Hailey had definitely heard of the name Gregory Callahan.
Who wouldn’t?
Gregory Callahan, or better known as Greg and Mr. Callahan by his friends and the public respectively, was one of the most hardened CEOs in the country. He built his own empire from scratch and worked hard ever since he was young, so he was mostly known for his hard work and intelligence.
He was also ruthless whenever it came to decision-making and negotiations. He would not back down from anything and jumped at every opportunity that was meant for the benefit of his company.
He was cold and merciless to anyone who dared go against him. Also, he was quite meticulous with every process and detail, which included his staff. If anybody was even the slightest bit incompetent or had a weakness or even messed up just one time, he would fire them immediately and search for someone who was much more efficient.
Which wasn’t exactly difficult since everybody — rather, the professionals and the confident ones — wanted a job at the Callahan Group. Even though Greg Callahan was extremely strict and demanded perfection, he paid very well, a lot higher than above-average wage earners, and made sure that the rates and workload were fair enough.
The majority of the people preferred to keep their distance from him, for good reason of course. There were several rumors circulating around about Greg Callahan, and most of them weren’t good.
Some of them were mild and reasonable, but some were outright ridiculous. Nobody knew exactly what to believe, so they decided to steer clear of making enemies of the Callahan Group.
Hailey, who never wanted any attention in the first place, didn’t even plan on getting herself involved in business or politics or anything that could compromise her true identity.
However, fate decided for her otherwise.
Meeting Greg Callahan that day was only just the beginning.
***
Greg Callahan was, surprisingly, quite grateful to her for saving his daughter. She expected monetary compensation at most, but she never even imagined that he would grant her a favor, of all things.
Any amount she wished. Any living conditions she wanted.
Anything that she desired.
There was no hesitation.
“A new identity?” Greg Callahan said in disbelief. “What for?”
“For personal reasons. Please. Can you do it for me?”
Hailey knew that telling a stranger — especially Greg Callahan himself — would bring repercussions that she did not need in her life, so she firmly believed that she shouldn’t tell him the truth.
But then again, she shouldn’t have underestimated him in the first place.
Despite refusing to tell him the reason, Greg Callahan did a background check on her, perhaps so he wouldn’t get caught helping someone who turned out to be a criminal. He agreed to give her a new identity as thanks for saving his daughter and promised that he wouldn’t divulge what he knew.
In order to ‘reassure’ her, he even offered to let her attend university, with him paying all of the funds. He also promised her a position in his company if she did well in college, something that he added presumably out of his own generosity.
Out of desperation, Hailey agreed, especially since she knew better that having a degree and a stable job was what she needed in order to take care of herself and her family.
That was how she got bound to Greg Callahan because of one favor that turned out to be a birdcage that she had unknowingly trapped herself in.
***
After doing well in her university and graduating summa cum laude, she got that promised position in Greg Callahan’s company. She worked hard and put in a lot of effort in order to make her peers see that she was worthy of the position rather than someone recommended by Greg Callahan or someone who got in through connections.
Hailey — who was Camille Parker now — simply wanted to live a peaceful life with her family with a stable financial future. She worked hard, harder than anyone else, and rose to the top as Christian Callahan’s personal secretary and assistant thanks to her own efforts.
She worked too hard, however, and only thought about earning enough money that she never really went out much. She didn’t have many friends and couldn’t pay much attention to her interests. She only dated a few guys for a short period of time and never thought about marriage until the time even after she turned 31 years old, an age where most of her peers were already having a family of their own.
One day, Christian Callahan asked for her to come to his office.
“You called for me, sir?” Camille asked as she entered the room, bowing politely to her boss.
“Yes, Camille. Come over here, please.”
Camille never really liked Christian. Ever since the first day she met him when she was in college, his arrogance and flippant attitude turned her off.
She also noticed that he had a cruel streak to him, just like his father. Christian was also merciless whenever it came to his enemies, and he didn’t care about people’s feelings the way Camille did. He wasn’t empathetic towards his employees and only wanted results.
He was just like his father.
If Camille had a choice in the matter, she would never have worked for him. However, she was bound to the Callahans due to the extra two favors that Greg had granted her that day years ago, so although she was unwilling, she had no choice but to stay.
Which was why when Christian suddenly called for her here, out of the blue, and with what seemed to be a lone white folder on his desk, Camille was instantly wary.
Camille approached, and when she was near enough, Christian moved the folder closer to her and beckoned for her to open it.
Camille sent him a suspicious glance before reaching out to take the folder, opening its contents.
“I want you to be my wife,” Christian told her.
Those seven words made Camille’s heart instantly sink to her stomach.
