🥀Chapter 05🥀

The silence stretched.

And stretched.

Somewhere in the middle of it, Selene became uncomfortably aware of exactly what she had just said. She realized how crazy it sounded coming out of her mouth, and how Finn Leighton was staring at her in the dim light. He looked at her like she was some random object that had dropped out of the sky right in front of him, and he hadn't decided what category to put her in yet.

She kept her chin up anyway.

Inside, she was beginning to feel spectacularly stupid.

Then he laughed.

It wasn't the kind of laugh people make when they are genuinely surprised. It wasn't big or unguarded. It was a short sound that lived entirely inside his chest and never quite made it to his eyes. It was a boardroom laugh. It was the response of a guy who had heard weird things before and had a professional way of handling them.

"Miss Calloway." He tilted his head slightly. Those ocean eyes carried a tiny hint of amusement, if amusement was something he actually allowed himself to feel. "I think maybe the champagne has been a little more generous with you tonight than usual."

Selene slowly uncrossed her arms. Then she crossed them again, completely on purpose.

"I barely drank much," she said. "And before you assume this is just something unstable women say at parties, let me clarify. It's a contract marriage. Not a real one. There's a huge difference."

Finn looked at her for a second. The almost-smile didn't leave his face, but it changed. It became more serious, more attentive.

"A contract marriage," he repeated, like he was turning the words over in his mind to check their weight.

"A legal arrangement. Public-facing. Good for both of us," she said, keeping her voice totally even. "Not a love story. Not a lifetime commitment. It's just a business deal between two people who happen to want the same result."

"And what result is that?" He angled his head. "You can't just walk up to a guy you've never spoken to and propose marriage without a reason that makes sense, Miss Calloway. For all you know," the corner of his mouth twitched upward, "I could be a serial killer."

"If you were a serial killer, you'd have way worse things to worry about than my proposal," she shot back.

Something flickered in his eyes.

"Besides," he said, straightening up a bit. His voice cooled right back down to its default temperature. "I don't do complications. Wives are complications. Deals with conditions and expectations and," he waved one hand quickly, "all the fake drama that comes with it. It's not something I have space for."

Selene looked at him steadily.

"I've heard the rumors," she said.

He raised an eyebrow just a tiny bit. "Have you."

"About why you've been single for so long. About what people assume when a guy your age, with your looks and your money, shows zero interest in women." She held his gaze without flinching. "Marrying me would kill that specific gossip permanently."

The silence that followed was completely different from the first one.

Finn blinked.

Once. Slowly.

She would realize later that this was the only genuinely shocked thing she ever saw him do.

To be honest, she was a little surprised at herself, too. She wasn't completely sure where this version of herself had come from tonight. This new version walked across crowded ballrooms, proposed to a stranger on dim patios, and said the quiet part out loud without her voice shaking once. She guessed that the horrible conversation with her dad in the garden had burned away whatever filter she used to have.

And she wasn't entirely sure she wanted that filter back.

Finn stared at her for a long moment. He had already hidden the surprise somewhere deep down, replacing it with that watchful, analyzing expression that seemed to be his normal face.

"You still haven't given me the real reason," he said. He leaned forward a little bit. He wasn't being aggressive, but he got close enough that the distance between them shrank, and his scent hit her without warning. It was warm, like mint mixed with sweeter smells like strawberry and wood. "Make it make sense, Miss Calloway. All of it. Why me? Why tonight? Why marriage specifically?" His voice dropped lower. "Why?"

Selene's throat suddenly felt much tighter than it had a minute ago.

But she stood her ground.

When she spoke, her voice was quiet. She stopped using her professional boardroom tone and dropped the calm mask she'd been wearing all night like armor.

"My father," she said. "He took everything from me tonight. My future. I gave years of my life to that man and that business, and he threw them away like they didn't cost him a thing." She kept her eyes locked on his. "I want to watch him break. I want to stand right next to the one person who makes Victor Calloway lose sleep at night, and I want to watch my father completely fall apart." She paused. "You want him gone just as much as I do. I don't know your reasons, and tonight I'm not asking. I'm just saying we could use each other." She lifted her chin slightly. "And that rumor about you dies the second people see us together. That's a pretty big deal."

Finn just looked at her.

He straightened up. Something had definitely changed in his face. It wasn't warmth, but it felt like a door opening just a tiny crack. He was re-evaluating her in real-time behind those eyes.

