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Fifty three
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2025-03-27 14:11:29
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Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract Fifty four
~Fallon~Swallowing my pride tasted a lot like regret.I stood outside Reid’s home office, the soft hum of his voice carrying through the heavy wooden door. I should’ve turned around. Every instinct told me to forget the Luxe Amor campaign and avoid this conversation entirely. But this job — this opportunity — was too big to pass up.And like it or not, I needed him for it.I raised my hand to knock, hesitated — and then knocked twice before I could change my mind.“Come in.”The sound of his voice — low, clipped, and entirely too composed — sent something sharp through me. I pushed the door open, stepping into the room, and Reid looked up from his laptop.God help me, he looked good.He was all sharp lines and cool detachment — sleeves rolled up, tie loosened, and dark hair tousled like he’d been dragging his hands through it. His eyes, however, were anything but relaxed. They narrowed the second they landed on me.“What do you need, Fallon?”Not exactly a warm welcome. But I wasn’t
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-28Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract Fifty five
~Fallon~I spent way too much time getting ready.Which was ridiculous. This wasn’t a date.It was dinner — a business transaction wrapped in good intentions and lingering tension. Nothing more.But that didn’t stop me from changing my dress three times. Or from standing in front of my mirror, second-guessing my lipstick and smoothing my hands over the soft fabric of the midnight blue slip dress I’d finally settled on. It draped just right, the silky material clinging in places I wanted it to and flowing everywhere else.It wasn’t too much. It wasn’t trying too hard.But the nerves fluttering in my stomach told me it was still more effort than I should’ve put into a night with a man who barely spoke to me.It’s just dinner, I told myself. A peace offering. Nothing more.Still… when I walked downstairs and saw Reid waiting by the door, my breath caught.He looked good. Unfairly good. The black button-down fit him too well, sleeves rolled up just enough to show his forearms, the top but
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-28Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract Fifty six
~Fallon~Editing the video was easy.Keeping my heart out of it? Not so much.I told myself it was just work — like every other brand deal I’d done. Just footage, just angles, just carefully curated moments designed to sell a product and a lifestyle.But the camera didn’t lie.Every time I cut a new clip, I felt it — the warmth of Reid’s hand brushing my waist, the way his fingers lingered a little too long when he adjusted my robe, the soft, almost-smile when he thought I wasn’t looking. And when I hit play and watched the way he tucked my hair behind my ear — gentle and unhurried — my breath caught.I knew it was for show. For the brand. For the internet’s favorite fairytale.But I still felt it.And the more I watched it, the harder it was to pretend I didn’t.By the time I added the final filter and hit “post,” my hands were shaking.And then I waited.The FeedbackIt didn’t take long for my phone to explode.The video went viral within the hour — likes, comments, and shares rolli
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-29Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract Fifty seven
~Reid~The video was impossible to avoid.It was everywhere — my feed, the headlines, even the business sites that had no reason to care about influencer content. My phone hadn’t stopped buzzing since it went live — a constant stream of texts, emails, and calls. Half of them were about the merger I’d been working on for months. The other half?All about Fallon.All about us.The so-called love story we’d apparently perfected.And I hadn’t watched it.Not all of it, anyway.But the few seconds I did see played on a loop in my mind — her laugh, soft and real. The way she leaned into me without hesitation. The warmth in her eyes when she wasn’t guarded, when she wasn’t bracing for a fight.It looked real. Too real.Which was exactly why I needed to stay far away from it.“Any comment on the video, Mr. Callahan?”I didn’t even look up from my computer. “We’re here to discuss the Prescott acquisition. Not my personal life.”My assistant shifted awkwardly, her stack of notes trembling just
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-29Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract Fifty eight
~Fallon~I found him in his office — because of course I did.The man practically lived in there, buried in his spreadsheets and power plays while the internet lost its collective mind over our so-called perfect marriage. And I… I was done being ignored.I didn’t knock. I didn’t wait. I pushed the door open and walked in, my pulse already pounding.“Are you allergic to your phone?” I demanded, not bothering with a hello.Reid looked up slowly, his expression as cool and unreadable as ever. He barely even blinked. “Good evening to you too.”“Don’t,” I warned, stepping inside and shutting the door harder than I needed to. “The video’s everywhere. It’s viral. People are obsessed — and you haven’t said a word.”His eyes flicked back to his computer. Dismissive. Detached. “I’ve been busy.”“Too busy to hit like?”“Fallon—”“Don’t Fallon me,” I snapped. “This is our image. Our marriage. And you can’t even pretend to care?”He sighed, leaning back in his chair, and that calm, collected patie
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-29Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract Fifty nine
