The Board Vs His Wife
1259 Words
The email hit Damien’s inbox at 8 AM.
Subject: EMERGENCY BOARD MEETING. 10 AM. YOUR PRESENCE MANDATORY.
Damien read it. Then deleted it.
Ava was in his kitchen. Hair messy. Wearing his shirt again. Making tea.
“Bad news?” she asked, seeing his face.
“Board,” Damien said. “They want to talk about you.”
Ava’s hand froze on the mug. “Me?”
“They think you’re a distraction,” he said flatly. “They want me to end the contract. Publicly.”
Ava set the mug down. Hard. “Right. Because 6 months was always the plan.”
Damien walked to her. “The plan changed, Ava.”
“Did it?” she asked. “Or are you about to choose them?”
Damien didn’t answer. He just took her hand. “Come with me.”
---
10 AM. Cole Group HQ. 30th floor. Glass. Cold.
12 board members. Suits. Cold eyes.
Vanessa was there too. Front row. Smiling.
Damien walked in. Ava beside him. Hand in hand.
Gasps. Whispers.
Mr. Mensah, Head of Board, stood. “Mr. Cole. This is inappropriate.”
“Is it?” Damien said. He didn’t let go of Ava’s hand. “She’s my wife.”
“She’s a contract,” Vanessa said. Loud. “We all know it. End it. Protect the company’s image.”
Damien looked at her. Then at everyone.
“You want to talk image?” he said. “Fine.”
He pulled out his phone. Projected it on the wall.
Blog headlines. Photos. Ava at the gala. Ava at the beach. Ava in his shirt.
`Damien Cole’s Wife: The Woman Who Changed Him.`
`CEO Skips Board Meeting For Her.`
“Image,” Damien said. “Is this. A man who chooses his wife over a meeting.”
Mr. Mensah frowned. “You’re jeopardizing shares. Investors are nervous. A contract marriage looks... unstable.”
“Then we make it stable,” Damien said.
He turned to Ava. In front of everyone.
“Ava Cole,” he said. “I’m not ending this in 5 months. I’m not ending it ever. If you’ll have me. For real.”
The room went dead quiet.
Ava stared at him. Heart pounding. This wasn’t in the script.
“Damien, you don’t have to—”
“I want to,” he cut in. “Contract was a lie. This isn’t.”
He dropped her hand for 1 second. Reached in his pocket. A ring. Simple. Gold. No diamond. Real.
“I don’t have a speech,” he said. “I have this. Marry me. Again. For real this time.”
Ava’s eyes filled. “You’re insane.”
“Probably,” Damien said. “Answer me.”
Ava looked at the board. At Vanessa’s face. At all of them.
Then she looked at him. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, Damien. For real.”
She took the ring. Put it on.
The board erupted. Angry voices. Vanessa stood up.
“This is a mistake!” Vanessa snapped.
Damien’s voice was steel. “Meeting adjourned. My wife and I are leaving.”
He took Ava’s hand. Walked out. Past everyone.
---
In the elevator down, neither spoke.
Then Ava laughed. Nervous. “You just risked a billion-dollar company for me.”
Damien pulled her into his arms. “I’d risk it all again.”
The elevator doors opened to cameras. Paparazzi.
`Damien Cole Quits Board Meeting!`
`Ava Cole Shows New Ring!`
Damien didn’t run. He pulled Ava close. Kissed her forehead. In front of everyone.
“Let them watch,” he said in her ear. “They can’t touch this.”
---
That night, the news was everywhere.
`Cole Group CEO Chooses Love Over Board. Stock Drops 3%.`
Damien didn’t care. He was at home. With Ava.
No contract on the table. No timer.
Just a ring. And her.
Ava lay in his arms. “What happens now?”
“Now?” Damien said, kissing her hair. “Now we live. No clauses. No end date.”
Ava smiled into his chest. “Mr. Cole...”
“Mm?”
“I think I love you.”
Damien went still. Then tighter. “I know, Mrs. Cole. I do too."
Ava’s breath caught. “You do?”
Damien’s hand came up to her face. “I’ve loved you since you told me no in that hospital room.”
Ava laughed through tears. “You’re impossible.”
“So are you,” Damien said. He kissed her. Deep. Sure. “No more contracts, Ava. Just us.”
---
Monday came too fast.
Cole Corp. 40th floor. Emergency board meeting.
Damien walked in with Ava on his arm. No assistant. No PR team. Just his wife.
“Gentlemen,” Damien said. “This is Ava Cole. My wife. And from today, she sits on the board.”
Silence. Then chaos.
“Absolutely not,” Mr. Henshaw stood. “She’s an outsider. A secretary.”
Damien’s eyes went cold. “She’s the reason this company didn’t collapse last quarter.”
Ava stepped forward. “I reorganized your supply chain. Saved you 12 million cedis. You’re welcome.”
Henshaw’s mouth opened. Closed.
Damien slid a folder down the table. “Sign it. Or I sell my shares and tank your stock by close.”
One by one, they signed.
Ava Cole. Board Member.
---
After, in his office, Ava was shaking.
“You just risked everything for me,” she said.
Damien pulled her into his lap. “I’d risk it all again.”
Ava looked at him. “They hate me.”
“Let them,” Damien said. “You’re mine. And I protect what’s mine.”
He kissed her neck. Slow. “Mrs. Cole…”
“Mm?”
“Quit pretending you don’t run this place with me.”
Ava smiled. “I’m not pretending anymore.”
---
That evening, Vanessa called.
Damien answered on speaker.
“You think you won?” Vanessa hissed. “The board will eat her alive.”
Damien’s voice was ice. “The board works for her now. Don’t call again.”
He hung up. Blocked the number.
Ava stared at him. “You’re not scared?”
“Of losing money? No,” Damien said. “Of losing you? Every day.”
Ava climbed into his arms. “Then don’t.”
---
Later that night, they didn’t go to the penthouse.
They went to Ava’s mum’s house.
Her mum was home from hospital. Sitting up. Smiling.
“Mrs. Cole,” her mum said, eyes wet. “My daughter.”
Ava cried. Hard. Damien held her the whole time.
Before they left, her mum pulled Damien aside. “Take care of her. She’s been strong too long.”
Damien nodded. “I will. For life.”
In the car, Ava turned to him. “You meant it, didn’t you?”
Damien took her hand. Kissed it. “Every word.”
---
Back home, Ava burned the contract.
Pages in the fireplace. Ash in the air.
Damien watched. “No regrets?”
Ava shook her head. “Only that I waited so long to choose you.”
Damien pulled her close. “Then choose me. Every day.”
“I will,” Ava whispered. “Mr. Cole.”
“Mrs. Cole,” Damien said. “I love you.”
And for the first time, there were no clauses. No end date.
Just a ring. A boardroom. And a marriage that started fake…
But ended real.
---
END OF CHAPTER 10
- Writer
