Chapter 6

CARRIE

The next day at noon, the boardroom felt like it was holding its breath.

Shane had called the emergency meeting with barely an hour’s notice. The entire executive team was seated. I sat two seats from the end, bracing for a storm, knowing so well that Nathaniel would fight back at Shane, though he already knew I had shown Shane the report.

Shane entered the room, calm and confident in a dark suit, no tie, eyes unreadable. Every gaze turned to him as he took his place at the head of the table.

“Good afternoon,” he said, his voice cool and clipped. “I will go straight to the purpose of this meeting guys,” he looked around the table. “As of today, the proposed merger with SharpLens Media is officially canceled.”

“What?” someone near the center whispered.

Nathaniel let out a dry chuckle. “The merger is practically done. What do you mean canceled?”

Shane didn’t blink, he repeated, “the deal is off. Effective immediately.”

Nathaniel leaned forward, disbelief turning sharp. “We’ve been pushing for this for months, Shane. Why the sudden change of heart? What happened?”

“I did my due diligence,” Shane said confidently. He did acknowledge what I did, he didn't even glance at me. “There were discrepancies in SharpLens’s filings. So I had to take a closer look.” He concluded.

My heart sank. He was doing it again. Taking the credit for what I did.

I wanted to stand up and say, ‘No, Mr. CEO, I found it: tell them the truth, that I put it all together.’ But I didn’t. Calvin’s words echoed in my mind. ‘Pick your battles, Carrie.’ I told myself and looked on.

“So you’re saying no merger again?” someone else asked.

Shane nodded. “I discovered multiple falsified disclosures. Inflated assets. Hidden debt. And JoAnn Caldwell, Nathaniel’s wife’s sister, is a significant shareholder in SharpLens. That connection was never disclosed, making it all look bad.”

He looked straight at Nathaniel when he said it.

Nathaniel’s face went red. “Discovered by whom?” he snapped.

“By me,” Shane said without missing a beat. “I said that already.”

I felt my throat tighten.

Nathaniel scoffed. “What exactly are you trying to do?”

Shane tilted his head. “I’m protecting this company.”

Nathaniel’s temper flared. “You don’t know what you’re doing!” he shouted back at Shane. “You were handed this company on a platter. You don’t know a damn thing about how to manage a company of this magnitude, boy!”

I saw Shane’s jaw tense. “No,” he replied coldly. “I’m stopping a merger that would’ve destroyed us. We deal in facts, Uncle. Not feelings. The facts don’t lie.”

Nathaniel pushed to his feet, glaring around the room, searching for support. But no one moved. Silence reigned.

And as I watched the two men face off, I remained in my seat, burning inside, yet invisible again.

By the time I arrived at the small, tucked-away restaurant where Sandy, my best friend, had picked for our early dinner, I was a bottle of emotion waiting to explode. She barely had time to take her seat before I unleashed it all.

“I mean, who the hell does he think he is?” I snapped, not even glancing at the menu. “Standing there like a goddamn hero, presenting everything like he found it out himself. No mention, no credit, nothing…as usual!”

Sandy blinked at me, wide-eyed but calm. She’d been my best friend since college. If anyone knew how to read the emotional volcano that was me, it was her.

“Okay, breathe,” she said softly. “You’re still shaking.”

“Of course I’m shaking, Sandy,” I hissed, stabbing a piece of bread like it had personally offended me. “I am a shadow in my marriage, and now work life. I’m just invisible for all I care.”

Sandy took a sip of water and leaned in. “So… did you call him out?”

I paused. “No. The board meeting wasn’t the place.”

“But you will, right? At least between the both of you. You can’t keep letting Shane bulldoze you, Carrie.”

I sighed, slumping back into my chair. “It’s not that simple.”

“It is that simple,” she countered, her brows knitting together. “You’ve got to stop making excuses for this man. I know you married him for Eleanor’s sake, and I respect that, I do. But come on, Carrie, where’s your sake in all this?”

Her words stung because they were true. Eleanor’s dying wish had been for me to marry Shane, and I’d done it out of loyalty, maybe even because I liked Shane a little. But what had that left me with? A ring, a cold bed, and a husband who only acknowledged me only when it was convenient.

I looked down at my untouched drink. “He didn’t even glance my way after the meeting. Not a single word since I told him to show his appreciation for what I did.”

Sandy reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “You deserve so much more than this.”

“I know,” I whispered. And that was the worst part. I did know. But knowing didn’t make it easier.

Dinner ended early. I barely ate, and Sandy tried her best to lift my mood, but I just wasn’t in it. We hugged tightly outside the restaurant, and I apologized again for being a sour company tonight before I slid into the back seat of my car.

By the time I got home, the weight of everything hit me like a collapsing roof. I climbed the stairs, peeled off my clothes, tossed them into the hamper, and pulled on my softest nightshirt. The house was quiet…eerily so. Shane hadn’t come home yet. And the housekeeper had retired for the day.

Good, I thought. I didn’t have the emotional energy for him tonight.

I brushed my teeth, tied my hair up, and crawled into bed. The sheets were cool against my skin, the air conditioner humming faintly above me. I turned off the light, rolled to my side, and tried to push the day from my mind.

I must have been asleep for hours when something stirred me. At first, I thought I was dreaming. Soft lips brushed against my neck, then my collarbone. A hand slid under my nightshirt, caressing my hip, moving upward.

I gasped quietly, body reacting before my mind caught up. My breath hitched as warm hands explored my skin, slow and sensual.

“Shane…?” I murmured, still suspended between sleep and consciousness.

He didn’t answer. His mouth moved over mine, coaxing a response, and I gave in to the pleasure of those soft lips.

Until my mind fully woke.

My eyes flew open. The room was dim, but I could make out his figure hovering over me. The faint scent of whiskey lingered on his breath.

“You’ve been drinking,” I said, pushing at his chest gently. “Haven’t you?”

He froze for a moment, his face just inches from mine. Then he huffed, low and frustrated, like I’d interrupted some grand moment.

“What does that have to do with anything?” he asked, voice raspy. “Everything,” I said, sitting up and pulling my nightshirt back down. “No, Shane," I said, firmer this time. "Not when you’re like this. You can't just be toying with my feelings any way you like.”

He blinked at me, his eyes glassy with a clenched jaw. “You’re my wife, Carrie.”

“Now you remember.” I laughed bitterly. “Wife in name only. Don’t pretend this means more to you than it does. Let’s not start rewriting our own history just because you’re three drinks in.”

He stood abruptly, the bed dipping as he moved off it. He ran a hand through his hair and muttered something I couldn’t quite catch.

“Is Cathy not available? Why not go to her as usual?”

“Damn you, Carrie. Why are you so uptight?” He muttered, his head turned toward me sharply, eyes narrowing. “You think you know everything, don’t you?”

“I know enough,” I said, not blinking. “I know that you never wanted this marriage. I know you tolerate me for the sake of the will. I know I’m not the one you really want. And yet, here you are, trying to crawl into my bed in the dead of night, half-drunk, hoping I’d be desperate enough to accept you in this drunken state.”

For a second, I thought he might say something ; anything but instead, he turned and left the room, the door clicking behind him with a finality that echoed in my chest.

I sat there for a long moment, heart racing, breath uneven.

Why did it hurt?

Why did I care?

I wrapped the comforter around myself, shaking with something I couldn’t name. Anger? Disgust? Longing?

I didn’t know.

All I knew was that this marriage was suffocating me, slowly and surely, and I was losing pieces of myself along the way.

And the worst part was I didn't know how long I would be able to continue this awful charade of a marriage.