The Wrong Fiancée: A Billionaire Second Chance Romance (Marriage by Contract Book 3)
The Wrong Fiancée: Chapter 7

‘Idon’t know how to put this to you, Archer, but I don’t really pay much attention to housekeeping staff at my resorts,’ Dante said sardonically when I called him to ask about Elika Hamlet.

‘She was the one I was with in Honolulu,’ I reminded him.

‘You’re always with a woman and…wait, is this the girl whose father died in a car crash and her sister was paralyzed?’ Dante asked, his tone serious. I heard some whispers on the other end, followed by my friend’s firm voice, ‘Cara, not now. I’m on a call.’

‘Am I disturbing you?’

‘Not really.’ I could hear Dante’s fingers on his keyboard. ‘Elika Hamlet. Born February Nineteenth, Nineteen Ninety Eight. She started working for Giordano Resorts eight years ago when she was eighteen. She worked part-time for a year…it says she went to the University of Hawaii. Looks like she dropped out. Since then, she’s been working full-time for us in Honolulu and now at Hale Moana. Exemplary employee. Her boss recommends her for a leadership program.’

‘She’s Felicity’s cousin,’ I told him.

Dante chuckled. ‘Ah, that’s why there are complaints in her file from Mrs. Ginny Thatcher and your Felicity Thatcher.’

‘What does that mean?’ What the fuck?

‘Just that they made official complaints. We record that. And since your folks are regulars, so we take extra care of…,’ he laughed softly, trailing off.

‘What?’

‘Elika’s boss, who I know well, by the way, put a note saying that Elika is not responsible for the Thatcher family drama and no complaints from the family should be entertained as serious unless she says so.’

I leaned back on the lounge chair I was sitting at, the beautiful ocean in front of me. ‘What are the complaints about?’

‘Stupid shit. She’s rude. She didn’t clean properly. There’s one from today…she walked in while you were having sex?’ Dante sounded amused. ‘Seriously? How is that her fault? She probably knocked, and you didn’t hear her.’

I sighed. ‘Here’s what I’ve figured out about the Thatcher family: Ginny and Fee can’t stand Elika—for reasons that, as far as I can tell, don’t even exist. And honestly? I don’t know why I give a shit.’

‘You were really into her in Honolulu. You extended your stay twice because you didn’t want to let her go,’ Dante reminded me.

I took a deep breath. ‘Yeah. But that was years ago.’

And still, you can’t ignore her.

‘Why do they hate Elika?’

I gave him the Cliff’s Notes and then added, ‘I feel something is off. Not with Elika but with Felicity. I thought she was all into family and generous, and now….’

‘You know I’ve never liked her,’ Dante pointed out. ‘I think she puts on a show…wears a mask, depending upon who she’s with.’

‘Nah, man, she’s genuine.’ But was she, or was I just defending her because I’d put my ring on her finger?

‘Amico, it’s your life.’

‘How’s your crisis in Rome?’

‘A clusterfuck. My grandfather is trying to arrange my marriage.’

‘What? Does he know what year it is?‘

‘I don’t think Dante Senior gives a flying fuck. He’s found me some virginal Italian girl. She’s from a village or some shit and cooks really well.’

‘You own Michelin-star restaurants; you don’t need a wife who can cook,’ I quipped.

‘Si. It looks like I’ve averted getting hitched for now. I get on a plane tomorrow. I’ll see you for dinner?’

‘You mind if it’s with the Thatchers?’

‘Tutte bene! Dinner with a friend and Hale Moana’s important guests—I don’t mind.’

I sat on the expansive lanai of the bungalow after the call, the rhythmic crash of the waves doing little to settle my restless mind. Felicity was away with her mother, Rebecca, and Cristin for a spa day—no doubt enjoying some lavish treatment that would give them something to casually boast about over dinner later. I was supposed to play golf with Sam and Michael, but I bailed for scuba diving with Theo instead. Golf wasn’t what I needed today, and frankly, neither was more time with Felicity’s father or uptight Michael.

I left my lanai and headed for the front desk, from where Theo and I were to be driven to the dive spot.

