“Who was that just now?”
Camille Parker turned around in surprise to see her boss, Christian Callahan, standing behind her with a raised eyebrow.
The esteemed CEO of Callahan Group himself.
“Oh, it was…” She hesitated for a moment. “An old friend.”
“An old friend, you say?” There was a wry smile on Christian’s face. “And who might that be?”
She narrowed her eyes at him warily. “It’s a friend from high school,” she replied calmly. “They got my number somehow and wanted to say hello.”
“A friend from high school,” he repeated, nodding thoughtfully. “It seems that you’re meeting up with them on Monday?”
Camille sighed heavily. “Look, Mr. Callahan… it’s not polite to eavesdrop on someone else’s conversation, okay? Let it go. It’s not a big deal.”
“It’s not a big deal, and yet you’re being strangely defensive.” Christian’s features turned cold. “Is it a man? If it is, you know that you can’t be seen with other men in public except for me, right? Especially when the official announcement hasn’t been out yet.”
“Hey, not everything has to be an issue or a scandal,” she said angrily.
“So it is a man.”
Her heart stopped. “…Fine,” she relented. “He’s a guy, but he’s just a friend. I can arrange to meet with him somewhere private if you’re so concerned.”
“Actually, it would be better to meet up while being in disguise. It wouldn’t sit well with me knowing that you’re gonna meet up with some guy in private, hiding away all by yourselves,” Christian said with a lopsided smile on his face.
Camille frowned, but didn’t say anything.
“Well, if it’s a friend from high school, it’s definitely someone from a wealthy family,” he continued on, pacing around the room slowly, purposefully. “Am I right?”
She felt anxiety spike in her chest. “What’s your point?” she demanded.
“Which means that he must be a public figure. Someone who would definitely catch attention if he met up with someone publicly.” Christian stopped pacing and turned to Camille. He still had a smile on his face, but his eyes were dangerously cold. “You realize the risks now, don’t you? If people find out that my wife—”
“I am not your wife,” she said heatedly.
His smile turned amused. “Yet,” he said smoothly. “Still, you’re my fiancée now, Camille. Don’t I have the right to be worried, hmm?”
“Don’t pretend that you care,” she snapped. “The only reason why we are engaged to be married is because of the contract. If it were by choice, I would’ve never even considered agreeing to such a ludicrous request.”
“Ah, but the thing is, you signed the contract already, Camille.” Christian’s expression was smug. “Or should I say… Hailey?”
Camille froze. “I told you not to call me that!” she told him angrily.
“My bad, my bad.” Christian held his hands up in the form of surrender. “Yet still, the fact remains that you are my fiancée now. You agreed to do whatever I say, Camille. I hope you haven’t forgotten that.”
She felt her heart sink to her stomach. “…I hate you,” she growled out.
“Ouch,” he said, feigning hurt. “You sure know how to hurt a man’s feelings, Miss Parker.”
She scowled before turning around to leave. “I still have some paperwork to do, Mr. Callahan. So, if you will excuse me.”
“Ah, of course. I wouldn’t want to keep you from your secretary duties.” He chuckled. “Hope you have fun on Monday with your… friend, Miss Parker.”
Camille ignored him and went on her way out of his office.
***
It had been fourteen years now.
Fourteen years since she had last seen Michael Noah McGregor.
They were in high school when they first met, and the last time they saw each other was so long ago. They were adults now, not teenagers anymore. Everything was different now.
But the moment she heard Michael’s voice…
It was such a foreign feeling.
She did feel that the voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite place where she had heard it the first time. It was only when he called out her old nickname that she realized for sure who he was.
Vanilla.
When they were in high school, they used to hang out with each other a lot. Sometimes they would even eat together during lunch. They would draw attention from the other students wherever they went, and nobody dared to bother them thanks to Michael’s thinly-veiled threats.
She would always buy her favorite dessert without fail each day: ice cream. She wouldn’t eat any other flavor except for vanilla. Even though Michael tried a few times to get her to choose chocolate or strawberry, she stuck to her decision of vanilla flavor.
Since then, he started calling her ‘Vanilla’, for fun.
“It’s even similar to your last name, isn’t it?” he had remarked to her in amusement. “Vanilla and van Gowen. Doesn’t sound too far off!”
She had rolled her eyes at him that day, thinking that there was a childish side to him after all. On the other hand, she had always known that there was a reason why he had picked up all those bad habits at school.
She had never really approved of anyone who resorted to smoking, drinking, doing drugs, and skipping class. She thought they were a waste of time, that they were wasting their lives for some temporary high or pleasure.
But as an adult, she finally came to understand why some people go to bars to drink and even smoke whenever they can. Not just because of the addiction or habit, but because drinking or smoking could take their mind off their stress and problems. It wasn’t the best solution, but some people had their own ways of coping.
She still didn’t approve of such things, but the harsh reality of the world only made her open her eyes to different perspectives. It wasn’t pretty, but what could she do?
She wasn’t the immature, self-confident teenager she once was. She couldn’t go back to scolding people at will. She was a normal person now, with no status and no exciting family background.
Yet still, she felt like a prisoner in her own life.
Camille sighed heavily.
How had she ended up like this?
How could she have unknowingly gotten herself into the Callahans’ trap?
Now she was bound to a contract that she had never wanted in the first place.
A marriage contract with Christian Callahan?
What should she do once the public found out about this? What about her family that she had left behind years ago?
And now, even Michael contacted her out of the blue…
Michael McGregor, a famous public figure who was admired by several prominent people in the city.
There was no doubt that Christian was going to use this to his advantage.
This was just a disaster waiting to happen.