“No,” I said.
Silence fell. The shift in her demeanor was too dramatic to be considered real. She gasped, her eyes widened. She took two shaky steps back. “You married her without a prenup?”
“Yes.”
“Callahan!” she snapped. “Do you have any idea how irresponsible that is?”
“Yes,” I said calmly as I forced myself not to react.
“You’re a billionaire!”
“I’m aware.”
“And you married a woman without protecting your assets?”
“You were forcing Victoria onto me,” I grumbled, a little annoyed. "I wasn't thinking."
“That’s obvious!” She began pacing the hallway, agitation radiating off her.
“This is exactly the kind of reckless decision-making that ruins men,” she continued. “If you divorce her now, she could walk away with half of everything.”
I said nothing. This would probably be the best time to reveal that Vani and I still have a contract in place that protects our assets, but I quite liked the look of utter distress on her face.
“You cannot divorce her.”
That… was not the reaction I expected. I thought she would fight tooth and nail to rid me of this marriage, even if it meant there'd be a battle in court, but I was obviously wrong.
“I thought you didn’t like her,” I said slowly.
“That’s irrelevant,” she snapped.
“It seems pretty relevant.”
“It isn’t,” she insisted.
Her mind was clearly racing now. “Divorce without a prenup would be financially disastrous.”
“She wouldn’t do that. She just apologized to you.”
“She's probably planning to come off as a good daughter-in-law so she'll win in court,” my mother said sharply.
“You’re the one who wanted me to leave her,” I pointed out. "She doesn't know I want a divorce."
"That was before I knew you were foolish enough to marry her without a prenup,” she scowled. “Which means divorce is no longer a viable option.”
“So your solution,” I said slowly, “is for me to stay in a marriage you hate.”
She huffed. “It’s the only logical choice.”
27- Evania
There's something to be said about a man who doesn't understand you but trusts you enough to go along with whatever you say.
Not every man could do that. Most needed explanations, reassurances, or at the very least, some sort of preview of the chaos you were about to unleash. But Callahan had agreed to my plan and executed it perfectly.
I wasn't entirely sure if that said more about his confidence or his sanity; either way, it worked in my favor.
Even from across the room, I caught the flicker of confusion on his mother's face as she watched me. Her eyebrows knitted together, eyes narrowing first in suspicion, then her lips pressed tight with irritation. She pursed them, clearly trying to decipher what exactly I was up to.