Scuba diving in Kauai, I discovered, was something else entirely. Crystal-clear waters, the sun cutting through the surface, revealing a whole world beneath the waves. There was something surreal about it, almost otherworldly. The reef stretched out below like a living canvas, painted with vibrant coral and darting schools of fish in colors I couldn’t even name. Occasionally, a sea turtle would glide past, serene and unbothered. If you were lucky, you’d spot a manta ray gracefully sweeping through the blue. It was peaceful down there, a calm that felt deeper than anything I could replace on land. Maybe that’s why I’d chosen it today—an escape. A chance to clear my head and forget, even for a moment, everything waiting for me above the surface.

I had surprisingly enjoyed my day with Theo even when we weren’t diving. He was in his early twenties and reminded me of myself back then—caught between figuring out who he was and who he was supposed to be, wrapped in the awkward tension of wealth and family expectations. I knew that feeling all too well.

Theo was drying off beside me as the afternoon sun dipped lower into the ocean.

‘Sam is a great guy,’ Theo said as we drank beers at the small bar by the beach that looked like it came from central casting with a thatched roof and a bartender who talked too much. ‘Ginny, I can take or leave. My parents are close to Michael and Rebecca, and they come here every year, so I…well, you know how it is.’

I did. The pressure of these annual gatherings, the small talk that was more of a social dance than a genuine exchange of words, could be overwhelming. Theo was already starting to tire of it, just as I had at his age.

‘How long have you and Cristin been dating?’ I asked, shifting the conversation.

‘Like a few weeks.’ He let out a long sigh, his eyes flickering over to me. ‘Can I ask you something? Will you give me an honest answer?’

I shrugged, taking a sip of my beer. ‘Sure.’

‘What do you think of Cristin?’

I paused, the question catching me off guard. I barely knew her beyond her penchant for giggling at the wrong moments, talking over everyone, and being unnecessarily bitchy about Elika. I didn’t want to be harsh, but there wasn’t much substance to Cristin.

‘I’m afraid I don’t…ah…think anything of her.’

He nodded like he expected that answer. ‘Yeah, that’s what I thought,’ he muttered, running a hand through his wet hair. ‘I know this is too personal, but…you know you’re nothing like the guys Felicity normally dates, right?’

I raised an eyebrow. ‘Who does she normally date?’

‘Business guys. Well, like you, but they’re more…I don’t know, into the whole social snobbery thing. You’re not.’

I leaned back in my chair, considering his words. Wasn’t I, though? I’d spent my entire adult life climbing the ladder, making the right connections, navigating the ins and outs of the art world’s elite circles. I’d chosen Felicity—intelligent, poised, and well-connected—because she fit. She checked off every box: Ivy League education, PhD, perfectly respectable family, and the social graces to maneuver high society with ease.

But Theo’s words gnawed at me. Was that all there was to it? I stared out at the horizon, the sky turning a soft pink as the sun started to set.

The truth was, when it came to women like Felicity, there was a comfort in their predictability. She could talk about Ming vases and Edo-period scrolls with the best of them, and that had seemed like enough for me. You could take her to an art auction or a charity gala and never worry about her saying the wrong thing or looking out of place. But now, I couldn’t help but wonder—was that why I’d chosen her? Because she made sense on paper and not because of deep feelings on my end?

My thoughts drifted to Elika, as they had been lately, more often than I cared to admit. She wasn’t polished or society-approved. She probably couldn’t walk into a Sotheby’s event and network effortlessly. But she was passionate. Real. She didn’t fit neatly into my world—case and point how she struggled with her uncle’s family—and maybe that had been what scared me off all those years ago. Dante was right when he said I was into her. I was.

The last night we were supposed to spend together, when she didn’t show up, I nearly lost my mind, wanting to go replace her so we could fuck one last time but knowing that if I did that, I’d want to stay longer with her, inside her.

In the end, her not coming over had been a blessing—because I’d been able to behave like I did with all my flings, say goodbye as nicely as I could, and get on with my life. And I had gotten on. However, I had thought about Elika on and off over the years—especially when I first started to date a woman. I always compared them with Elika—which was ridiculous because they were all better placed in society than Elika had been. Yet, I wished for the simplicity of the relationship we had. Walks on the beach. Drinking coconut water. Making love on the sand even when it got into everything and everywhere. Laughing. Yeah, I remembered laughing a lot with her. She had a playful charm that complemented her zest for life. The woman I saw now seemed withdrawn, pulled back.

