The Arrangement

Daniel did not let go of her hand immediately. Instead he held it a little longer than normal for a business greeting.

"Please, sit down," Daniel said, gesturing to the leather chairs opposite his desk. "I have to admit, when Marcus told me Vellum Creative was a new agency, I had my doubts. But your portfolio completely blew me away."

Selene felt a spark of excitement. "Thank you, Mr. Sterling. We wanted to create a concept that matches your art collection perfectly."

"Daniel, please," he corrected as he leaned back against his desk. "Tell me about the opening night concept."

Selene opened her laptop and signaled to Hannah. For the next thirty minutes, the room was filled with design discussion. Selene explained the layout, the media placement, and the lighting guides.

Daniel listened closely, without interrupting, his eyes not leaving her face as she spoke, nodding along with genuine interest.

"The transition from the classic gallery room to the modern digital space is brilliant," Daniel remarked, leaning closer that his hand brushed against Selene's arm by accident.

A sudden warmth zipped through her skin, as she glanced at him. "We want the guests to feel like they are stepping into the future of art."

"You have managed to make a mere launch look like an actual masterpiece, Selene. I don't need to see anything else, let’s sign the contract."

Selene beamed joyfully. I did it, I just secured the biggest client in the city entirely on my own.

Before she could hand over the folder, the office doors opened, and Daniel’s legal advisor stepped inside. He held a freshly printed document in his trembling hand.

"Ap.. apologies for interrupting, Mr. Sterling," the lawyer stammered nervously. "But we just received an emergency change on the project's funding pool. We have a new major stakeholder."

Daniel frowned. "What do you mean? The budget was settled last Friday."

"The Vale Meridian Group bought into the gallery’s launch fund twenty minutes ago," the lawyer explained rapidly. "They purchased a fifty percent stake, and the CEO, Cassian Vale signed off on it personally."

Selene stopped breathing, and gripped the edge of the desk so hard her knuckles turned white.

"Cassian?" Selene whispered.

"There is a mandatory condition attached to the investment," the lawyer continued. "For the partnership to remain valid, the lead creative director, Mrs. Selene Vale, must personally host and attend every public gallery event, red carpet, and media interview standing alongside the primary investor. It is non-negotiable."

Selene sat completely frozen. It was a trap, Cassian had monitored her movement, found out about her meeting today, and used his wealth to buy his way inside. He was legally binding her to his side, making sure she couldn't take a step toward freedom without him.

Daniel stood up slowly from his desk, snatched the document from the lawyer's hand, scanned the lines quickly, and then threw it on the desk.

"Call Vale Meridian back, tell them the deal is off."

The lawyer gasped. "Mr. Sterling? That is half of our international launch budget! The marketing team alone—"

"I don't care about the budget," Daniel cut him off quickly, and turned his attention to Selene. "I don't let other men use my business projects to play mind games. Selene, are you okay?"

Selene looked up into Daniel's eyes. Her mind was spinning, because no one had ever stood up for her like this before. Cassian had always dominated every room, but Daniel wasn't afraid of him at all.

"Mr. Sterling... Daniel," Selene stammered, before she forced herself to stand up. "If you reject the funding, the entire gallery launch will be delayed, and your reputation will take a hit."

"My gallery will open perfectly fine with or without Cassian Vale's money," Daniel countered. "But I won't be the reason you are forced into this. If you want me to rip this contract up right now, I will do it."

Selene was confused, because she knew that if Daniel canceled the deal, Vellum Creative would lose its grand debut. The media would find out, and her new agency would look like a failure before it even started.

Cassian wanted her to fail, he wanted her to crawl back to him, proving she couldn't survive without him.

No, she thought fiercely. I am not letting him ruin my dream.

She reached out, and picked up the pen from the table.

"Selene?" Daniel questioned softly, watching her closely.

"We are signing it," she looked straight at Daniel. "My husband is probably just being overly protective, don’t worry about him.”

Daniel searched her face for a long moment, checking if she was being real. "There is a fine line between being protective and being controlling, Mrs. Vale, but I admire your dedication to this project."

Hearing the name made her wince slightly m, but she signed the document anyways. Daniel took the pen and placed his signature right next to hers.

"It's official then," Daniel murmured, though his eyes looked worried. "But this means the press gala next week will be a madhouse. You will be standing right between both of us in front of every camera."

"I know," Selene whispered.

She walked out of the building minutes later, and the moment she got into her car, she pulled out her phone and dialed a number she knew by heart.

It rang twice before the deep voice answered.

"Selene," Cassian said, sounding completely bored, as if he had been expecting the call.

"You are a disgusting coward," Selene spat into the phone, her grip tightening on the steering wheel. "You think you can buy my company? You think you can buy me?"

Cassian chuckled before speaking. "I didn't buy your company, El. I invested in a promising gallery. I told you before, you are still my wife for the next six months, if you’re going to stand next to another man in public, I will be right there to remind him who you belong to."

"I don't belong to you!" she yelled.

"We will see about that on next week," Cassian said quietly. "Don't be late for the fitting tomorrow. The stylist will be coming to the house."

Selene dropped the phone onto the passenger seat, breathing fast. Today was supposed to be victory for her, but Cassian had turned it into a shit day.

How was she going to survive standing between both of them?