Love by Contract

Chapter 5: Unraveling

James POV

The merger meeting was a disaster.

I walked into the boardroom seventeen minutes.

Richard Chen, my CFO, had given me one look and suggested we reschedule.

I agreed too quickly and everyone in that room knew something was wrong.

Now I sat alone in my office, staring at a contract that should have had my full attention.

My phone buzzed. Sofia's name flashed across the screen for the third time in an hour.

I declined the call.

The phone rang again.

I picked up the phone and answered, "What?"

"Don't what me. I've been calling you all morning," Sofia's said, "Did she really go through with the abortion?"

"The clinic confirmed it."

"Did you see the paperwork yourself?"

"I saw the email confirmation."

"That's not the same thing."

I paused.

"What do you want from me, Sofia?"

"I want you to be smart about this. Rose is desperate and desperate people lie."

"You must be kidding me. You assaulted my wife yesterday."

"I was trying to make her see reason"

"By shoving her into furniture hard enough to leave bruises? If I hadn't come home when I did…" I stopped, "You're lucky she's not pressing charges."

"Oh please. She wouldn't dare."

For the first time, I felt the cruelty in Sofia's voice.

"Her sister needs a transplant. The surgery has to happen in the next three weeks or Bella won't survive,” I said.

"And you're going to pay for it?"

"Yes."

"James, that's insane. The contract doesn't obligate you to…"

"I don't care what the contract says," I said, cutting her off.

"Then what do you care about?" Her voice rose, "Because from what I can see, it looks like you care a lot more about your temporary wife than the woman you've been planning a future with.

"When was the last time we had a conversation that didn't revolve around Rose and your dead wife?" Sofia added.

"Don't talk about Catherine like that," I said to her, trying to keep my voice under control.

"There is no us, Sofia."

The silence that followed was deafening.

"What did you just say?"

"I said there's no us. There's never been an us," I said, "We work together and we have dinner occasionally but we're never going to be building a future."

"I can't believe this," She laughed out, "You're choosing her. After everything, you're choosing the girl you hired to babysit your daughter."

"This isn't about choosing"

"Yes, it is! And you've made your choice very clear."

The line went dead.

I stared at my phone, waiting for the guilt to hit but all I felt was exhausted.

My office door opened. Marcus Reeves, my COO, walked in carrying two cups of coffee.

"You look like hell," he said, setting one cup on my desk.

"Sofia and I broke up."

"When?"

"About a minute ago."

"Can't say I'm surprised."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"James, you've been going through the motions with Sofia since Catherine died. Everyone could see it except you."

I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it because he was right.

"Rose was pregnant. The procedure was yesterday," I said quietly, "Except I don't think she went through with it."

Marcus went silent for a while.

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

"The way she moves and the way she keeps touching her stomach when she thinks no one's watching."

"So ask her."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to be the monster who tried to force his wife to have an abortion."

Marcus stood up and moved to the window.

"What are you going to do?" Marcus asked.

"I don't know."

Marcus walked towards the door and left.

I picked up my phone and pulled up my text thread with Rose.

“I need to tell you something. Meet me tonight. 8 PM. The coffee shop where we first discussed the arrangement. Please.”

I hit send.

Three dots appeared. Then disappeared. It appeared again.

“Fine,” she wrote.

My office door burst open with force immediately.

Patricia Brooks, head of PR, matched in with her tablet clutched in her hands, "We have a problem."

She dropped the tablet at me. On the screen was a photo of me and Sofia leaving her apartment yesterday morning.

The headline read: Scott Industries CEO in Secret Affair While Wife Recovers from Alleged Abuse.

My stomach turned.

"Where did this come from?" I asked her.

"Celebrity Whispers. Someone leaked it with claims that your marriage to Rose is a sham."

I stared at the photo and the damning evidence of my own stupidity.

My phone buzzed.

A text from Rose: Never mind about tonight. I've seen enough.

Attached was a screenshot of the same article.

"James?" Patricia said, "What do you want me to do?"

I had reached the crossroads I'd been avoiding.

I could protect my reputation or I could tell the truth.

"Schedule a press conference," I said, "Tomorrow morning. Nine AM."

"James, that's not…"

"Schedule it. I'll handle the rest."

Patricia left, already typing furiously.

I looked down at Rose's text again.

“I'm sorry,” I typed to her.

The message showed as delivered but not read.

Outside my window, the first drops of rain began to fall.

Tomorrow, I would face the press and my board.

But now, I had to face something far more terrifying. The truth about what Rose actually meant to me.

And the possibility that I'd realized it too late.