**Playing with Fire**
Thomas threw his head back, choking with laughter. «You didnt! Right to her face? In front of everyone?»
«What else was I supposed to do?» Edward drummed his fingers nervously on the table. «I’m married. She wont leave me alonecompletely lost all sense of decency. The whole departments noticed by now.»
«Ah, youre too proper for your own good,» Thomas teased. «Another man wouldve taken the chance, but youve got to play the saint.»
«Weve different ideas of loyalty,» Edward replied mildly, though weariness flickered in his eyes. «When it was just hints, I pretended not to notice. Didnt want to be rude or make a scene.»
«Thats your mistake, old boy,» Thomas said, raising a knowing eyebrow. «Your silence gave her hope.»
«What does she even want from me? Plenty of single men about!»
«For women like her, a wedding ring isnt a barrierits a challenge,» Thomas observed philosophically. «Proof youre worth having.»
Sophia swept into their office like a sudden spring breeze. She wasnt a classic beautyher features were too sharp, her voice low and slightly husky. But when she smiled, the world seemed to shift. The HR manager later admitted shed nearly rejected Sophiauntil that smile changed her mind in an instant.
At first, Edward genuinely liked her. Her energy and quick wit were a breath of fresh air in the dull office routine. He helped her settle in, shared advicesimple kindness, nothing more. A devoted family man, he saw her as a bright colleague, almost a younger sister.
But boundaries blurred. Her jokes turned sly, her touches lingered too long. Edward, an introvert unused to such boldness, faltered. His usual sense of propriety spun off course. He began avoiding her, skipping shared lunches. Yet his retreat only spurred her on.
***
Edward was nearing forty, a man who maintained order in his life with deliberate effort. Tall but slightly stooped, as if trying to seem smaller. Dark hair, neatly trimmed, already streaked with premature silverheredity and responsibility combined. His eyes were calm, but beneath them lay a constant, quiet exhaustionnot from work, but from holding himself tense. He wore thin-framed spectacles, which hed remove and rub nervously when agitated. His clothes were plain, practical: muted shirts, tailored trousers. No flashy details.
Edward disliked crowds. Flirtation, office politicsit all felt foreign, draining. His world was quiet, orderly, focused. He loathed conflict, preferring silence over confrontation.
Yet within him stood an unshakable fortress: his family. Helen and the children werent just part of his lifethey were its purpose. His loyalty wasnt virtue but instinct, as natural as breathing.
Sophia fixated on him from the start. He alone ignored her charms. To seduce him wasnt just about attentionit was proof she was irresistible. A faithful, married man falling for her would mean she mattered. And experience told her no «perfect husband» was truly content.
Within weeks, Sophia gushed to her friend Emily about her feelings. Emily listened, uneasy.
«Another married man? Sophia, stop. Hes got two children.»
«Oh, details! Hes unhappyI can tell. Trapped in a gilded cage. That wife of his… Helen… she doesnt understand him. Shes just a housekeeper, and his souls crying for freedom!»
«How would you know? Have you even met her?»
«I dont need to! Hes so proper, so buttoned-up… Its not natural. Theres pain beneath. Hes afraid to admit it. I want to help himshow him his true self.»
«Sophia, you sound like a bad romance novel. You dont want to help him. You want him because hes forbidden. This isnt a gameits his life!»
«You dont understand, Emily. This is my life. I feel were meant to be. Hes lost. That perfect family? Ill find the cracks. I always do.»
***
A business trip to Manchester became Edwards trial. Who volunteered to join him? Sophia, of course. With clients, she was flawless, and Edward nearly relaxeduntil a knock came at his hotel door late that night.
«My rooms freezingthe radiators broken,» Sophia said, wrapped in a robe that barely concealed her nightgown.
Edwards stomach dropped. Panic, thick and sour, tightened his throat. He pictured Helens steady, trusting gaze.
«WaitIll fetch you a blanket,» he muttered, turning away. «Here.»
Sophia pouted but took it.
«Youve locked yourself in a cage and thrown away the key,» she said as she left. «Pity. Theres another man beneath all that restraint.»
Edward leaned his forehead against the closed door, pulse hammering. Relief warred with a strange, heavy pityfor her, for himself, for the absurdity of it all.
Back at work, Sophia seemed to forget him. Edward began to breathe againuntil she asked for a ride home. He refused.
«Do I disgust you?»
«Youre brilliant, Sophia,» he said carefully. «But I love my wife. Ive a family»
«So thats all?» Her eyes glittered dangerously.
«No» He stumbled, but she was already gone. He regretted his hesitation instantly. And rightly so.
That night, Helens furious whisper woke him.
«Edward, have you lost your mind? What is this woman doing sending you these photos at midnight?»
He sat bolt upright. On his phone was Sophiaposed in lace, barely dressed.
«Helen, its not what you think!» Voice cracking, he confessed everything.
Helen exhaled sharply. «You hopeless fool,» she said, anger and tenderness mixed. «Fine. I believe you. But tell her this: if she tries again, Ill come to that office and make a scene theyll gossip about for years.»
The next day, Edward called Sophia into a meeting room. She entered, glowing, expecting surrender.
«Sophia, youve crossed every line,» he began, forcing steadiness.
«Oh, dont be dramatic,» she purred, reaching for his face. «She doesnt deserve you.»
Edward recoiled. Her hand hung in the air.
«What are you implying?»
«That your perfect lifes a lie,» she said sweetly. «From the outsideloving wife, princess daughter, heir son…»
«We *are* happy.»
«Wake up, Edward!» She leaned over the desk. «Your son looks nothing like you! Your daughters your image, but Jamesnot a trace!»
Edward went cold. He stared at her triumphant face, every shred of sympathy dissolving.
«And I can prove it.» She slapped a paper on the desk. «See? Paternity probability: 0%. Useful to have friends in useful places. Believe me now?»
Edward met her eyes. The anger hed suppressed for months finally broke freeicy, precise.
«I tolerated your advances. But my children? Thats unforgivable. James isnt my blood. Thats mine and Helens business alone. Since youre so keen on pryinghis parents, Helens sister and her husband, died. Hes *ours* now. Satisfied?»
Sophia paled. «I didnt know»
«Nor do I know how you got this testif its even real. I thought you were lonely. Now I see youre dangerous. Resign by tonight, or I go to the police. And if you ever come near my children» His quiet voice turned lethal. «youll wish it was just the police.»
Sophia quit that day. Edward came home early, finding eight-year-old Lily bent over homework and six-year-old James piecing together a puzzle. He held them both longer than usual, breathing in the scent of their hair.
That evening, as the children slept, Edward sat across from Helen.
«We have to tell him,» he said softly. «Better he hears it from us than a stranger.»
Helens eyes brimmednot with grief, but relief. «Im scared.»
«So am I. But well do it together.»
A week later, after cake, Edward knelt before James.
«Lily, JamesMummy and I need to talk about something important. About how much we love you.» He met Jamess gaze. «Remember how we say familys what matters most? And that families come in all ways. James… Im not your birth father. Your first parents were Mummys sister and her husbandwonderful people who arent with us anymore. But Mummy and I? We chose you. Thats the strongest love of all.»
James pondered this, then hugged them and asked for more cake. The weight lifted, leaving only crumbs on the table and quiet talkno room for Sophia or her illusions. Everything, at last, was as it should be.
