CHAPTER FOUR– FALLOUT
798 Words
Hailey didn’t sleep that night.
Every time she closed her eyes, her mind replayed the café scene like a glitching movie.
Kieran’s voice.
The black car outside.
My board found out I contacted you.
She didn’t even fully understand what that meant — but it sounded powerful. Dangerous. Way above her pay grade.
By morning, she felt drained. Like her brain had run a marathon without her consent.
She dragged herself out of bed, hair messy, hoodie oversized, energy at zero.
“Get it together,” she muttered to her reflection.
“You’ve survived worse.”
Still… something about this felt different.
This wasn’t just a family drama.
This was a big people problem.
And she was somehow in the middle of it.
Later that afternoon, there was a knock at her door.
Three slow knocks.
Her chest tightened.
She peeked through the peephole.
Kieran.
Of course.
She opened the door halfway. “You just… show up now?”
“Sorry,” he said quietly. “I didn’t want to call again and stress you out.”
She hesitated, then stepped aside. “You’ve already stressed me out. Might as well come in.”
He walked inside, glancing around — modest space, lived-in, warm despite the chaos in her life.
“You live simply,” he said.
She shrugged. “I live realistically.”
He sat on the edge of a chair, elbows resting on his knees.
“My board thinks you’re a liability,” he said bluntly.
She blinked. “Wow. Nice way to describe a human being.”
“They don’t know you,” he replied calmly. “They only see risk. Reputation. Image.”
She scoffed. “So I have a PR problem now.”
“In their eyes,” he admitted.
She crossed her arms. “And in yours?”
He met her gaze.
“In mine… you’re someone who got dragged into something she never asked for.”
That softened her slightly.
“They think I acted irresponsibly,” he continued.
“Meeting you. Talking to you. Acknowledging what happened.”
“So they want you to pretend I don’t exist,” she muttered.
“Yes.”
She laughed bitterly. “Figures.”
He exhaled slowly. “But ignoring you feels wrong.”
Her chest tightened.
Not romantic.
Just… human.
Hailey looked away, her voice quieter.
“I don’t want to be known as that girl,” she admitted.
“The mistake. The rumor. The story people whisper about.”
He nodded. “You deserve control over your narrative.”
She let out a dry laugh. “You talk like a PR textbook.”
“Occupational hazard.”
A beat.
Then she whispered, more honestly than she meant to:
“I just want to feel safe again.”
That landed heavily in the room.
Kieran hesitated like he was stepping onto thin ice.
“There’s a way we could protect both of us,” he said carefully.
She narrowed her eyes. “This sounds like a business pitch.”
“In a way… it is.”
He met her gaze, steady.
“My family is pressuring me to settle down. To appear stable. Responsible.”
She stared. “… Okay?”
“If the public believes I’m in a serious, controlled situation,” he continued,
“It removes suspicion from you. From me. From that night.”
Her heart skipped.
“… What are you suggesting?”
He said it calmly.
“A contract marriage.”
Silence exploded in her head.
“… You’re joking.”
“I’m not.”
She blinked, then laughed in disbelief. “You want to marry me like it’s a Netflix plot?”
“It wouldn’t be romantic,” he clarified quickly.
“Or emotional. Or permanent.”
She stared at him. “This is insane.”
“One year,” he added.
“Private. Controlled. Mostly secret.”
She shook her head. “You don’t even know me.”
“That’s exactly why it could work,” he replied.
“No emotional expectations. No illusions.”
She paced the room, hands in her hair.
“You’re asking me to fake a marriage because your corporate uncles are stressed?”
“They’re more than uncles,” he said dryly.
She laughed again, but it came out shaky.
“This is wild,” she muttered.
“I just wanted peace. Not a billionaire husband.”
He stood slowly.
“You don’t have to answer now,” he said gently.
“I just didn’t want decisions made about you without your voice.”
She stopped pacing.
I looked at him.
“… You’d really do this to protect me?”
He nodded.
“And to protect myself,” he added honestly.
“No lies.”
She looked up at him
- Writer
