Chapter 04

Elise arranged the food Callum had bought onto plates.

From the very start of their marriage, Callum had known Elise couldn't cook. So it wasn't strange for him to order his own food.

Elise had never bothered to learn either.

For the past two years, her time had been consumed by caring for Leo and building her small interior design studio—which was only now beginning to grow.

Callum and Elise rarely had dinner together. They rarely even saw each other at night. All this while, the household staff prepared dinner, and they simply reheated it themselves.

In two years, the number of times they'd sat together at the dining table could be counted on one hand.

Elise looked at the dish in front of her. Lobster thermidor. A food she'd only recently found out Callum liked. Something so simple—a small piece of knowledge about her own husband—that she'd only just learned after two years of sharing a name.

From the dining room, Elise could hear Callum's voice in the living room, answering a call from Vivienne.

"Yeah, I'm home." A short pause. "Can't tonight." Callum's voice dropped a tone—softer, deeper. "There's something I need to settle here."

Elise sat calmly, listening.

"Vivi." One word. But the way Callum said it was different from any other word that usually came out of his mouth—none of the CEO's sharpness was there, none of the distance Elise had come to know. "I know. I haven't forgotten. You think I could forget?"

Something that sounded like a small laugh. Light. Drifting in from the living room.

Elise poured water into her glass, her demeanor calm.

"Sleep well." Callum's voice rose slightly again, but the warmth in it didn't disappear. "I'll call you in the morning."

Callum's voice grew gentler. Warmer. A tone of voice the man had never once given to anyone—including Elise.

Elise wasn't angry. Wasn't jealous.

She'd known it even before the marriage began. Callum and Vivienne loved each other. They'd even nearly gotten engaged. But Gran Eleanor hadn't approved—and instead arranged Callum's marriage to her. Elise had never known the reason. What she did know was that because of it, the Voss family had spent a great deal of money to persuade Vivienne to leave Callum. They had even fully funded Vivienne's modeling career abroad, as a form of compensation.

It had only been a few months ago that Vivienne returned. And Elise had only recently learned that the two of them had rekindled their relationship.

"Why haven't you eaten yet?"

Elise hadn't noticed Callum was already standing in the dining room.

She looked at her husband for a moment. "Just about to."

Callum sat down in the chair at the end, near Elise.

Without saying much, Elise served rice and side dishes onto a plate and handed it to Callum.

"For you."

Callum froze.

He stared at the plate in Elise's hands, then at Elise herself, with a confused expression that rarely appeared on his face.

Elise wasn't surprised by the reaction. She'd never done anything like this for Callum before. As husband and wife, they each lived their own lives. Elise didn't even know her husband's favorite food—and the same went the other way around.

Elise broke the silence.

"We'll be attending several dinners with Mr. Harlan." Her voice was flat. Not a single tremor in it. "I need to get used to acting like a wife. Including serving you at the dinner table."

Callum was still frozen. But after a moment, he took the plate Elise offered.

"Thank you."

Dinner passed in silence.

Neither of them spoke. Only the occasional sound of spoon and fork clinking against the plates. Elise and Callum both focused on their own food. The silence between them wasn't unfamiliar—if anything, it was the silence that had always accompanied them whenever they were alone together. Callum and Elise had never made small talk as a couple. They didn't chat. They only spoke when there was a need.

Elise finished first.

She stood, gathering her own dirty plate along with Callum's. Just as she was about to carry them to the sink, Callum suddenly spoke.

"I'm not a man who betrays people, or a man who breaks promises like you accused me of."

Elise stopped.

"If I've agreed to something, I'll see it through to the end."

Elise turned. Raised an eyebrow. Not understanding where this was going.

Callum looked at Elise intently. "I'll go through the next four weeks the way you want. But you yourself can't back out of the divorce either. I've already promised marriage to Vivienne."

Elise's grip on the plates tightened. But her face remained calm.

"As long as you don't break it first," Elise said, "I won't back out or cause any trouble either. I keep every promise I make."

Callum nodded. "Good. That's what I expect."

But Elise wasn't finished speaking.

She set the plates back down on the table. Slowly. Then looked at Callum.

"To show your sincerity," she said, "how about we start with you stopping seeing Vivienne?"

Callum frowned. "Why would I need to stay away from her?"

Elise smiled thinly.

"To convince Mr. Harlan about our relationship, we need to convince everyone around him too." Elise's voice was calm, measured, like someone who had thought this through long before saying it. "All this while, everyone knows our marriage was arranged. And lately, word has even spread that you've rekindled things with your old girlfriend."

Callum fell silent.

"The news has already spread, Callum. There's a good chance Mr. Harlan has heard it too." Elise looked straight at her husband. "So our first task is to make everyone believe our household is fine. That you have no relationship with Vivienne whatsoever."

She paused for a moment.

"For that, you'll need to stay away from her. At least for these four weeks."

Callum was quiet for a long time.

He stared sharply into Elise's two dark eyes—searching for something there, something that might explain why this request felt too neat, too convenient, too reasonable. Too favorable to one side.

Then Callum's voice came out, cold.

"Are you setting me up?"