I knew even then she would be the wrong partner for me no matter what my dick said. But Felicity? She was a choice I’d made based on logic, on the life I thought I wanted. And now, as Theo sat beside me, saying more with his half-hearted sighs than he likely meant to, I felt a creeping discomfort settle in. Maybe I was shallow, too, just like Cristin, like Ginny.

‘Felicity’s got a way of making people feel like they have to measure up,’ Theo added, breaking into my thoughts, ‘Like you’re not worth anything unless you can impress her.’

I wanted to defend my fiancée, but I didn’t have a higher ground to stand on.

I stared into the distance, feeling that knot of doubt tighten in my chest. Felicity had always been demanding—intellectually, socially—but I had seen that as a challenge, something I needed to rise to. Now, I wasn’t so sure. Perhaps Theo was right. And perhaps Felicity wasn’t the only one who had been measuring people—I had been doing it, too. And what did that make me?

‘I’m sorry,’ Theo was contrite when I didn’t respond to him, ‘I sometimes have no filter.’

‘Theo, don’t lose your honesty,’ I said. ‘In our world, having a filter is mandatory. If you can survive without one, you should. Now, to answer the question you didn’t ask—I’m guessing you’re dating Cristin because your parents expect you to.’

Theo chuckled sheepishly. ‘Yeah, something like that.’

‘Don’t date someone because it’s expected of you.’ Advice you should take for yourself, Dean. ‘Surround yourself with people who challenge you, make you better, more.’

Theo looked glum. ‘I graduated from Yale, Dean. I’m always surrounded by people challenging me.’

I shook my head. ‘No, they’re competing with you. Challenge is different—it’s constructive. That’s what I have with my brothers.‘

Theo nodded thoughtfully. ‘You’re right. I come from a world that’s competitive and pushy. I studied business because I was expected to. Not because I wanted to. You know, Sean didn’t do that.’

Sean was Felicity’s younger brother. I’d met him a couple of times but hadn’t had the chance to get to know him well.

‘He thinks you’re just like her other men.’ Theo raised his beer bottle in a toast. ‘I’ll tell him you’re not.’

That explained why Sean had kept his distance from me. He was studying public policy, and I knew that bothered the hell out of his mother and sister. I couldn’t understand the problem. If they had as much money as they did, why did it matter what Sean studied? As my father once told all of us, ‘Do what you want to do; that’s why we have the money, so we can have our freedom.‘ But we’d all ended up working for Archer Arts & Antiquities. I was the least business oriented, and Duncan was just a thug in a suit. Damian was our wheeler and dealer—shrewd and tactful. I loved the art, the discovery—not so much the acquisition of art galleries and distributors or all that other crap that Damian was ruthlessly into.

‘So, what you’re saying is that I should end it with Cristin?’

‘No, man,’ I groaned, ‘What I’m saying is that you should make your own choices. You should think about what’s right for you.’

‘Yeah, I don’t know how to do that,’ Theo confessed. ‘But I’m going to learn.’

‘If I can help, let me know.’ I’d mentored a fair number of young people, and I’d be happy to support Theo in any way that I could. ‘I have a question for you.’

‘Shoot.’

‘What’s the whole issue with Elika?’

Now it was Theo’s turn to groan. ‘We all kind of grew up together. Elika and Noe came from less, and Fee and Cristin made sure they never forgot it. Noe’s your guys’ age, and Elika’s mine and Cristin’s. Noe went to the same private school as us, but Elika went to public school.‘

‘How come?’

The bartender waved at us, and I nodded to him. Sure, we’d have another drink. We had dinner with the whole group at the steakhouse in the resort.

‘Noe wanted to go to private school like Felicity and Sean, and Grant could only afford to send her and not Elika. I don’t think Elika cared. The thing is that Grant wanted to show he was successful, and putting Noe in our school made him feel like he was. He had delusions of being a real-estate developer and lost a lot of money failing at that. He wanted to be like Sam—he wanted his Dad to see him as worthy,’ Theo explained. ‘Noe got her degree and managed a spa. She had a lot of ambition.’

