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Chapter 17: Callum's POV
Last Updated:
2025-02-26 18:03:16
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My Ex, the Widowed Billionaire Chapter 18: Callum's POV 2
CALLUM’S POV 2I arrived at Rhodes Enterprises exactly one hour later, my suit pressed, expression neutral. The weight of Richard’s expectations sat heavy on my shoulders, but I refused to show any cracks.As I stepped into the boardroom, a dozen pairs of eyes flicked toward me—some wary, some calculating, all waiting for me to falter. Richard sat at the head of the table, his gaze impassive.“Callum,” he said smoothly, motioning for me to take my seat. “Let’s begin.”I forced a nod, suppressing the lingering headache from last night’s whiskey. This was my battlefield now. To survive, I had to play the game.The meeting was brutal. The board questioned everything—my competence, leadership, and ability to carry the Rhodes name forward. Richard stayed silent, letting them tear into me like vultures. I answered each challenge with precision, refusing to be rattled.By the time the meeting ended, I’d made one thing clear: I wasn’t just Emilia’s grieving husband. I was the man who would le
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ATHENA'S POVDays passed, and Callum remained the same—dominant, assertive, always in control. I did everything to fulfill my role as his secretary, ensuring his schedule ran smoothly. Yet, despite my efforts to keep things professional, he continued his daily lunch invitations, making it impossible to refuse.Today was no different. As soon as the clock struck noon, his deep voice called out from his office."Let's go."It wasn’t a request—it never was.I swallowed hard, grabbed my bag, and followed. The moment I stepped into his sleek black car, silence filled the space, thick with an unspoken tension I couldn’t define.Our lunches weren’t romantic. They were businesslike—discussions about reports, future projects, and his impossible expectations. But no matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise, I couldn’t ignore the way his gaze lingered sometimes, the way his fingers brushed against mine when he handed me the menu.It was dangerous.Back at the office, the stares were
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I clutched the soft handkerchief in my hands, my breath still uneven as I stared at the man before me. He wasn’t demanding, wasn’t overpowering—just there, offering a quiet sense of comfort I didn’t realize I needed.He leaned slightly against my desk, his hands tucked into the pockets of his tailored slacks. “I’m Daniel, by the way,” he said with an easy smile. “Daniel West. New Chief Technology Officer.”My eyes widened slightly. CTO? He was an executive?I quickly straightened myself, wiping the last traces of tears from my face. “Oh. Um—welcome to Rhodes Company.” My voice was still shaky, but at least I could manage words now.“Thanks.” He chuckled, tilting his head slightly. “Not exactly the best first impression, huh? Finding you crying in your office?”I swallowed, looking away. “I—I don’t usually do this.”“I believe you.” His tone was gentle but certain. “Rough day?”I scoffed, shaking my head. “Something like that.”Daniel nodded as if he understood without needing any expl
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I let out a nervous laugh, shaking my head. "He’s just—" I paused, searching for the right word. "Weird. Controlling. Crazy."Daniel hummed thoughtfully. "Or maybe," he said slowly, "he actually likes you."I turned to him, my mouth opening to protest, but then—"Oh."That single word from Daniel sent a strange chill down my spine."What?" I asked hesitantly.Daniel glanced at me, then smirked. "So… the CEO is my rival, huh?"I blinked. "What are you talking about?"His smirk deepened, but his gaze held sincerity. "I like you too."My heart stuttered."What?" I whispered.Daniel nodded, his grip on the steering wheel tightening slightly. "I was planning to take my time… get to know you before saying anything." He let out a breathless chuckle."But seeing how he looks at you, how he reacts when you’re with someone else—I don’t think I have time."I was speechless.He liked me?My brain was already struggling to deal with Callum’s overwhelming presence, and now Daniel was confessing his
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Before I could react, Callum stormed across the room, his fist connecting with Daniel’s face in a brutal punch. The sound of the impact echoed through the space, and Daniel staggered back, gripping his jaw."Callum!" I screamed, shoving myself between them before he could strike again. My palms pressed against his chest, pushing him away with all my strength. "What the hell is wrong with you?"Callum’s breathing was ragged, his eyes blazing with fury. "What’s wrong with me?" he shot back. "You’re here, flirting with him while your brother needs you!"Daniel straightened, wiping the blood from the corner of his lip. His expression remained calm, but there was a flicker of annoyance in his eyes."I don’t know who you think you are," he said, voice steady, "but hitting me doesn’t make you more important in her life."Callum took a step forward, but I shoved him harder."That’s enough!" I snapped, my voice shaking with anger. "You have no right to barge into my house, and you sure as hell
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I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My heart pounded as I stopped by a group of employees whispering."Is it true?" I asked, my voice sharper than intended. "Did the CEO really fire Daniel West?"They exchanged uneasy glances before one hesitantly nodded. "Yeah, it's true. He was fired this morning."My stomach dropped. "But why? What reason did Mr. Stone give?"Another shook their head. "We don’t know. One moment Daniel was here, and the next, he was gone."I clenched my fists. I knew exactly why. It had to be because of yesterday. Callum had no right—firing Daniel over his own insecurities? He was fucking ruthless.Anger surged as I stormed toward Callum’s office. My heels clicked sharply, fury growing with each step. Without knocking, I pushed the door open. He sat behind his desk, unbothered."What the hell, Callum?" I demanded, voice trembling with rage. "You fired Daniel? Because of yesterday?"Callum’s cold gaze met mine, unfazed. "I don’t want anyone stealing what’s mine."
