Ten

The next day at the office, I was going over some paperwork when Julie came in. She looked gloomy, her usual calm demeanor was replaced with a tense expression.

"Julie, where have you been?" I was surprised by her sudden appearance. "And why didn't you take any of my calls."

She crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. "I've been busy," she said curtly.

I raised an eyebrow, sensing there was something wrong. "What's wrong, Julie?" I asked but got no response. "Talk to me, is it Kyle? Did you guys break up? I swear if he---"

"Mason, why did you marry Raven?" Her question caught me off guard. I had expected her to be the one person who would understand the necessity of the arrangement, knowing this was her idea. Why did she seem upset?

Her question caught me off guard. I had expected her to be the one person who would understand the necessity of the arrangement, but now she seemed upset.

"What do you mean by that? I thought you'd be happy about it," I said, trying to gauge he