“On contract only, of course,” Christian assured in a smooth tone of voice, sounding as though he were simply negotiating with a client. “You can stop working here in the company and come live with me in my mansion. I will make sure that you are well-treated and given everything that you desire.”Camille’s head was spinning. This was all going too fast for her liking. “Wait a second,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “I’m not going to be your wife, Mr. Callahan.”“Of course you are,” Christian said with an arch of his eyebrow. “Do I not have all of the qualities of a fine husband? Besides, you should be grateful. I will give you all that you need. My only condition is for you to not meddle in my business and behave like a good little wife.”“Mr. Callahan,” Camille said stonily. “I am not going to marry you.”She then turned around and attempted to leave the room.“Stop right there, Miss van Gowen.”Camille instantly froze in place.Christian watched her stiff shoulders from behind, smirk
“Leave him out of this,” Camille managed to say.However, she forgot to even out her tone, so the anger in her voice was quite clear.“Oh? Quite sensitive now, are we?” Christian said, having picked up on the change of note.“…”“Is he going to be a nuisance to our cooperation?” he asked.“We have no such cooperation between us, Mr. Callahan,” Camille growled. “And I would appreciate it if you cease meddling in my life and attempting to control it the way you want.”“I have many ways to threaten you, Miss van Gowen. I’m sure you know that quite well.” Christian’s smile widened. “Your mother, your father, your brothers… even Michael McGregor’s notoriety in the past, seeing how much you seem to care about him.”“You—”“But as much as it’s entertaining to keep teasing you, I’m afraid you have no other choice.” He shrugged casually. “I’ve already told my father about how madly in love I am with you.”“What?” Camille was dumbfounded.“I’m quite a good actor, you know. I managed to convince
That was how it all started. Christian Callahan had a trump card up his sleeve, and she had no choice but to go along with his whims. She hated it, but at least she knew that he wasn’t interested in her. She wasn’t his type at all, and she preferred to keep it that way.He was only using her for his own gain.Camille sighed as she went back to her desk, her mind muddled with all sorts of thoughts. She turned on the screen of her phone and scrolled down her contacts list, her gaze resting on the name ‘Noah’.To think that he gave her his private number so freely.They had arranged to meet up on Monday since she wasn’t free during the weekends. During the weekends, she needed to take the role of a good wife at home despite not even being married to Christian yet. He insisted on living together so that it wouldn’t be hard to keep up appearances later on.He even decided that the date of their wedding would take place in October, which was about seven months away. He had it all planned wh
Michael was uncharacteristically while he nervously waited for Monday to come.He was a seasoned businessman who was trained to handle any kind of situation or crisis that might arise, especially during critical moments. So, he learned to put aside his emotions and focus on the current situation while thinking of a proper strategy.His father had taught him back then that he needed to be at least two steps ahead of his opponents. That way, he would be able to achieve his goals with much more certainty.With that, he also learned to keep calm even during tough times and not succumb to pressure. It took him a while to get used to it, but in the end, he succeeded. It was all so he could achieve this one goal.His goal of reaching the top, just so he could find Hailey again.A year later after Hailey graduated high school, Michael attended his own graduation. It had been bittersweet, especially after knowing that he could never see her again.A year ago, his parents asked him if he prefer
Time flew by, and before Michael knew it, Monday finally came.It had been a while since he last paid serious attention to his appearance. Of course, being the head of the company, he was expected to dress appropriately and carry himself with a dignified aura. He needed to be consistent and professional at all times, something that he learned through years of training and experience.However, this was the first time that he really looked at himself in the mirror, wondering if he looked good enough to impress. He had light-brown hair with a few strands that fell across his eyes, and his skin seemed smoother than average. The lighting in the room cast shadows on his features and highlighted the contours of his face, making him think for a moment that he was staring at a stranger in the mirror.How curious. So this was what he looked like up close…‘It’s not like I look at my face in the mirror each day,’ he surmised. ‘Usually, I would only pay attention to my outfit and then go about my
The sound of her voice calling out his name, his old nickname that she often called out of affection, made Michael’s heart skip a beat.A long time, indeed. He had waited for this moment for so, so long.Fourteen years of waiting to meet her again.She could never imagine how much he had missed her.“Lange nicht mehr gesehen,” Michael said with a smile, skillfully concealing his true emotions from his expression. “Long time no see, Hailey.”Camille’s mouth opened in surprise. “You… You know German?” she said, clearly caught off-guard.“Yeah. I studied in Germany for a while,” Michael said. “Do I sound awkward?”Since Hailey’s father was of German descent, she mentioned that he would talk to her in German sometimes at home, that he had been doing it occasionally ever since she was a child. She picked up on the language soon after, and she sometimes used it to speak to Michael jokingly, knowing that he had no clue about what she was saying.At times, she would even scold him in German,
‘This isn’t good for my heart. Imagine a handsome and successful man saying that…’ Camille swallowed. ‘Even though I know he’s just being polite… Because look at me, I don’t even look that great.’“…Who are you and what have you done with Michael Noah McGregor?” Camille finally said, trying to lighten up the atmosphere. “Have the aliens finally abducted you? Is the man sitting before me right now an impostor?”Michael looked amused, as though he had already expected this. “I am simply telling the truth,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I wasn’t obligated to do so. I just said it from the heart.”‘That’s… surprisingly sweet,’ Camille thought.“I remember I had to force you to give me a compliment back at our high school prom,” she couldn’t help but tease. “You looked like you hated to say it, but in the end, you admitted that I looked nice.”The corners of Michael’s lips curved upwards. “Hmm. That I did. Your face was better looking. But that dress you wore was indeed atrocious,” he
When Christian told Camille to be his wife, he also decided to manage the branch company in Penburg. He stated that all preparations were complete and there was no reason to postpone the move.Knowing him, he already knew that Penburg was Camille’s hometown, that bastard.Camille couldn’t say no to him, so she packed her bags and returned to be his personal secretary once again. She didn’t reach out to anyone and settled into Christian’s opulent mansion, where numerous servants catered to his every need.She could never understand why he even asked her to stay and be a good wife on the weekends. There was barely anything for her to do at home, and he was rarely there, even after work. She figured that he must be having lots of fun at nightclubs or having late-night business negotiations at private bars. She didn’t care, and it was none of her business, anyway.The two of them didn’t even sleep in the same room. Christian, of course, took the master bedroom while she took the guest roo