Chapter 1 - The Cold Exchange
The rain outside the judge’s private chambers in downtown Chicago did not merely fall; it hammered against the thick glass with an aggressive, rhythmic fury, blurring the towering skyscrapers into streaks of gray and charcoal. Inside, the air was climate-controlled, dry, and sterile. Forty-three minutes earlier, Tessa Harland had legally become Mrs. Callum Voss. Thirty-eight minutes earlier, they had forced polite smiles for a private photographer who looked as though he would rather be anywhere else on earth. Twenty minutes earlier, Callum’s senior attorney, Bennett Crowley, had slid a thick document across the mahogany table outlining the exact date, time, and conditions under which their contract marriage would dissolve.
Callum Voss stood by the window, his broad shoulders squared inside a charcoal suit that probably cost more than Tessa’s entire wardrobe combined. One hand rested casually in his trouser pocket. When he turned to look at her, his expression was not that of a newlywed groom, but of a CEO evaluating a hostile corporate takeover.
“I will respect you,” Callum said, his voice deep, measured, and entirely devoid of warmth. “I will protect you while you carry my name. You will have everything stipulated in the agreement, including the endowment for Briar House.”
Tessa glanced down at the plain platinum band resting on her left ring finger. It felt heavy. Unfamiliar. She traced the metal edge with her thumb before looking back up at him.
“And?” she prompted, her voice steady.
His jaw tightened, a muscle jumping beneath his cleanly shaved skin. “I will never love you.”
There it was. The sentence Callum had clearly rehearsed in his head on the drive over, convinced as he was that emotion was a terminal disease women caught accidentally after signing financial contracts with wealthy men.
Tessa reached down, picked up her canvas tote bag, and slid the marriage contract inside with a quiet zip. “Excellent.”
For the first time all morning, a flicker of genuine confusion crossed Callum’s impeccably groomed features. “Excellent?”
“Yes.”
“That is your response?”
“What were you expecting? Tears? A dramatic collapse against the judges mahogany desk?” Tessa adjusted the strap of her bag over her shoulder. “You were making our situation clear. So am I.”
She stepped forward, closing the distance between them until she was standing right in his personal space. She raised one hand and tapped a single fingernail against the lapel of his expensive suit.
“If you ever send your corporate security thugs inside my classroom without my permission again, I walk out,” Tessa said, her tone dropping an octave. “Permanently.”
Callum’s face changed. Barely a micro-expression—a tightening around the eyes—but Tessa saw it.
“The agreement requires thirty days’ notice for termination,” he countered smoothly.
“The agreement also states that I may terminate immediately without penalty if you interfere with my work, monitor my private communications, or involve the vulnerable children at Briar House in your family’s boardroom games.”
“That clause was excessive.”
“You signed it anyway.”
“You refused to proceed without it.”
“Exactly.” Tessa shouldered her bag completely. “You don’t love me, Mr. Voss. I don’t obey you. We are already becoming an extraordinary married couple.”
Without waiting for his reply, she turned on her heel and walked out through the heavy oak door, leaving it slightly ajar.
Callum remained standing beside the window for several long seconds, staring at the empty doorway. Behind him, Bennett Crowley cleared his throat softly, shuffling a stack of legal papers into his leather briefcase.
May you like
“Well,” the attorney murmured, adjusting his glasses. “You certainly chose a spirited partner for your board presentation, Callum.”
Callum kept his gaze fixed on the empty corridor. A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I am beginning to question every single decision that brought me to this room.”
