Chapter 7 - The Contract Falls Apart
Two weeks later, the final corporate audit was complete, and the Voss Global executive committee voted unanimously to install Callum as the permanent Chief Executive Officer. Conrad Voss, disgraced and stripped of his voting shares by his own brother’s revelations of financial corruption, had retired to a quiet estate in Arizona, completely out of the picture.
The empire was secure. The succession war was over.
And according to the terms of their private agreement, Callum and Tessa had reached the halfway point of their mandatory six-month public trial period before their scheduled separation review.
On a clear, crisp Tuesday evening, Tessa sat at the grand dining table inside Callum’s penthouse apartment overlooking the glittering expanse of Lake Michigan. The table was set with fine china and silver, though neither of them had touched the gourmet meal prepared by Callum’s private chef.
Between them sat a single, stapled document: the original marriage dissolution agreement.
Callum sat motionless at the opposite end of the table, his dark eyes fixed on the paper between them rather than on Tessa’s face.
“Bennett tells me the legal framework for the amicable separation is fully prepared,” Callum said, his voice terrifyingly steady. “Whenever you are ready to file the paperwork, your personal trust account will be credited with the agreed-upon settlement, and Briar House will remain permanently funded in perpetuity.”
Tessa looked down at the silver fork beside her plate. She didn't pick it up.
For six months, she had lived in this sprawling, marble-floored fortress. She had watched Callum work late into the night, had shared quiet Sunday mornings drinking black coffee on the balcony while watching sailboats drift across the lake, and had listened to him talk about his plans to modernize the company's labor ethics. She had learned how he took his coffee, what kind of silence he preferred when he was stressed, and the subtle way his eyes softened whenever little Evan—whom Callum had quietly sponsored for private tutoring—sent him hand-drawn thank-you cards.
The contract had worked. The empire was saved. The children were protected.
So why did the thought of signing that final paper feel like swallowing shards of broken glass?
“You’re giving me everything we agreed on,” Tessa said quietly, her voice barely audible over the hum of the city lights outside.
“Yes.”
“And you still believe love is just a disease people catch accidentally after signing paperwork?”
Callum’s jaw tightened. He finally looked up, his gaze locking onto hers with a burning intensity that made her breath hitch. “This isn’t about what I believe, Tessa. You deserve a real life. A real partner. Not a cold businessman who trapped you in a marriage of convenience to satisfy a board of directors.”
“Did I look trapped when I chewed out your cousin in a parking lot?” she asked softly, a faint, sad smile touching her lips.
Callum stood up so abruptly his chair scraped loudly against the hardwood floor. He walked around the table, stopping right beside her chair. He didn't touch her, but she could feel the heat radiating off his body, the familiar, intoxicating scent of cedar and expensive cologne wrapping around her.
“I told you in that judge’s chambers that I would never love you,” Callum whispered, his voice dangerously rough, as if the words were being dragged out of him against his will.
Tessa looked up at him, her heart hammering against her ribs. “I remember.”
“I lied,” Callum said.
The silence that followed was absolute. Lake Michigan roared softly against the concrete breakwater far below, but inside the penthouse, the world seemed to shrink down to the space between them.
Callum dropped slowly to one knee beside her chair—the exact same posture he had used the day he crouched down to apologize to little Evan on the sidewalk.
May you like
“I hated you for interrupting my life,” Callum murmured, his hand coming up to gently cup her cheek, his thumb tracing her cheekbone with reverent tenderness. “I hated how you looked at me like I was just another spoiled boy throwing a tantrum. And God help me, Tessa... I fell in love with you the very first time you told me to fix my mistakes.”
Tessa felt a hot tear slip down her cheek, though she was smiling. “Took you long enough, Mr. Voss.”
