"Seamus." Tessa's voice is gentle but firm. "We see ERS marriages end for all kinds of reasons," she says. "We even write in an end date from the beginning. I know this is hard for you to hear, but from a contractual standpoint, your arrangement worked."
The wordworkedscrapes against something raw in my chest.
Tessa exhales.
"For what it's worth, Rosanna sounded deeply hurt. That doesn’t sound like indifference to me."
Tessa hangs up after reminding me that space is not the same thing as finality.
I sit at my desk and try to do what I've always done when facing a problem: break it down into components, analyze the variables, find the strategic solution.
But there is no strategic solution. This isn't a business problem that can be solved with the right positioning or the proper allocation of resources.
This is a human problem, and I've spent so long treating my life like a corporation to be managed that I've forgotten how to think like a person who's allowed to want things for reasons that have nothing to do with efficiency or optics.
My phone buzzes with an email from Malcolm. I don't bother reading it.
I already know what it says.
The board meeting this morning lasted less than twenty minutes. Malcolm presented the revised offer. The offer they had gone public with already.
I sat at the head of the table while they voted.
When it was my turn, I raised my hand too.
There wasn't another option.
I hate that there was no good option.
I hate that the board did this to me.
But the thing I hate most of all is that Rosanna is gone.
And it's my fault, and I don't know how to fix it.
I think about my father—about the legacy he built, the company he grew from nothing, the empire he expected me to protect and expand. He would have handled this situation differently.
He would have let Rosanna leave without a second thought, would have focused on the business, would have seen the marriage as a failed experiment to be written off and moved on from.
Personal feelings didn't factor into his decisions.
The company always came first.
And I've been trying so hard to be him. To prove that I could manage the empire he built, that I was worthy of inheriting his position, that I wasn't the reckless playboy anymore.
I reformed myself, locked down my emotions, and learned to treat every relationship like a transaction that could be managed with the right controls in place.
But what did it get me?
An empty penthouse. A wife who left because I couldn't trust her enough to be honest.
A company and a legacy I've protected at the cost of everything that actually mattered.
Rosanna deserves someone who chooses her without hesitation.
Someone who doesn’t hide behind structure and strategy when things get uncomfortable.
Someone who risks instead of calculates.
