Share

Twenty seven

Author: Ese Gwede
last update Last Updated: 2025-03-21 17:28:49

~Fallon~

I had barely settled into the couch, a blanket draped over me, laptop open, and my editing software still loading when my phone rang.

I didn’t even have to check the screen.

There was only one person who would call me this early and with this much persistence.

I sighed, already bracing myself, and swiped to answer. “Hi, Mom.”

A delighted gasp came through the speaker. “Mi vida! Finally, you answer! I was beginning to think you forgot about me.”

I rolled my eyes, amusement tugging at my lips despite my best efforts. “I was going to call—”

She tsked loudly. “Mmm-hmm. You’re back from Bali, settled into your married life, and I haven’t heard a single detail. Not one.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, already knowing where this was going.

The Interrogation Begins

“So,” she continued, her voice practically vibrating with excitement. “Tell me everything.”

I sighed, shifting my laptop to the coffee table and rubbing my forehead. “About what?”

A pause. Then, in her very best‘ are you serious
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Related chapters

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   Twenty eight

    ~Fallon~The café was warm and bustling, the scent of fresh pastries and espresso filling the air. Sunlight filtered through the large windows, casting a soft glow over the rustic wooden tables. It was the kind of place Mia and I had spent countless afternoons, sipping overpriced lattes and dissecting our lives in dramatic detail.But today I was walking in as a married woman. As Mrs. Callahan.And only I knew how much of a lie that really was.Mia spotted me first, her eyes lighting up as she shot out of her chair, practically bouncing on her heels. “Finally!” she squealed, pulling me into a tight hug. “Mrs. Callahan, back from paradise!”I forced a smile. “Yep. Back.”She pulled back, gripping my shoulders. “Let me look at you. You have that ‘freshly married, just honeymooned in luxury’ glow.”I blinked. “I do?”Mia wiggled her brows. “Oh yeah. Spill everything.”I barely smothered a groan. This was going to be exhausting.The Interrogation soon began…The moment we sat down, Mia l

    Last Updated : 2025-03-21
  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   Twenty nine

    ~Fallon~Adjusting to married life should’ve been easy. Or at least that’s what I thought.I had my own room, my own bathroom, and an entire household staff to ensure that I never even had to see Reid if I didn’t want to.But somehow, despite all of that, Reid Callahan still managed to get under my skin. Because of course that was all he knew how to do.It all started on a very fine day while I was minding my own business.The first issue arose when I stepped into my luxurious en-suite bathroom one morning after a quick run around the premises and nearly slipped on a puddle of water.I gasped, grabbing the counter for balance before whipping my head toward the cause—l there was water everywhere!!!.Steam clung to the mirrors, droplets trailed across the marble floor, and the faint scent of Reid’s obnoxiously expensive cologne lingered in the air.My eyes narrowed.I stormed out, straight across the hall to his room, where I found him carrying on like he did not just wreak havoc in m

    Last Updated : 2025-03-21
  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   Thirty

    ~Fallon~The world knew me in curated snapshots.Perfectly edited videos. Carefully written captions. A seamless blend of aspirational and relatable.To my audience, I was the effortlessly stylish, cool girl next door—the one who knew the best skincare tricks, the trendiest fashion finds, and the real behind-the-scenes of luxury living.But in reality, it was a full-time job.And today, I had work to do.I woke up to the soft chime of my alarm—an aesthetically pleasing, non-jarring sound I had chosen because brand consistency mattered.Before my feet even hit the floor, I grabbed my phone, snapped a quick shot of my sunlit sheets, and typed a caption:“Slow mornings & self-care ☀️✨ What’s one thing you do to start your day right?”Engagement was key. Questions kept my followers talking.I hit the post button and stretched, already calculating my to-do list for the day.Content. Emails. Brand collaborations. Editing.And, of course, making sure my audience believed every part of it wa

    Last Updated : 2025-03-21
  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   Thirty one

