Chapter 32 THIRTY-TWO
The truce happened without discussion, like most things between them lately.
After three days of careful avoidance - Callum leaving before she woke up, Lennox remaining in her room until she heard the elevator - they'd somehow fallen into a new routine. Breakfast together. Polite conversation about schedules and obligations. No mention of the gallery, or the fight, or anything that mattered.
It was awful and comforting in equal measure.
Thursday morning, Lennox found Callum already at the dining table, laptop open, coffee half-gone. He looked up when she walked in.
"Morning."
"Morning." She poured her own coffee. "You're up early."
"Board meeting at eight." He rubbed his eyes, and she noticed the dark circles were still there. Worse, maybe. "It's going to be a long day."
Maria appeared with plates of food neither of them had requested but both accepted without comment. This was the routine now. Show up, eat, make small talk that meant nothing, go their separate ways.
"Patricia wants us at some charity thing tomorrow night," Lennox said, because discussing their social calendar felt safer than anything else. "Something about children's literacy."
"I'll be there."
"Okay."
Silence. But not the angry kind from before. Just... empty.
Callum's phone buzzed. He glanced at it, frowned. "Victor's pushing this expansion plan again. Third time this week."
"Expansion?"
"Southeast Asia. New manufacturing facilities, distribution centers." He took a drink of coffee. "It's aggressive. Cole thinks we're moving too fast."
"What do you think?"
He looked at her like he'd forgotten she was capable of having opinions on business matters. "I think... I don't know. The numbers look good on paper but something feels off."
"Trust your instincts."
"My instincts aren't always reliable." His mouth twisted into something that might have been a smile if it reached his eyes. "Besides, Victor's been in this business longer than I've been alive. If he thinks it's solid..."
"But you don't."
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to."
They looked at each other for a moment. Something flickered in his expression, surprise maybe, before he glanced back at his laptop.
"Anyway. It's just board politics. Nothing you need to worry about."
Right. Because she was just the contract wife. Not someone who might actually care about what happened to him or his company.
Lennox focused on her eggs.
The rest of breakfast passed in that careful politeness they'd perfected. When Callum left, he actually said goodbye instead of just disappearing. Progress, she guessed.
Her phone rang twenty minutes later. Patricia.
"Darling, do you have a moment?"
"Sure. What's up?"
"I wanted to talk to you about Callum." Patricia's voice dropped, taking on that conspiratorial tone she used when discussing family matters. "He's under enormous pressure right now with this expansion proposal. Victor's very persuasive and some of the board members are... well. They can be short-sighted."
Lennox carried her coffee to the living room. "Okay?"
"I need you to keep him grounded. Remind him that the family name matters, that his father built this company on principles, not just profit margins." Patricia paused. "He listens to you."
"Does he?" The words came out before Lennox could stop them.
"Of course he does. You're his wife. His partner. He may not show it but your opinion matters to him."
Lennox stared out the window at the city sprawled below. Wife. Partner. Words that should mean something but felt hollow when applied to whatever she and Callum were doing.
"I'll... I'll try," she said finally, because what else could she say? That she wasn't really part of the family? That Callum barely tolerated her presence most days? That she had no idea why Patricia thought she'd have any influence at all? Ohh wait, she probably did have an idea, they were both good actors apparently.
"Thank you, sweetheart. I know this isn't easy, being thrown into our world so suddenly. But you're good for him. He's different with you."
They said goodbye and Lennox sat there, phone in hand, trying to figure out what Patricia saw that she didn't.
Different with you.
Was he? He seemed the same to her. Cold and controlled and impossible to read, except for those rare moments when the mask slipped and she caught glimpses of something real underneath.
Her phone buzzed with a text. Unknown number.
Hi Lennox, it's Adrian. Thanks again for introducing me to Director Chen at the youth center. Made a donation in Callum's name, figured the kids could use new supplies. Hope that's okay. –Adrian
She blinked at the screen. That was... actually really nice. Unexpected, but nice.
Friday morning followed the same pattern. Breakfast together, minimal conversation, both pretending this was normal.
"Adrian Holt made a donation to the youth center," Lennox said, because the silence was starting to feel suffocating. "In your name. Did you approve that?"
Callum looked up from his phone, confused. "What?"
"The youth center where I volunteer. He donated money for supplies. Said it was from you."
"Huh." Callum's expression did something complicated. Surprise, maybe annoyance, she couldn't tell. "That's... resourceful of him."
"Is that okay? I mean, it's your name."
"It's fine. Good publicity, I guess." He went back to his phone. "Victor's always saying we need better community engagement metrics."
"Right. Metrics."
She said it flatly enough that he looked up again, but whatever he saw in her face made him look away just as quickly.
"The donation's a good thing," he said after a moment. "Those kids deserve support."
"Yeah. They do."
More silence. Maria refilled their coffee cups and gave them both a look that suggested she had opinions about their awkward breakfast routine, but thankfully kept them to herself.
"About the charity thing tonight," Callum said eventually. "Patricia wants us there by seven. Photos first, then the actual event."
"I know. She sent me the schedule."
"Right. Of course she did."
They finished eating. Callum checked his watch, stood up. "I should go. Long day ahead."
"Another board meeting?"
"Three of them, actually. Plus conference calls with the Tokyo office." He grabbed his briefcase, hesitated. "If you need anything..."
"I'll be fine."
He nodded once and left.
Lennox sat there in the too-quiet penthouse, wondering when her life had become this strange pantomime. They were living together but barely speaking. Married but not really. Playing parts for everyone else while maintaining careful distance when it was just them.
She thought about Patricia's words. Keep him grounded. Remind him the family name matters.
How was she supposed to do that when he wouldn't let her close enough to matter?
Her phone buzzed again. Text from the youth center director thanking her for the donation, gushing about how generous the Westbrooks were, how much the kids would benefit.
At least something good was coming from this mess.
She spent the day trying not to think about board meetings or expansion plans or why Callum had looked so exhausted lately. Tried not to wonder if he was sleeping as badly as she was, if he stood outside her door at night the way she sometimes stood outside his, hand on the knob, wanting to knock but never quite finding the courage.
By the time seven PM rolled around, she was dressed in another one of Patricia's carefully selected gowns, makeup perfect, smile practiced.
Ready to play her part for another night.
The elevator doors opened and Callum was already there, looking devastating in his tux, face carefully neutral.
"Ready?" he asked.
"As I'll ever be."
They rode down in silence, and Lennox couldn't help thinking about Mia's question from the other day.
Does he look at you like you're the only person in the world?
No. He looked at her like she was a responsibility. An obligation. A beautiful stranger he'd accidentally married and didn't know what to do with.
And she looked at him and felt... what? Attraction, definitely. Curiosity. Frustration. Something else she wasn't ready to name yet.
The car pulled up. Marcus opened the door. They stepped out into camera flashes and practiced smiles.
Just another night in their perfect, fake marriage.