The Billionaire regret: Reclaiming his contract Bride

Fallout

CHAPTER 16

The next morning

I woke up to 47 missed calls.

Clients. Vendors. Friends. Random numbers.

And the tabloid was everywhere.

"BILLIONAIRE LOVE TRIANGLE: Damien Cross's Girlfriend Caught with His Brother"

The photos were damning. Me and Ethan, laughing over coffee. The hug outside the café. Both of us smiling.

Innocent moments twisted into something ugly.

My phone rang again. A client.

I answered. "Hello?"

"Ms. Martinez, we're going to have to cancel our contract. We can't be associated with this kind of... scandal."

"But nothing happened..."

"The optics are bad. I'm sorry."

Click.

Three more clients called. Same story.

By 9 AM, I'd lost five contracts.

Maya showed up at my door with coffee and croissants.

"Don't look at social media," she said immediately.

"Too late."

"Sophia..."

"They're calling me a homewrecker. A gold-digger. Saying I'm playing brothers against each other." My voice cracked. "My business is falling apart."

"We'll fix this..."

"How? The photos are real. The spin is wrong, but the photos are real."

"Then we tell the truth. We issue a statement."

"Who's going to believe us?"

Maya sat down. "Damien will. He does believe you, right?"

"Yeah. He does."

"Then that's something."

My phone rang. Damien.

"I'm coming over," he said without preamble.

"You don't have to..."

"I'm already in the car. Be there in five minutes."

He hung up.

"He's coming over," I told Maya.

"Good. You need him right now."

Five minutes later

Damien walked in looking furious.

Not at me. At the situation.

"I've got my PR team on this. Lawyers drafting a statement. We're going to fix this."

"It's not fixable, Damien. The damage is done."

"Then we'll do damage control." He pulled me into his arms. "I'm so sorry. This is my fault."

"It's not..."

"It is. My family. My drama. My..."

"Stop." I pulled back. "This isn't your fault. It's just... life. Complicated, messy life."

"Life that's destroying your business."

I didn't have an argument for that.

"Where's Liam?" Damien asked.

"Still asleep. I haven't told him anything."

"Good. We keep him out of this."

The doorbell rang.

Damien went to answer it.

Ethan stood there.

"Is Sophia..." He stopped. Saw Damien's face. "Oh. You're here."

"Of course I'm here. Did you see the tabloids?"

"Yeah. That's why I came. To apologize." Ethan looked past Damien. Saw me. "Sophia, I'm so sorry. I had no idea there were photographers..."

"It's not your fault," I said.

"Isn't it?" Damien's voice was hard. "You invited her to coffee. You hugged her. You..."

"I was being friendly! She's my nephew's mother!"

"You were being more than friendly and you know it!"

"Damien, stop," I said. "He didn't do anything wrong."

"He's interested in you..."

"So what?" Ethan's voice rose. "Yeah, I think she's great. She's smart and funny and beautiful. But she's with you. She loves you. I'm not trying to steal your girlfriend."

"Then what are you trying to do?"

"Be her friend! Be in my nephew's life! Is that so wrong?"

They stared at each other.

"Boys," Maya said from the couch. "Can we focus on the actual problem? The tabloids? The business falling apart?"

Both of them looked at her.

"Right," Ethan said. "That's why I'm here. I want to help. Issue a joint statement. Make it clear nothing happened."

"Will that even work?" I asked.

"It might. If all three of us present a united front." Ethan looked at Damien. "If your brother and your girlfriend both say nothing happened, people might believe it."

"Or they'll think we're all lying," Damien said.

"Do you have a better idea?"

Damien didn't.

"Fine," he said. "Joint statement. But after this, Ethan, you keep your distance. From Sophia. From Liam. From us."

"Damien..." I started.

"No. I'm done being understanding. I'm done pretending this is fine." Damien looked at his brother. "You want to be in Liam's life? Fine. Family dinners. Supervised visits. But no more one-on-one time with Sophia. No more coffee. No more art galleries. No more anything."

"You can't dictate..."

"I can. And I am." Damien's voice was steel. "This is my family. My son. My girlfriend. And I'm protecting them."

Ethan looked at me. "Is this what you want?"

I looked between them.

The truth? I didn't know.

Part of me thought Damien was being unreasonable.

But part of me understood.

"I think..." I chose my words carefully. "I think some boundaries are healthy. For everyone."

Ethan's face fell. "Right. Okay. Boundaries."

"You can still see Liam..."

"But not you. Not alone." He nodded. "Got it. Message received."

"Ethan..."

"It's fine, Sophia. Really." But his smile was sad. "I'll have my assistant draft a statement. Send it to both of you for approval. We'll release it this afternoon."

He left.

The door closed.

Silence.

"Was I too harsh?" Damien asked quietly.

"I don't know. Maybe. But also... maybe not."

He sat down. Ran his hands through his hair. "I can't do this. I can't sit back and watch my brother get close to you. Even as friends. It's driving me insane."

"He's your brother—"

"Which makes it worse. Because I know him. I know how he is. And I know..." He looked at me. "I know he's better than me. Easier. Less damaged. And I'm terrified you'll realize that."

"Damien..."

"Let me finish." He took my hands. "I'm jealous and insecure and probably being completely irrational. But Sophia, I can't lose you. I won't survive it. So yes, I'm setting boundaries. Hard boundaries. And if that makes me controlling or unreasonable, then fine. I'll be the bad guy. As long as I don't lose you."