    ~Reid~The boardroom at Callahan Enterprises was silent, the kind of silence that carried weight—the calm before a high-stakes battle.I leaned back in my chair, fingers steepled, surveying the executives seated around the long mahogany table. The Prescott merger had been months in the making, and now, we were at the point where every decision counted.And I didn’t lose.Not in business.Not in anything.I intended to keep it that way.Mark Kingston, my CFO, cleared his throat. “We’ve run another financial analysis. The Prescott company is stabilizing, but the long-term projections are still… questionable.”I arched a brow. “Define ‘questionable.’”Kingston hesitated. “The brand recognition is strong, and their market share is decent. But if we don’t make some aggressive restructuring moves, we’ll be inheriting dead weight.”Dead weight.I exhaled sharply, fingers drumming against the table.This was what I had anticipated—Daniel Prescott had built an empire, but he had let it run on

    Last Updated : 2025-03-21
  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   Thirty two

    ~Fallon~My phone buzzed just as I was setting up my next shoot, the familiar name flashing across the screen.Dad.I stared at it, tension coiling in my chest. I already knew this wasn’t going to be a social call.With a sigh, I picked up. “Hey, Dad.”“Fallon,” he said, his voice brisk as always. “I’ve been trying to reach you.”I winced. “I’ve been busy—”“I’m sure you have.” He cut me off like he always did. “But we have a problem.”Of course we did.I sank into the chair at my vanity. “What kind of problem?”He exhaled sharply. “Reid’s pushing through restructuring plans without consulting me. He’s sidelining my people, cutting departments without my approval—”I rubbed my temple. “Dad—”“I need you to talk to him,” he said, his voice firm. “Remind him this merger was supposed to be a partnership.”I bit back my frustration. “You know I don’t have any say in the business side of this.”“You’re his wife,” my dad snapped. “If anyone can get him to listen, it’s you.”A cold weight se

    Last Updated : 2025-03-21
  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   Thirty three

    ~Fallon~I wasn’t ready for my mom’s call.Not after the fight with Reid. Not when I was still replaying every sharp word, every cold look, over and over in my head, like a film on loop I couldn’t turn off. His voice, low and cutting. My own, rising in frustration. The sting of everything we’d said—and worse, the things we hadn’t.But my phone rang anyway—her name flashing across the screen like a warning.I stared at it, my thumb hovering over the decline button. I could let it go to voicemail. I could call her back later, when I wasn’t so raw. But I knew if I didn’t answer, she’d just keep calling—and worrying.So I sighed, bracing myself before I finally picked up.“Hi, Mamá.”“Mi vida,” she said, her voice warm and familiar. But there was an edge to it—one I recognized too well. Concern, wrapped in silk. “How are you? You sound tired.”“I’m fine,” I lied, curling my legs beneath me on the couch. “Just busy.”“Busy being married to a billionaire?” she teased. “It must be so exhaust

    Last Updated : 2025-03-21
  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   Thirty four

    ~Fallon~The dress arrived first.It was delivered in a sleek black garment bag, hung carefully on the door of my closet like it belonged there. Attached was a handwritten note in Reid’s sharp, familiar scrawl:Wear this. Be ready by seven. – RNo please. No would you mind? Just an order, wrapped in expensive packaging.Because of course it was.I stared at the bag, arms crossed, suspicion curling in my stomach. “Not happening.”But the shoes came next.Delicate, strappy heels in a soft champagne gold—designer, no doubt—and absolutely gorgeous. The kind of shoes you wore when you wanted to make an entrance.I ignored them.Then came the makeup artist.At precisely five o’clock, my intercom buzzed.“Mrs Callahan? Your glam team is here.”I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Of course they are,” I muttered, already regretting every decision that had led me to this point.An hour and a half later, I stood in front of my full-length mirror. And despite every ounce of irritat

    Last Updated : 2025-03-21
  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   Thirty five

    ~Fallon~Victoria’s smile was the kind designed to make women uncomfortable. Sharp. Knowing. The kind that said she thought she knew something I didn’t.And I hated it.I hated the way it made my skin prickle, hated the smug tilt of her head and the glint of satisfaction in her eyes. But most of all, I hated the fact that she was here.Because where Victoria went, trouble always followed. I wondered why she couldn’t stay away from us.“Reid,” she purred, ignoring me entirely. “It’s been quite a while.”Her voice was smooth as silk, but there was an edge beneath it — the kind of edge that cut if you weren’t careful.“Not long enough,” I muttered under my breath.Reid’s hand on my waist tightened—a subtle warning—and my pulse fluttered at the contact. Even through the haze of irritation, I was hyperaware of the way his fingers curved around me, warm and steady. Grounding.“Victoria,” he said coolly, his face impassive. “I’m really surprised to see you here.”She batted her lashes, the p

