, where are you going?" he shouted after him.

Zak, assuming Rafael was heading to the restroom, blinked in surprise when he saw Rafael walking straight toward the restaurant's exit.

Ad exchanged a confused look with Zak and gave a slight shrug.

"What's wrong with him?"

"No idea," Zak said.

Zak shook his head, still watching the door like Rafael might suddenly reappear. "I think he's really sick or something, Ad. I mean, did you see that? He just left without saying a single word to us. Who even does that?"

He paused, then added with a baffled tone, "And seriously, where the hell is he even going?"

Ad stared toward the exit, his brows pinched in thought. Something about Rafael's reaction didn't sit right. And after a beat, something flickered in Ad's eyes, something unreadable. Something quietly dangerous.

***