Chapter 14: The Truth Finally Speaks

The client's call came at nine the next morning.

I expected anger.

Instead, the first thing I heard was an apology.

Maren, we owe you one.

I sat up straighter.

For what?

For believing the campaign was what Callum represented it to be.

The woman introduced herself as the client's legal director.

She told me they had reviewed the original proposal, production schedules, and talent agreements.

Callum had never disclosed that the campaign's central relationship was being changed.

The relationship between Callum and me had been part of the original campaign.

I had never agreed to replace myself with Delaney.

Then she told me something that made my stomach drop.

The proposal listed me as the client's primary relationship contact.

I had never signed that proposal.

Your name was used without your authorization, she said.

For months, Callum had been using my position and credibility to build a campaign around someone else.

When the call ended, my attorney contacted me.

She told me the vehicle agreement was clean and my documented payments were clear.

The business records also showed my financial contributions.

Then she mentioned the joint account.

Callum had transferred part of the studio's upcoming campaign revenue into a separate account three weeks earlier.

My hands went cold.

I asked her to trace every transfer.

That afternoon, Callum appeared at my apartment.

He looked exhausted.

Not heartbroken.

Cornered.

Maren, please.

You shouldn't be here.

I need to explain.

You already explained.

You don't understand what happened.

Then explain it without saying marketing, chemistry, or career.

He went silent.

That silence told me enough.

You planned this, I said.

Not the way you're thinking.

You submitted a campaign months ago with Delaney.

Yes.

You created a replacement plan.

It wasn't a replacement plan.

You called it Maren Replacement Footage.

His face changed.

For the first time, Callum had no polished answer.

Where did you get that?

From your family.

He looked away.

I was going to tell you.

When? After the wedding?

Maren, please.

After Delaney had taken every photograph, every family introduction, and every part of my life you could turn into content?

It wasn't supposed to become this.

But it did.

He stepped closer.

I love you.

The words sounded less like love and more like a request for forgiveness.

You loved having me, I said quietly.

You loved having someone who handled the parts of your life you didn't want to handle.

That's not fair.

Neither was putting a cat carrier in my seat and telling me to take a train to my own engagement party.

He flinched.

What do you want from me?

Nothing.

I want you to stop contacting me unless it's through my attorney.

You're really ending seven years like this?

You ended them long before I did.

His phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at the screen and his face went pale.

The client, he whispered.

He answered the call.

I couldn't hear the other side, but I could hear his response.

No, please don't terminate the contract.

I'll fix it.

There was a long pause.

Then Callum looked at me.

They terminated the campaign, he whispered.

I didn't celebrate.

I simply stepped back.

I'm sorry, he said.

Don't be sorry now.

Be honest next time.

I closed the door.

Ten minutes later, my attorney sent me another message.

The subject line read Final Accounting Review.

I opened the attachment.

It was a transfer record.

The recipient account belonged to Delaney.

The description made my blood run cold.

Advance payment for future partnership.

Callum hadn't just planned a future without me.

He had already started paying for it.