    Last Updated : 2025-03-22

Latest chapter

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and thirty four

    ~Reid~The knock on my office door wasn’t urgent. It was casual. Entitled.Too familiar.My assistant had the afternoon off—her sister’s graduation—and the office was quieter than usual. No one should’ve been able to walk in without checking in first. Which meant whoever had just let themselves in had done it on purpose. They wanted to be noticed.I didn’t look up.Instead, I kept reading the contract in front of me, slowly turning the page, pen in hand. Let them wait. Let them sit in the silence and feel the weight of being ignored.Then the voice came.“Well, well. Still as dramatic as ever.”I looked up.And there he was.Alex Pierce.He stepped into my office like he owned the building. Which he didn’t. Not anymore. That bridge had burned a long time ago—and I was the one who’d lit the match.Same look. Same posture. Still wearing suits like armor, still smiling like he knew a secret he was dying to use against you.“Pierce,” I said. Flat. Cold. “You’re trespassing.”“Please.” He

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and thirty three

    ~Reid~The restaurant was all sharp corners and soft light—muted gold accents, low leather booths, and some Miles Davis track whispering through overhead speakers. The kind of place designed to feel exclusive without trying too hard. I hadn’t been here in years. Lila would’ve known that. She picked it for a reason.She always picked things for a reason.She was already seated when I arrived. Of course. Perfect posture, legs crossed just so, in a deep red dress that managed to be both classic and deliberate. She smiled as she saw me, but it didn’t touch her eyes. It never did.“Reid Sterling,” she said, rising to her feet. “Still incapable of being on time.”“Still incapable of ordering a drink I’d actually choose,” I said, nodding toward the bottle of wine she’d already opened.She laughed lightly, kissing the air on either side of my face like we were old friends at some gallery opening instead of two people who’d once burned through each other and left the ashes behind.“You haven’t

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and thirty two

    ~Fallon~It was an accident.At least, that’s what I told myself.I hadn’t meant to look at Reid’s phone. I didn’t go around snooping through his things. But when it buzzed on the kitchen island—lit up with that familiar soft glow—my eyes flicked to it before I could stop myself.Lila: Looking forward to dinner. Same place?My fingers curled a little tighter around the glass in my hand. Cold water, barely sipped, now warm from my grip.Dinner.Of course.I looked away just as quickly as I’d looked. Pretended I hadn’t seen it. Tried to smooth over the sudden tightness crawling up my spine.It didn’t mean anything.Reid could have dinner with whoever he wanted. We weren’t… that kind of married.Still, I stayed rooted in place for a moment, staring blankly at the marble countertop, willing myself to breathe. To stay calm.It was fine.But something had shifted in the air. Not around me—within me.I didn’t like it.I didn’t like that it had made my stomach twist, that I could still see th

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and thirty one

    ~Fallon~The moment we stepped into the house, I stopped just inside the foyer, turning to face him.“How long has she been back?”Reid barely looked up as he loosened his tie. “Who?”I folded my arms. “Lila.”His smirk was immediate. Slow. Knowing. “Why? Jealous?”I exhaled sharply. “Reid.”He chuckled as he shrugged off his suit jacket, draping it over the back of a chair. “You’re cute when you’re possessive.”“I’m not being possessive.” My voice was flat. “I’m asking a simple question.”His smirk didn’t fade, but he sighed, clearly deciding to indulge me. “She reached out a few weeks ago. Said she was moving back to the city.”I stared at him. “And you just forgot to mention it?”He glanced at me, completely unbothered. “Should I have?”I studied him carefully, searching for any sign that he was taking this seriously. But Reid—frustratingly, infuriatingly—was relaxed. As if none of this mattered. As if I hadn’t just stood there, watching another woman put her hands on him like she

