He had told her to make Samantha as comfortable as possible and she was doing as she was told.
When she arrived at the poolside with a wine tray, barefoot on the warm tiles, she felt the tension curling in the air like the scent of chlorine and expensive champagne.
Adrian leaned against the lounge chair as Mary set down the tray. His smirk was lazy, and his gaze was heavy-lidded.
"Thank you, Mary."
"You look nervous," Samantha said to her after a long silence.
Adrian chuckled. "Don't be fooled, she's not as quiet as she looks."
A hard shove sent her into the pool.
Her breath caught as her body lurched forward. The ground disappeared beneath her feet, and for a split second, she was weightless.
She was going to die.
Cold water engulfed her, swallowing her scream. Panic slammed into her chest. The pool was deeper than she thought. The surface blurred above her, twisting in refracted light as her arms flailed uselessly. She kicked and tried to push up but her legs felt like lead, her lungs tightening.
She couldn't swim.
She had never learned, had always meant to, but now she was sinking.
Then strong steady hands grabbing her, pulling her up, breaking through the surface.
Air.
She coughed violently, gasping as she was hauled against something solid and warm. Adrian, his grip was iron, holding her against his chest as he swarm them toward the edge.
"Jeez," he muttered, his voice low, sharp. "You can't swim?"
Mary clung to him, her fingers digging into his shirt as she choked on water and air. Her heart pounded so desperately as Samantha watched calmly.
"Oops." Samantha said, dragging the word out, amused. "I thought she'd be fine."
Adrian jaw tightened. His arms tense around Mary before he pulled them both up. He set her down carefully. She shivered, dripping, coughing, trying to steady herself.
He stood, turning to Samantha.
"Don't ever do that again." Adrian said, voice quiet but absolute.
Samantha hesitated. "I'm sorry darling."
She forced herself to her feet and strolled in.
Morning sunlight streamed through the massive windows, illuminating the sleek dining room. The air was thick with tension, though the only sounds were the quiet clink of a spoon against plates and the distant hum of the city.
Mary stood across from Adrian and Samantha, watching them eat.
A breakfast she prepared.
Samantha looked bored, scrolling through her phone with dignity.
What a quiet demon.
Adrian, ever composed, sipped his coffee like he had all the time in the world.
She slid a thin, black envelope onto the table between them. "This is for last night."
Adrian raised an eyebrow, settling his coffee down.
"Oh, please. Still crying over a little water?" Samantha said and scoffed.
Mary ignored her, keeping her focus on Adrian. He was the one who mattered. He always was.
What?
Slowly, he picked up the envelope and flipped it open. Inside was an invoice she had written at three in the morning, fueled by frustration and the need for justice .
New cloth: $600
Emotional distress: $5,000
Humiliation tax: Priceless
Total: $5,600 with pending forgiveness
A beat of silence followed, and then laughter.
Not from Samantha, but from Adrian.
Deeply amused, and entirely unexpected.
Mary blinked as he leaned back on his chair, smirking at her like she was the most interesting thing in the room.
"You're serious?" he asked, his voice rich with something close to admiration.
"Dead serious."
Samantha scoffed. "This is ridiculous Adrian, tell her she's insane."
His eyes were still on Mary, something sharp and intrigued dancing between his blue eyes. Then without breaking eye contact, he reached to his pocket, pulled out this sleek credit card, and slide it across the table.
"Take it,"
Mary didn't hesitate. She picked it up, running her fingers over the smooth surface. "Pleasure doing business with you."
Samantha face twisted in fury. "You cannot be serious!"
Adrian sighed, turning to her with a lazy amusement that only made her angrier. "She played the game, Samantha. And she won."
Mary stood and turned to leave, victory setting on her bones.
"And when you're done eating, please clean up." She said finally, turning to Samantha
Adrian's smirk deepened. Then without another word, she walked away leaving him watching her as she strolled away.
She flopped into her bed, phone pressed to her ear, staring at the ceiling.
"I need to plan my next move. A boyfriend would do, Taylor."
On the other end of the line, Taylor gasped. "Are you serious? Or, is this one of your retaliation schemes?"
Mary rolled her eyes. "I need him to know I'm emotionally protected. That he can't try anything."
There was a long silence. "Mary, are you asking me to hire you a temporary guy?"
She grinned. "No, just find me someone hotter than Adrian and good at pretending to be madly in love with me."
"You think Adrian's hot?"
"No!"
"Fine, I'll find someone."
"Please try to be specific when making arrangements. I don't want to be embarrassed."
Taylor groaned. "Okay, first of all, I love this level of chaos. Secondly, what's your type? Tall and mysterious?"
"Anyone confident enough to make this work."
"Fine, now get your act together, your fake boyfriend is about to be real in about twenty-four hours."
Mary hung up, this was either the best idea she'd ever had, or the absolute worst.