All Chapters of The Billionaire I’ll Never Marry: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Callum had faced hostile shareholders with less preparation than the communications team wanted for one ten-minute interview.“No private jokes you can’t explain,” his chief of staff said.Across the holding room, Ailsa looked up from the briefing notes. “What if they’re funny?”“They won’t be.”“That sounds like a challenge.”Callum stopped himself from smiling.Outside the door, an audience applauded as the previous guest left the stage. The interview had been attached to a Sinclair Group public event weeks ago. Before yesterday, Callum was supposed to discuss investment and expansion. Now every outlet in the room wanted the same thing.His fiancée.Ailsa closed the folder.The ring caught the light.“You remember the cover?” he asked.“We met privately through mutual professional circles. We kept seeing each other because arguing was cheaper than litigation. You proposed in private. No date set.”“That is not exactly what we agreed,” Callum said.“It’s more believable.”His chief o

Mairi came into Ailsa's office carrying a folder and the expression she reserved for problems that had already survived one phone call too many.Callum was at the small table near the window, reading revisions to the Exit funding terms. He looked up.Mairi looked at him too."Convenient.""That sounds promising," Ailsa said."It isn't."Mairi closed the door and put the folder on the desk."One of our emergency accommodation partners has changed its terms. Effective today, no more discounted block placements from Exit."Ailsa straightened."Current clients?" Ailsa asked."Unaffected. New placements are case by case, full rate, subject to availability.""Why?"Mairi's eyes moved to the ring on Ailsa's hand.There was the answer.Ailsa opened the folder. The email was polite enough to qualify as hostile in institutional language. The provider's board remained committed to Exit's mission, but recent publicity had raised concerns about financial influence and reputational exposure. Until

Ailsa had thought pretending to be engaged meant remembering one lie.Apparently it meant knowing how Callum Sinclair took his eggs.“Poached,” he said.She looked up from the sheet his communications team had titled PERSONAL FAMILIARITY: LIKELY QUESTIONS.“You’re certain?” Ailsa asked.“I’ve had breakfast before.”“With witnesses?”Callum leaned back in his chair. “Is this how you prepare for every high-stakes event?”“No. Usually no one asks me to memorize a billionaire’s preferred egg.”“Then tonight is educational.”They were in his office two hours before a charity dinner where their sudden engagement had become more interesting than the original program. A short interview had become a table-side press session, followed by what Callum’s chief of staff called “light personal questions.”Ailsa called them a credibility trap.She read the next line.“Favorite dessert.”“None.”“That is not a favorite,” Ailsa said.“I don’t like dessert.”Ailsa stared at him.“There are easier ways t

Ailsa kept her eyes on the passing lights outside the car because looking at Callum felt like volunteering for a second mistake.Except it had not felt like a mistake.That was the problem.The city slid by in wet reflections. Streetlamps broke across the windows, gold and white over black pavement. Beside her, Callum sat with his hands loose on his knees, six inches of leather between them and enough restraint to make every inch noticeable.Neither of them spoke until the car stopped at a light.Ailsa turned first.“We need to say something.”“All right.”She hated how calm he sounded.“That kiss was supposed to solve a problem.”“It did.”“That is not what I mean,” Ailsa said.“I know.”Of course he did.Ailsa folded her arms. “It got away from us.”His gaze stayed on hers.“Yes.”No denial. No convenient claim that cameras had made it look more convincing than it was.Ailsa had prepared herself to argue with exactly that.She had not prepared for agreement.“I kissed you back,” she

By nine the next morning, Ailsa had acquired a new motive for helping Eilidh leave her wedding.Money.Mairi dropped a tablet on Ailsa's desk."Read the second paragraph."Ailsa did.The article fused three facts into one ugly story: Eilidh Sinclair had contacted Exit; Ailsa had helped her leave; days later Ailsa appeared beside Callum Sinclair wearing a diamond and negotiating future support for Exit.The writer suggested the escape had never been only about Eilidh."Subtle," Ailsa said."It gets better."It did not.The piece asked whether Exit's founder had used a family crisis to gain access to Sinclair wealth. It framed the engagement as a rise in status and the promised support as a reward no ordinary client could offer.Ailsa set the tablet down."They don't have the funding terms.""They don't need them. The existence of future support was already public enough to become a question.""Who picked it up?" Ailsa asked."Everyone."Mairi handed her a printed email.This one hurt m