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One Hundred and thirty

    ~Fallon~I felt her before I even saw her.The restaurant was buzzing with quiet, expensive conversation, the kind of place where people spoke in hushed tones over overpriced cocktails, where the chandeliers cast soft, flattering light, and where business deals and whispered scandals shared the same space. Reid and I had been here before—one of his usual spots for late-night meetings and carefully curated social appearances.I’d been focused on my drink, absently swirling the dark amber liquid in my glass, when a shift in the air made me look up.And there she was.Poised. Beautiful. Effortless.She had the kind of presence that made people turn their heads without quite knowing why. The kind of woman who carried herself like she belonged everywhere she went.And the way she walked toward Reid told me everything I needed to know.Too familiar.Too comfortable.Reid, seated beside me in the plush leather booth, hadn’t noticed her yet. He was still focused on something on his phone, his

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and twenty nine

    ~Fallon~I wasn’t expecting him.The house was quiet, the kind of stillness I had gotten used to in his absence. I had spent the evening aimlessly flipping through TV channels, pushing food around my plate at the long dining table, and trying—not very successfully—to keep my thoughts from circling back to the same thing.An heir.A child.With Reid.I had told myself I was done thinking about it, but the thoughts had a way of creeping in when I least expected. Lurking in the spaces between logic and something more dangerous.I had just turned off the lights in the sitting room, ready to head upstairs, when I heard the low click of the front doors.I froze.For a second, my mind went to an intruder—irrational, considering the estate’s security. But then I heard the familiar sound of dress shoes against marble floors, steady and unhurried.And just like that, the air in the house changed.I turned to find Reid standing in the grand foyer, shaking off his suit jacket. The first thing I n

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One Hundred and twenty eight

    ~Fallon~I wasn’t thinking about it.Not really.I had laughed when I brought it up to Reid, brushing it off as just another absurd expectation from my parents. The idea of them pushing for grandkids when Reid and I hadn’t even so much as—I stopped myself before the thought could fully form.Ridiculous.It wasn’t worth thinking about.Except, hours later, curled up on the couch with my laptop open and a reality show playing in the background, I was still thinking about it.And not in the way I should have been.I closed my laptop, sighing as I leaned my head back against the cushions. My eyes traced the familiar details of the ceiling, the shadows shifting as the glow from the TV flickered across the room. I knew why this conversation had stuck with me more than it should have.Reid and I had been growing… closer.Not in the way newlyweds typically did, but in a way that unsettled me more than I liked to admit. We had been pushing boundaries, slipping into something dangerous.I coul

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and twenty seven

    ~Reid~The call came in while I was going over reports in my hotel room. I hadn’t expected Fallon to reach out tonight—especially since we’d both been busy in our own worlds lately—but as soon as I saw her name flash across the screen, I answered.“You finally missed me,” I teased, leaning back against the headboard.Fallon scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself. I just had the most ridiculous conversation with my parents, and I needed someone to roll my eyes at.”I smirked. “Lucky me.”She made a sound of agreement, then sighed. “They want grandkids.”That got my attention. I lowered the papers in my hand. “Grandkids?”“Mmhmm. My dad was going on about how it’s expected. My mom not-so-subtly reminded me that I’m not getting any younger.” Her voice was dry. “As if I’m ancient.”I huffed a laugh. “That’s ambitious of them.”“Right?” Fallon sighed. “I told them it was crazy. Like, how do they expect grandkids when we haven’t even had sex?”Silence.A beat too long.I should have responded imm

  • Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract   One hundred and twenty six

    ~Fallon~I should have known this was coming.The moment I stepped into my parents’ estate, greeted by the scent of freshly polished wood and the ever-present murmur of classical music playing from the speakers, I felt it in my bones.A setup.It wasn’t unusual for my mother to summon me for an impromptu lunch—an elegant spread prepared by the chef, white wine poured into delicate crystal glasses, the kind of gathering that was meant to feel casual but was anything but.And my father? He rarely joined these midday affairs, too busy running his empire. But today, he was here, seated at the head of the long dining table, his expression unreadable as he watched me and my mother with quiet intensity.Something was up.I just didn’t expect it to be this.“You and Reid have been married for some time now,” my mother said, her voice light, too light, as she delicately sliced into her poached salmon.I took a sip of wine, feigning disinterest. “So I’ve noticed.”Vivian Prescott shot me a look

Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status