Chapter 17 - Four Months
The contract had sixty one days left.
Renee marked none of them.
I did.
Not on a calendar.
In my head.
Every paycheck into escrow reminded me.
Every press appearance.
Every board update.
Every dinner.
At first, the public partner role felt absurd.
Then Sterling PR stopped using the word partner at all.
Daniel Cole, independent personal representative.
Good.
The tabloids got bored once no scandal grew.
Lily returned to school without reporters outside.
Life became less sharp.
Renee returned to work part time from home.
Two hours.
Then four.
Never alone at first.
Not because she was incompetent.
Because stamina vanished without warning.
One afternoon she fell asleep during a financial review.
Woke embarrassed.
“I’m useless.”
“No.”
“I slept through EBITDA.”
“That sounds healthy.”
She laughed.
Then board reform.
Malcolm Reed remained chair.
Charles Wynn stayed COO after independent review cleared him of conspiracy.
That surprised Renee.
She had suspected everyone.
Charles had pushed for temporary delegation early.
Why?
Because he genuinely feared operational paralysis.
He had no North Harbor interest.
No microphone access.
No secret payments.
Not every person who disagreed was traitor.
Important.
Renee apologized to him.
He accepted.
Then Sterling hired permanent compliance chief reporting directly to board audit committee.
Health information access segregated.
Family directors lost unilateral security overrides.
Related party investments required annual disclosure.
Boring reforms.
The kind that prevent dramatic stories.
Then Victoria.
Renee met her once after settlement.
Private.
No me.
No recording beyond attorneys if needed.
Afterward, Renee returned home pale.
“How was it?”
“She apologized.”
“Did you believe her?”
“Parts.”
“What did she say?”
“That she thought Dad had chosen me over her twice. First with the company. Then when he left me the voting trust.”
“That’s how she felt.”
“Yes.”
“Did she say why she altered Side D?”
Renee looked away.
“She said she wanted the document to reflect what she believed Arthur owed her.”
“That is a very expensive way to describe forgery.”
“She knows.”
Then:
“She asked if I still love her.”
“What did you say?”
“Yes.
That hurt more than no.
Then Renee asked whether she could ever forgive her.
I gave the answer I had learned from Lily.
“Not my decision.”
She smiled.
Then my life.
My electrical job had effectively ended when contract began.
My employer kept a place open for thirty days.
Not six months.
Fair.
I had choices.
Twelve million dollars gross changed things.
Even after taxes and fees.
But I did not want to become a man who did nothing because he could.
I started planning a small industrial electrical firm.
Safety retrofits.
Control systems.
Emergency hospital power.
Sarah would have laughed at the paperwork.
Lily designed the logo.
Terrible lightning bolt.
We kept it.
Renee offered investment.
“No.”
She looked offended.
“Why?”
“Because I need one thing in my life that doesn’t have Sterling capital in it.”
She nodded.
“Fair.”
Then one evening we sat on the back terrace.
No attorneys.
No monitors.
No board calls.
Renee said:
“What happens in sixty one days?”
“You stop paying me.”
“Helpful.”
“I go home.”
“You live here half the week.”
“For the contract.”
“Lily has her own room.”
“For security.”
“She named it.”
“Lily names everything.”
Renee looked toward the garden.
“Do you want to leave?”
There it was.
I could have answered with love.
Didn’t.
“I don’t know.”
She nodded.
“Me neither.”
Honest.
Then she said:
“I don’t want the first real relationship after Marcus to be something I paid for.”
“Good.”
“And I don’t want you staying because you think I’m fragile.”
“Good.”
“And I don’t want Lily thinking she has to choose me because she lost Sarah.”
I looked at her.
“That one matters.”
“I know.”
So we made a rule.
No decisions until contract ended.
No romantic relationship.
No promises.
No moving.
No engagement nonsense.
Sixty one days.
Then we would meet as two people who owed each other nothing.
That sounded mature.
May you like
It was miserable.
Continue to the next part: Daniel and Renee deliberately create distance before the contract ends, only to discover how much of their life has stopped feeling pretend.