~Fallon~If I had known agreeing to this charity gala meant spending another night pretending my husband actually liked me, I would’ve faked a mysterious illness and stayed in bed.But the Prescott name was listed as a major donor. The Callahan name carried even more weight. And skipping out on a high-profile event like this would only fuel the rumor mill already obsessed with our marriage.So there I was — wrapped in silk and sequins, my makeup flawless, my mask firmly in place.Even if the man at my side hadn’t said a word to me since our fight.“Smile,” Reid murmured, his hand settling at the small of my back as the cameras started flashing.I plastered one on, my teeth aching from the effort. “I hate you.”“Smile bigger,” he shot back, his lips curving into something that looked a lot like affection to anyone who didn’t know better. “The press is eating this up.”I wanted to step on his foot. Maybe stab him with my stiletto. But instead, I tilted my head toward him, letting the ph
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-30Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract Sixty
~Reid~The photo showed up in my inbox at noon.The subject line was neutral — Managing Optics — but the attachment hit like a punch to the gut.I shouldn’t have opened it. Should’ve let my PR team handle whatever crisis they were warning me about and focused on the Zurich deal. But my gut told me this wasn’t about business.And my gut was right.Fallon’s face filled my screen — all sunlight and easy laughter, her head tilted back, her hair spilling over one bare shoulder. She looked… happy.And she wasn’t alone.The guy sitting next to her was tall, broad, and entirely too comfortable in her space. His arm rested casually along the back of her chair, his body angled toward hers like he belonged there. Like he had every right to be close to her.My jaw clenched.My eyes stayed locked on the photo, taking in every detail I shouldn’t care about — the way Fallon leaned into him, the soft flush in her cheeks, the familiarity in their body language.I hated him instantly.But more than tha
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-30Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract Sixty one
~Fallon~I should have closed the door.I should have stepped back, said goodnight, and kept the distance we were both so good at pretending we wanted.But then he said it.“I care because the thought of anyone else getting that smile makes me want to break something.”And just like that — the ground shifted.My breath caught, my fingers tightening on the edge of the door. He stood there in the dim light of the hallway — all sharp lines and tension, his jaw tight and his eyes dark.He looked… wrecked.And the worst part? It was because of me.“I—” My voice cracked. I swallowed hard, trying to steady myself. “Reid…”But I didn’t know what to say.Because I didn’t know what this was.The line between performance and reality had been blurring for weeks — in every glance that lingered too long, every brush of skin that felt like more than it should. And now, with his words hanging between us, that line had completely disappeared.I should have closed the door.But I didn’t.He stepped for
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-03-30
Bab terbaru
Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract One hundred and ten
~Fallon~It was already midday. I should have never checked my phone after reading the article that morning.That was my first mistake.The second was thinking I could control this.The screen glowed too bright in the darkness of my room, the notifications coming in so fast they blurred together—messages, alerts, missed calls, emails.My name was everywhere.I felt it before I saw it. That sinking, stomach-dropping sensation of something horribly wrong.I took a breath, steadied my hands, and started scrolling.News articles. Blog posts. Speculation threads.All dissecting my marriage.All questioning if Reid and I were real.At first, it was vague—whispers, theories. A few anonymous sources claiming something was off.But then I saw it.The leak.A direct quote from someone claiming to know the truth.“It’s a contract marriage. A business move. It was never about love.”My stomach flipped.My ears rang.I scrolled faster, my vision blurring as the internet did what it did best—picked
Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract One hundred and nine
ReidI knew something was wrong the second my phone started vibrating at five in the morning.No one called me this early unless it was an emergency.I grabbed it off the nightstand, still half-asleep, and saw Carter’s name flashing across the screen.Not a good sign.“Yeah?” My voice was rough, low with exhaustion.Carter didn’t waste time. “We have a problem.”That woke me up.I sat up, rubbing a hand over my face. “What kind of problem?”“The kind that’s already trending.”A sharp chill ran through me. I swung my legs over the bed, already bracing myself for whatever was coming.“Check your email,” Carter said. “I forwarded the article.”I was already moving, grabbing my laptop and pulling it open. The moment my inbox loaded, my stomach dropped.EXCLUSIVE: INSIDE THE CALLAHANS’ MARRIAGE—THE CONTRACT THAT CHANGES EVERYTHINGI clicked it open, scanning fast.And that’s when the ground tilted beneath me.They knew.Not everything—but enough.The article was a full exposé, claiming Fal
Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract One hundred and eight
~Reid~I kissed her.And now, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.The warmth of her skin beneath my fingertips.The way she had melted into me, just for a second, before pulling away.The soft hitch in her breath, the lingering taste of her on my lips.I should have let it go.I should have walked away, filed it under mistakes I won’t make again, and kept my distance.But I couldn’t.Because it didn’t feel like a mistake.It felt inevitable.And that—that was the part that terrified me the most.This was the problem with pretending. I wasn’t supposed to want her.This arrangement had been clean, structured—an unshakable foundation built on logic and necessity.We were business partners wrapped in a pretty package of public appearances and carefully curated affection.And I’d been fine with that.Until I wasn’t.Because somewhere between the forced smiles and the staged moments, the lines blurred.Somewhere between fighting her and defending her, between resenting her and needing her—I
Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract One hundred and seven