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Callum's grip on my wrist tightened for a second before he let go, his expression unreadable. He turned away, running a hand through his hair, frustration evident in every movement."You think I wanted to leave you?" His voice was low, controlled, but there was an edge to it—a breaking point he was barely holding back."You think I wanted to marry Emilia?"I clenched my fists. "That's exactly what it looked like. One moment, you were mine, and the next, you were someone else’s husband! And now, you have the audacity to act like I belong to you?"Callum exhaled sharply, his jaw tightening."Emilia was dying, Athena. She had an illness that left her with only weeks to live. Her father—my mentor, the man who trusted me with everything—begged me to marry her. It wasn’t about love; it was about giving her comfort in her final days. I didn’t have a choice."The words hit me like a punch to the gut. My breath caught as I stared at him, my mind racing."You expect me to believe that?" My voic
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The weight of Lia’s question settled heavily between us.Was I still in love with Callum?I forced a laugh, shaking my head. “No. Never again. Especially now that I’ve seen how arrogant he is. He’s different now, and I hate it so much.”Lia studied me for a long moment, then leaned back in her chair. “If you say so.”Daniel, who had been silent, finally spoke. “So, does that mean I have a chance?” His voice was light, teasing, but there was a seriousness in his gaze that made my breath catch.I hesitated. “I… I don’t know.”“Wait. How do you know each other?” I asked Lia, trying to keep my voice steady.Lia blinked in surprise, then smiled. “Oh, Daniel’s my close friend. We’ve known each other for years. And he’s also Nica’s cousin—it’s such a coincidence, right?”A coincidence.I forced a nod, but something about it unsettled me. Of all people, Daniel had to be connected to Lia?Lia, still oblivious to my inner turmoil, turned to Daniel. “You should join us! It’s been a while since w
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My Ex, the Widowed Billionaire Chapter 68: Struggle
The storm between us quieted.He didn’t say anything else for a while, and neither did I. The only sounds were our breathing and the tick of the wall clock, each second reminding me that peace like this wasn’t promised—it was chosen, earned, fragile.Callum's fingers curled around mine slowly, deliberately. A silent act of truce.I leaned into his shoulder, resting my forehead against the curve of his neck. He smelled like sun-warmed cotton and faint traces of my lavender soap. I’d missed this. Not just the feel of him—but the safety of him. The softness that still existed beneath the sharp edges life had carved into both of us.“I didn’t mean to ruin this morning,” I murmured.He sighed. “I know.”We sat like that for minutes or maybe hours—it was hard to tell. The past still hummed in the corners of the room, but something new was blooming too. Fragile, but real.Eventually, he spoke again. “What if this doesn’t work out?”I pulled back slightly. “Us?”“No,” he said, shaking his hea
My Ex, the Widowed Billionaire Chapter 67: Come back
He stepped closer, not touching me, not demanding anything—just close enough that I could feel the heat of him in the chilled wind.“You’ll find her,” he said softly. “I know you will.”His voice was full of something reverent. Like belief. Like hope. Like he saw a version of me I hadn’t fully stepped into yet but he already loved anyway.We stood there like that for a while, the waves crashing far below, the clouds slowly drifting across a sky painted with late afternoon gold. And then I did something I hadn’t planned.I reached for his hand.It felt like stepping off a ledge—but instead of falling, I found solid ground.His fingers threaded with mine instinctively. Familiar. Easy. And when I looked up at him, something shifted. Deep and quiet and real.“Come back with me,” I said.His brows lifted slightly, surprise flickering behind his eyes.“Just for tea,” I added quickly. “Don’t make it weird.”He grinned, and for a moment, we weren’t two broken people trying to figure out how t
My Ex, the Widowed Billionaire Chapter 66: His Choice
They say closure is a myth. That healing doesn’t come in clean arcs, but in spirals—circles that loop back on themselves when you least expect it. I used to believe healing was about moving forward, about choosing growth. But what they don’t tell you is sometimes healing means looking backward, straight into the eyes of what broke you, and asking if maybe… just maybe… you still want it.Callum was standing in my kitchen.He moved like a man walking through a dream, unsure of what was real and what he’d only imagined during the countless sleepless nights I suspected we both had. The air between us was thick—heavy with memories, words left unsaid, and the quiet pull of things unresolved.He hadn’t shaved. A small thing, but for Callum Hastings, that was a kind of confession.“You look tired,” I said quietly, unsure of what else to say.“I am,” he admitted, his voice rough. “But I’ll sleep better if you hear me out.”I nodded and poured him a cup of coffee, not because I had to, but beca
My Ex, the Widowed Billionaire Chapter 65: Rumors
