Chapter 17
1149 Words
The silence between them was no longer comfortable—it was charged, heavy with things unsaid and choices left dangling like sharp glass over their heads.
The morning after the gala, Calla stared at the headlines on her phone, eyes burning.
“Celeste King Exposes Secret NDA – Billionaire Damian Vale Violated Love Contract?”
“Wife or Weapon? Calla Monroe’s Rise to Billionaire Spotlight Has a Dark Twist.”
“Scandalous Footage Could Destroy the Vale Legacy.”
Damian hadn’t said a word since he left the room that night.
He hadn’t returned to bed.
In the kitchen
Calla found him sitting at the kitchen island, wearing the same dress shirt from the night before, sleeves rolled to his elbows, tie discarded somewhere in a corner.
“You didn’t sleep,” she said quietly.
“I didn’t want to.”
She moved closer. “You’re scaring me.”
His eyes were hollow. “She has video, Calla. A recording from the Hamptons trip two years ago.”
“The one before the breakup?”
He nodded. “She spliced it—edited it to make it look like I promised her marriage.”
“But you didn’t?”
“I said I loved her. I said I wanted a future. But not marriage. Not a contract. She’s twisting it.”
“And now she wants… what?”
“Money,” he growled. “And humiliation. She wants you gone.”
Calla exhaled sharply. “Then we fight.”
Damian’s gaze flicked to her. “Even if she drags your name deeper into the dirt?”
She stepped closer. “You once said this marriage wasn’t built on love. Maybe not. But I’m still your wife. And I’m not walking away because your ex is obsessed.”
A beat passed.
He leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers. “God, you’re everything she’s not.”
Later that day – At Vale Corp Legal
The air was tense. Celeste’s legal team arrived with a stack of demands.
“She wants five million,” Damian’s lawyer said grimly. “And public acknowledgment that the marriage to Calla violated the emotional agreement clause in the NDA.”
Calla snorted. “What does that even mean?”
“It means she wants Damian to say you were a mistake,” the lawyer replied. “On the record.”
Calla froze.
Damian’s jaw locked. “I’d rather burn the entire company to the ground.”
“She’ll leak the footage,” the lawyer warned. “And if public opinion turns—”
“Let it,” Calla said suddenly.
Everyone turned.
“Let her leak it,” she repeated. “Let the world see how pathetic she looks clinging to a man who moved on.”
“Calla—”
“I’m tired of hiding, Damian. She wants a war? Let’s give her one.”
That evening – The first crack
They didn’t expect Celeste to act so quickly.
Before nightfall, the video was online.
Damian, in a candlelit suite, smiling at Celeste, saying, “You make me believe in forever.”
Spliced. Cropped. Out of context.
But brutal.
Calla’s phone exploded.
Messages. Comments. Threats.
“Homewrecker.”
“Gold digger.”
“You’ll never be her.”
She dropped the phone like it was burning.
Damian walked in, phone still at his ear. “Damage control. Now. Pull every deal connected to King PR—”
“I need air,” Calla choked out.
“Wait—Calla!”
But she was already gone.
Outside – New York night
The city buzzed around her, indifferent to the storm in her chest.
She ducked into a café, ignoring the paparazzi tailing behind.
And that’s when a hand touched her shoulder.
She turned.
Celeste.
In a sleek white trench coat, sunglasses at night like a cruel joke.
“Well, well,” she purred. “If it isn’t Mrs. Vale.”
Calla stared at her, hatred simmering beneath the surface.
“You really don’t know when to quit,” Calla said.
Celeste smiled sweetly. “Oh, darling. I haven’t even started.”
Back at the penthouse
Damian was pacing when Calla returned. “Where the hell were you?”
“Out. Trying to breathe.”
“You can’t just vanish, Calla. They follow you.”
“So let them!” she snapped. “Let them see the real us instead of whatever twisted version Celeste is selling.”
Damian’s hands raked through his hair. “You think I don’t want to fix this?”
“I think you’re too busy cleaning up her messes instead of protecting me.”
“I am protecting you!”
“No,” she said, voice trembling. “You’re protecting your image. Your legacy. Not me.”
Silence.
Damian walked to the window, staring out at the glittering skyline.
“She wasn’t always like this,” he said finally. “I saw the signs too late.”
“And now?” Calla asked.
He turned. “Now I see you.”
Tears burned her eyes. “Then act like it.”
The next day – A press conference
Calla walked beside Damian into the press hall.
Dozens of cameras. Lights. Microphones.
He reached for her hand. She hesitated—then laced their fingers.
When he spoke, the world held its breath.
“I’ve made mistakes,” Damian began. “But marrying Calla was never one of them.”
A murmur rippled through the room.
“The video footage released was manipulated,” he continued. “I will not give in to blackmail. And I will not walk away from the woman who stood beside me when everything else collapsed.”
He turned to her.
“She is not a stunt. She is my wife.”
Calla’s heart thundered.
In that moment, the lies began to crumble—and the truth took its first breath.
That night – A storm breaks
They returned home in silence. No cameras. No threats. Just the quiet aftershock of a war survived.
In the dark of their bedroom, Damian touched her cheek.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“For what?”
“For not leaving.”
She leaned into his touch. “We’re not done yet.”
“No,” he said. “But we’re closer.”
He pulled her close, lips brushing hers, the kiss slow and reverent. Not like the others.
This one tasted like something real.
Epilogue of the Chapter – Celeste’s last move
Far across town, Celeste stared at the photo of them on the press stage—Damian and Calla, united.
She downed her wine.
Then opened a locked drawer.
Inside: a pregnancy test. Positive. Dated from two months ago.
She smiled.
“Oh Calla, darling,” she whispered, “you may have his love now… but let’s see what happens when he finds out he left something behind.”
- Writer
