Cheating By The Rules | Harry Styles AU (ongoing)

chapter 03

I should've seen this coming. How could I've been so blind? Indubitably Harry had to be married to the woman I was doing business with. Life would always throw these kinds of curveballs at you and I, regrettably, wasn't given an exception.

For a moment I thought about her. When I first met Ashley, we chatted about her charity and I found myself in awe of her hard work, so I decided to work with her. Because we agreed on helping each other out, we began to meet one another more frequently. We didn't always schedule appointments at my company, we often visited local cafés to sit down.

During those slightly informal meetings, Ashley mentioned her husband playing an active role within the organization of the charity and explained how he had been extremely driven to make it all happen. I guess I didn't think about Harry and Ashley being together because she used her maiden name wherever she went. She told me this because she didn't have any siblings who could pass on the family name.

What made all of this surprisingly difficult was the fact she had been kind to me from the beginning and she had been praising her husband consistently. Was she even aware of what her husband had done? Handing out his card to a woman he had just met?

I liked Ashley. I liked working with her. That's why I felt guilty for even thinking about her husband in a way I was never supposed to do.

Boundaries.

They had disappeared.

I needed to set them for myself, again.

In the past, I had never let myself think of any other man than Jace, but Harry had made it awfully difficult for me to forget him.

And yet, I asked myself if he thought about me too.

He did, didn't he?

He had been the one to share his personal information with me. He wanted me to have it, but why would he choose me? He could've asked any other woman to give him a call. I bet plenty of women wouldn't have minded getting his card.

Did I mind?

Truthfully, I didn't hate to own his card and be able to reach out to him, but I knew it wasn't the ideal situation to be in. Especially since I was married to a man who wasn't Harry.

I swore to stick with him, then why did I give in to a stranger? I could've said no. I could've told him to keep his card and part ways. Right now, our paths could cross again. He had given me that chance. He wanted me to have that opportunity.

"Ivy? Ivy?"

"Huh?"

"Are you even listening?" my father questioned me.

I had drifted away. I had allowed my thoughts to keep me from reality, which hadn't been such a clever move since I was seated at the table with my parents and husband.

When I met Jace's stare, he was observing me questionably while looking irritated with my absent behavior.

"Sorry, I wasn't listening." I apologized because it seemed the right thing to do.

"Everything all right, darling?" my mother followed.

"Yes, mom. Everything is okay, I just had a long day at work." I claimed and reached for the bottle of wine. I poured myself another glass because I had to survive a long dinner followed by hours of small talk afterward. "What were you saying?"

"I was telling Jace all about our plans for Thanksgiving."

"What are the two of you going to do?" showing interest was the last thing I could do after I zoomed out.