I looked at him. At this man who'd been so cold six years ago.

Now he was anything but cold.

He was fire. Passion. Fear. Love.

All of it right on the surface.

"You're not going to lose me," I said.

"Promise?"

"Promise. But Damien, you have to trust me. Really trust me."

"I do trust you..."

"No, you don't. Not completely. Because if you did, you wouldn't be threatened by your brother having coffee with me."

He was quiet.

"I chose you," I said softly. "I keep choosing you. Every single day. When am I going to be enough proof?"

"You are enough..."

"Then act like it." I squeezed his hands. "I love you. Not Ethan. Not anyone else. You. But I can't spend our entire relationship reassuring you that I'm not going anywhere. At some point, you have to believe it."

He stared at me. "You're right."

"I am?"

"Yeah. You are." He pulled me close. "I'm sorry. For being jealous. For making this about my insecurities instead of supporting you when your business is falling apart."

"It's okay..."

"It's not. You lost clients today. You're dealing with tabloids and rumors and hate online. And instead of being there for you, I'm making it about me and Ethan."

"You're here now."

"I should have been here differently." He kissed my forehead. "From now on, I'll do better. I'll trust you. I'll work on my jealousy. I promise."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay. But Damien?"

"Yeah?"

"I still think boundaries with Ethan are good. Not because I don't trust myself. But because it's healthier for everyone. Including him."

Damien looked surprised. "You do?"

"Yeah. He clearly has some feelings. Maybe friendship, maybe more. Either way, distance is better. For now."

"Thank you. For understanding."

"I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for us. For our family."

"Our family," he repeated. "I like the sound of that."

"Me too."

That afternoon

The joint statement went out.

"Recent tabloid photos and articles have mischaracterized a friendly coffee meeting between family members. Ethan Cross and Sophia Martinez are friends and family only. There is no romantic involvement of any kind. We ask for privacy as we navigate this unnecessary media attention. - Damien Cross, Sophia Martinez, Ethan Cross"

The response was... mixed.

Some people believed it.

Most didn't.

The comments were brutal.

"Sure, 'just friends.' We've all heard that before."

"Gold digger playing two billionaire brothers. Classic."

"Damien Cross is a fool if he believes this."

I closed my laptop.

"Don't read the comments," Maya said.

"Too late."

"Sophia, it'll blow over. These things always do."

"When? After I've lost all my clients? After my reputation is destroyed?"

"You'll rebuild. You're talented. People will see that."

"People see what they want to see. And right now, they see a woman caught between two billionaire brothers."

My phone rang. Unknown number.

I almost didn't answer.

But I did.

"Sophia Martinez?"

"Yes?"

"This is Catherine Park from Park Events. I saw your work on the Cross Empire gala. It was magnificent."

"Thank you, but..."

"I also saw the tabloid nonsense. And I don't care about it. What I care about is that you're incredibly talented. I'd like to hire you for a series of events. Ten in total. Over the next six months. If you're interested."

I couldn't speak.

"Ms. Martinez?"

"I... yes. Yes, I'm interested."

"Wonderful. My assistant will send over the details. And Ms. Martinez? Don't let the tabloids define you. Your work speaks for itself."

She hung up.

I stared at my phone.

"What?" Maya asked.

"I just got hired. For ten events. By Catherine Park."

"Catherine Park? THE Catherine Park? The event queen of Los Angeles?"

"Yeah."

Maya screamed. Actually screamed. "Sophia! That's huge! That's... that's everything!"

"Yeah. It is."

Maybe things weren't as bad as I thought.

Maybe I could survive this.

That evening – Damien's apartment

"Catherine Park hired you?" Damien said, grinning. "That's incredible!"

"I know. I still can't believe it."

"I can. You're amazing." He kissed me. "This is just the beginning. Your business is going to explode."

"From your mouth to God's ears."

Liam came running out. "Mommy! Daddy! I made a picture!"

He held up a drawing. Three stick figures. One tall, one medium, one small.

"That's us!" he announced. "Our family!"

Damien and I looked at each other.

"Yeah, buddy," Damien said softly. "That's our family."

Liam beamed.

And despite the tabloids and the drama and the chaos...

Everything felt right.

We were a family.

Messy and complicated and imperfect.

But ours.

And that was enough.

Later that night

Liam was asleep. Damien and I sat on the couch.

"I've been thinking," Damien said.

"About?"

"Moving in together."

I froze. "What?"

"Not right now. But eventually. Soon. Maybe." He looked at me. "I hate going back to my apartment without you. I hate waking up alone. I hate that we're still living separately when we're basically together all the time anyway."

"Damien..."

"I know it's fast. I know we're still rebuilding trust. But Sophia, I don't want to waste any more time. I wasted three years of our marriage. I'm not wasting another day."

"Where would we live?"

"Your place. My place. A new place. I don't care. As long as we're together."

I thought about it.

The idea terrified me.

But also... it felt right.

"Okay," I said.

"Okay?"

"Not tomorrow. Not next week. But soon. Let's start looking."

His face lit up. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Let's do this. Let's be a real family."

He kissed me. Deep and long and perfect.

"I love you," he whispered against my lips.

"I love you too."

And for the first time in six years...

I wasn't scared.

I was hopeful.

Hopeful for our future.

Hopeful for our family.

Hopeful for us.