‘I hear she’s paralyzed.’

‘Yeah, she can’t walk. I went to see her once at Ka Pono, feeling obligated. She was bitter and…frankly, an asshole to Elika. Like it’s Elika’s fault. Do you know why Elika works like a dog? She’s paying for everything. She used up all her savings; she was going to get a degree in art history, and she put all of that into Noe’s rehab. So, now she works all the time. I even asked Uncle Sam if he could help, but apparently, Ginny told him not to. That man is so pussy whipped. I mean…wouldn’t you replace a way to help your niece?’

My heart slammed against my ribs.

I’d been so judgmental, I realized. Elika had been saving to go to school but couldn’t because she’d sacrificed her future to help her sister. I admired that. I’d do the same in a heartbeat for my brothers. And, yet, I’d seen her as a loser college dropout.

‘Noe isn’t nice to Elika?’

‘Fuck no,’ Theo snapped, his voice sharp with anger. ‘She kept going on about how Elika can still walk and she can’t. It was so uncomfortable. I asked Elika why she doesn’t just give up on her sister, and—you know her, she’s such a sweetheart—she just said, ‘family first.’ That’s always how she’s been. Even though Fee and Ginny treat her like crap, like she’s the enemy or something, she’s still nice to everyone. I wish I could help her, but I don’t get my trust fund until I’m thirty.‘

You have a shit ton of money, Dean; maybe you can take your finger out of your ass and help someone in need.

‘Wait a minute,’ I said as something Theo mentioned clicked. ‘She was studying art history?’

Had she told me that before? I couldn’t remember—probably because I hadn’t bothered paying attention. Too busy being a douchebag, making snap judgments about her supposed lack of ambition or drive.

‘Yeah,’ Theo laughed. ‘She used to get into these art discussions with Sam and Felicity back when they still talked. A lot of the time, she knew more than they did. Sam was so proud of her, but that just made Fee hate her more. Elika was always fascinated by island-based art. She once told me she wanted to curate exhibitions that celebrated the blend of art and island beauty.’

My throat felt like it was closing. All the while, I’d thought she wasn’t my intellectual equal, and now I was replaceing out that she was working in the same field as me or had wanted to until her dreams had disappeared in the flames of a car crash.

‘I didn’t know,’ I admitted softly. I hadn’t bothered to know, either.

‘Well, why would you? Have you ever met her? I mean, besides seeing her serve you drinks or clean your room?’ Theo asked, running a hand through his now dry, dirty blonde hair.

I shook my head.

It was a lie. But was it? Had I ever tried to meet the real Elika, or had I boxed her away as a fun fuck and nothing more because she was a hotel maid?

‘You should talk to her…I mean….’ Theo’s eyes brightened. ‘You can maybe give her a job at Archer Arts & Antiquities. You know, so she could do something she cares about. I don’t know her qualifications or anything, but she’s super smart Dean; I’m sure she’d be really good at whatever you ask her to do.’

I looked into the gray eyes of Theo, who seemed like such a nice young man, much too nice for the girlfriend he had.

‘Theo, you should dump Cristin,’ I told him and took a pull of my beer.

He grinned. ‘Already planned on it…just taking the coward’s way out and waiting until I’m back in New York. I’ve got some in-person meetings I need to be there for anyway.’

Theo worked for his father’s investment firm and was working remotely so he could spend part of the summer in Hawaii. His parents were planning to join the Thatchers for a week during their vacation. Thanks to the pandemic, we’d all become experts at handling Zoom calls, which gave rich shmucks like us the freedom to work from anywhere in the world—even a luxury resort.

‘Why not do it now? It’s going to be unpleasant no matter what.’

Theo laughed. ‘I ain’t staying here after we break up—you can’t imagine the shit that’ll rain down on me from all ends. No, thank you. I’m gonna end it after my meetings in New York and face the music from Bondi Beach, where I’ll be through Labor Day.’

Yeah, we were wealthy, entitled assholes who could hop from one beach to another without a care, while someone like Elika—someone I had unfairly judged as lesser—cleaned their rooms and worked twice as hard as the rest of us.

The shame I felt was…immense.