~Fallon~It was just a kiss.Nothing more.Nothing less.I repeated the words in my head as I lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling like it held the answers to my rapidly spiraling thoughts.A kiss meant nothing.Not when it was part of a bet.Not when it was Reid Callahan.And yet my pulse still skipped when I thought about it. He was messing with my head.The way he’d looked at me—sharp, heated, entirely too confident. The slow, deliberate way he’d closed the space between us, like he’d been waiting for an excuse. The brush of his lips—firm, steady, undeniable.It had been a game.So why the hell was I still thinking about it?I groaned, throwing an arm over my face.This was ridiculous. It was embarrassing too.I needed a distraction.Anything to pull me out of my own head before I did something stupid—like replay the moment in my mind for the hundredth time and analyze every single second.I rolled over, grabbing my phone from the nightstand.Bad idea.Because the first thing th
Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract One hundred and six
~Fallon~ The moment I lost, I knew I was in trouble. Reid didn’t gloat. He didn’t smirk, or throw out some arrogant remark. No. That would’ve been too easy. Instead, he just looked at me—calm, unreadable, with the kind of patience that sent my pulse into a full sprint. And then, in that low, even voice that always got under my skin, he said, “I believe I won.” I swallowed. “So it seems.” The air between us thickened. He leaned back against the couch, fingers tapping idly against the armrest like he had all the time in the world. “You remember what’s at stake?” Like I could forget. A kiss. Not just any kiss. A Reid Callahan kiss. And if the almost kiss from the other night was anything to go by, this was about to be a problem. For me. Because despite every warning, every reason I had to not feel things, my body had other ideas when it came to him. And now? Now, I had to face the consequences. I lifted my chin. “Fine.” Reid’s brows lifted slightl
Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract One hundred and five
~Fallon~It started as a joke.Well, technically, it started because I caught Reid answering emails again during breakfast, despite claiming he was taking the day off. And since I was no better—scrolling through my social media feed while pretending to sip my coffee—it spiraled into a full-blown challenge.“No work emails,” I declared, setting my phone down with a dramatic flourish. “And no social media.”Reid arched a brow, clearly unimpressed. “You do realize your entire career is built on social media, right?”“And your entire life is built on work,” I shot back. “Which is exactly why we need this. A full day of unplugging. No distractions, no notifications, no meetings. Just… existing like normal people.”He huffed, setting his coffee down. “And what’s in it for me?”I smirked. “If you win, you get to kiss me.”His expression didn’t change, but I felt the shift—the sharp attention in his gaze, the way his fingers drummed once against the table.“And if you win?” he asked, voice lo
Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract One hundred and four
~Fallon~I had no idea how I ended up here.Well, actually—I did.Reid had come home earlier than expected, looking ridiculously put-together despite what I knew had to be a brutal day at work. Meanwhile, I’d been lounging on the couch, wearing an oversized sweatshirt and no intention of doing anything productive when he casually dropped a question that sent my entire evening spiraling into enemy territory.“Do you play chess?”I blinked up at him. “Are you being serious?”His lips twitched. “I don’t joke about strategy, Fallon.”Of course he didn’t. I could already picture it—Reid Callahan, eleven years old, probably reading The Art of War between school exams and power plays on the playground.But I wasn’t about to let him think he had the upper hand.“Fine,” I said, stretching lazily before standing up. “But if we’re playing something, we’re making it interesting.”That’s how chess turned into a full-blown game night.And now here we were—an hour and three games deep, sitting cross
Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract One hundred and three
FallonIf the press wanted a spectacle, I’d give them one.Because I wasn’t about to let some random nobody run my name through the mud and get away with it.My phone buzzed again, the screen flashing with a name I’d been ignoring for the past half hour.Mom.I exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of my nose before finally giving in and answering.“Fallon,” she said the second the call connected. “I assume you’ve seen the headlines.”“No, Mom. I just woke up and thought the entire internet was blowing up for fun.”She sighed, the exasperation practically vibrating through the phone. “I told you this would happen. People will always look for cracks in a marriage like yours. The only way to win is to ignore it.”I rolled my eyes. “That’s not winning. That’s surrendering.”“It’s strategic,” she corrected. “If you don’t acknowledge it, the story dies faster. Engaging gives it power.”I paced the room, jaw tightening. This was so like her. The constant need to present the perfect image, to
Fallon’s Reid: An Arranged Contract One hundred and two
~Fallon~ I woke up to war. My phone was vibrating off the nightstand, the screen lighting up with notifications so fast I could barely process them. I grabbed it, groggy, scrolling through an endless flood of texts, missed calls, and push alerts. And then I saw it. “Billionaire Reid Callahan Spotted on an Intimate Dinner Date—Where Was His Wife?” My stomach dropped. The article was everywhere. Attached were pictures—Reid at a sleek, exclusive restaurant, seated across from a woman I didn’t recognize. She was gorgeous. Brunette, sophisticated, leaning in just close enough to make the photos look damning. The kind of woman the press would love to call his real match. I scrolled faster, my pulse hammering. “Reid Callahan and mystery woman share a private dinner—sources say Fallon Callahan was nowhere in sight!” “Trouble in paradise? Callahan marriage not as picture-perfect as they want you to believe.” “Who is the woman seen dining with L.A.’s most powerful billionaire?” Th