Days passed and with each one, the silence between Callum and me became thicker. At work, we fell back into our roles—him, the cold and polished CEO; me, the efficient assistant with unreadable eyes. The moments we’d shared—too fragile, too private—seemed to shrink beneath the weight of routine.But something had shifted. Not just between us, but in the air around us.It started small.A hushed conversation in the hallway that cut off the moment I walked past. A paused laugh when I entered the breakroom. Stares that lingered just a little too long.Rumors.They crept in like cracks in glass—subtle, invisible at first. But they were growing.“He’s been different lately.”“She’s always in his office late.”“Have you seen how close they stand?”One morning, I found a printed photo carelessly left near the printer tray. Callum and me—taken from a distance, probably through the office windows. We were walking through the small park near the firm. He was looking at me, not smiling, but seei
My Ex, the Widowed Billionaire Chapter 64: Returned
Days passed.Ryan remained in recovery, and the doctors said it was a miracle he survived the trauma. Callum never left his side during the first 48 hours, and I stayed as long as I could—until reality knocked again, cold and sharp.Work.Deadlines. Reports. Meetings. Schedules. The world outside the hospital didn’t care about the wounds we were nursing or the chaos we had survived.So I returned to the company.Back to polished shoes and pressed blouses, empty coffee mugs, and overly enthusiastic greetings from coworkers who didn’t know, or pretended not to know, what had happened.I was just “the secretary” again. The assistant with quiet eyes and a composed smile, sitting outside Callum’s office and managing his appointments like I hadn’t once held his hand beside a hospital bed. Like we hadn’t once whispered words we couldn’t take back.The company buzzed with energy that felt foreign to me. Laughter in the pantry. Flirtations over email. The sound of heels against the marble floo
My Ex, the Widowed Billionaire Chapter 63: I love him
The question hung in the air like frost, suspended and sharp. I didn’t answer immediately. I couldn’t. Not because I didn’t know—but because the truth was complicated, layered, messy. I wrapped the blanket tighter around my shoulders, the cold biting through even that small comfort. Callum didn’t press me. He never did. That was one of the reasons I had come to rely on him so completely. But right now, I wished he would say something. Anything. “Yes,” I said finally, barely above a whisper. “But not the way I love you.” His eyes flickered to mine. “What does that mean?” I looked at him, really looked at him. The man who had stepped in when everything was falling apart. Who stayed, even when the weight of my grief and guilt threatened to drown us both. Who loved Ryan like his own. “It means I loved the idea of Daniel. The life we had before everything broke. Before the sickness. Before the loss. I loved the certainty he offered.” “But you don’t trust him,” Callum said, more a st
My Ex, the Widowed Billionaire Chapter 62: Do you still love him?
The next morning came too quickly. The sunrise spilled soft orange light through the curtains, painting the room in a warmth that felt too gentle for the weight pressing on my chest. Callum had already gotten up. I could hear him downstairs in the kitchen—muffled sounds of a kettle boiling, the low hum of the radio, the quiet patter of his footsteps moving in familiar rhythm.I pulled myself from bed slowly, each movement a reminder of the exhaustion lodged deep in my bones. Ryan had another appointment today. A new specialist. One Callum had found after days of phone calls and medical forums. He never gave up—not on Ryan, not on me. And I hated how part of me still felt tempted by Daniel’s offer, even after everything.I met Callum downstairs, where he stood with two mugs of coffee in hand. He passed one to me without a word, offering a tired smile. There were faint lines at the corners of his eyes—worry etched into every part of him now."Big day," he said, breaking the silence."Ye
My Ex, the Widowed Billionaire Chapter 61: Enough
The days that followed my decision were anything but easy. Even though I had chosen to stay with Callum, to lean on the bond we had built over the years, the weight of my choice pressed down on me like an iron vice. I had rejected Daniel’s offer, but in some quiet, hidden corner of my heart, I still questioned whether I had made the right decision. I hadn’t fully embraced the idea of the future without his help, his promise of an escape from the suffocating reality I had been living in.But as I spent more time with Callum, as I saw the way he fought for us, fought for Ryan, I began to feel that flicker of hope grow a little brighter. Maybe we didn’t need Daniel. Maybe we just needed each other.Ryan’s condition was still precarious. Some days, he seemed like he was doing better, his color returning to his cheeks, his voice stronger when he spoke. But those moments were fleeting, like sunshine breaking through a storm, only to be swallowed by clouds once more.We had a good day here a
My Ex, the Widowed Billionaire Chapter 60: Scared
The days that followed my meeting with Daniel were some of the hardest I had ever faced. I couldn’t shake the weight of the decision that loomed over me, pressing down with increasing force. The tension between Callum and me was palpable, thicker than ever. He hadn’t asked about the meeting, not directly, but I knew he could tell something had changed. My silence was heavy, my distraction obvious. And still, I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth.Ryan’s condition was worsening. Every day, there were moments when I thought the fight would be over, when I would watch him sleep and wonder if I was seeing him for the last time. And yet, in the same breath, I clung to the hope that we could make it through, that things could get better. But the uncertainty was suffocating. Every medication administered, every round of treatment, felt like a reminder that we were running out of time.I wasn’t sure what I was searching for. Maybe I was looking for a sign, something that would make th