Then he moved.

He stepped right past her toward the doors, walking casually as always, as if the conversation had just reached a natural pause.

"I'll think about it," he said.

Selene turned around quickly. "When?" The word slipped out before she could make it sound professional. "When exactly are you going to think about it, and when will you.."

"When I've thought it through." He had already half-turned back toward the door. Only his profile was visible in the lantern light, showing his jawline and the tiny hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. "Miss Calloway."

He said her name like he was putting a final period at the end of a sentence.

Then he walked back inside.

Selene stood completely alone on the terrace. The cool night air blew around her, and the lanterns cast a small, warm glow. She watched the door close behind Finn Leighton, standing perfectly still for a second.

Then she let out a long, slow breath.

She felt somewhere right between totally terrified and completely electric.

The terrace door burst open.

It wasn't super dramatic, since Jessica was way too good at being sneaky for that, but she stepped out with the kind of rush that meant she'd been hiding behind something for way too long and her knees had finally had enough.

She appeared right at Selene's side like she had just materialized out of thin air. She was a little out of breath, and her red dress looked completely fine despite what was clearly a major spy mission.

Selene didn't even turn around to look at her.

"How long were you back there?" she asked.

"That is not the point right now." Jessica planted herself right in front of Selene, blocking her view. She had that exact look of pure shock and ultimate pride that only a best friend could make. "I knew it. I knew it the second you put that glass down. I watched you walk across that ballroom and I told myself, Jessica, something is about to happen that you are going to have very strong feelings about."

"You followed me."

"I was concerned," Jessica said with total dignity. "You walked right up to Finn Leighton, Selene. Finn Leighton. I was operating from a place of genuine worry for your safety."

"You hid behind a plant."

"It was a decorative pillar, and that's not the issue." Jessica stopped herself to regroup. Her eyes narrowed. "What did you say to him? I couldn't hear anything, I could only see your faces. And his face did something. It did a thing. What did you say that made his face do that thing?"

"What thing?"

"The shocked thing! Finn Leighton looked shocked, Selene. From what I understand, that is basically the human equivalent of someone else fainting. So what did you say?"

"Jessie."

"What?"

Selene finally turned around to look at her best friend properly. The lantern light was warm between them.

"Marriage," Selene said.

Jessica's mouth dropped open.

Nothing came out.

In Selene's experience, this was extraordinarily rare.

"I..." Jessica blinked. "Sorry. You said..."

"Marriage."

"To Finn Leighton?"

"A contract marriage." Selene turned back to look up at the sky. It was dark, wide, and totally indifferent above the soft glow of the patio lights, full of stars that didn't care at all about the drama of the evening. "Temporary. Structured. Good for both of us. Now I'm just waiting for his answer."

The silence from Jessica lasted for about four full seconds.

For Jessica, that was the exact equivalent of anyone else needing to sit down.

"You..." she started, stopped, and started again. "Contract..." Another stop. She pressed her free hand briefly to her collarbone like she was checking her own pulse. "Selene. My love. My best friend since we were fifteen years old and you lent me your notes for an exam I hadn't studied for."

"You never gave those back, by the way."

"...are you telling me that you walked up to a guy you have never spoken to in your life, at your own birthday party, on a dim terrace, and proposed marriage?"

"Contract marriage," Selene said again, completely calm. "There's a difference."

Jessica just stared at her.

Then she looked up at the sky, too.

Then she looked back at Selene.

"And he said?"

"He said he'd think about it."

"He said..." Jessica let out a long, disbelieving breath. "Right. Okay. He said he'd think about it." She nodded slowly, the way someone does when their brain is processing info at a slight delay. "So you proposed to the most terrifying man in that building, and he said he'd think about it, and you're just..." she waved her hand at Selene's perfect composure, "...standing here looking at the stars like you just asked him if he wanted a refill on his drink."

Selene was quiet for a moment.

"I'll wait for his reply," she said simply. "Patiently."

She looked back up at the sky.

The stars looked right back.

Jessica followed her gaze upward, standing right beside her in the cool night air. For maybe the second time in their eleven years of friendship, she was completely, genuinely speechless.

Then, she spoke quietly.

"Your father is going to lose his entire mind."

The corner of Selene's mouth twitched upward.

Just a little bit.

"That," she said softly, "is exactly the point."