C3 Six Months

"Six months," Nora repeated.

Julian nodded once. She waited for more. None came.

"Do you charge extra for complete sentences?"

That got his attention. "You said you wanted the terms."

"I do. Preferably all of them."

He reached for a slim folder tucked beside the seat and handed it to her. "My lawyer sent a summary while we were leaving the church." Nora opened it.

The first page had more legal language than she wanted to deal with in a wedding dress, but the numbers were easy enough to find. Twelve percent of Vale Group's voting shares. A family trust. Release tied to the next permanent chairman vote.

Her finger stopped on one line.

"Marriage for six continuous months."

"Yes," Julian said.

She read the next paragraph instead of asking him to translate it. "If you fail the condition, the shares pass to Marcus Vale's side of the family."

"They do."

Marcus. The uncle who had become acting CEO after Julian's crash. Nora looked up. "And twelve percent decides something."

Julian's gaze shifted from the page to her face. "Why do you say that?"

"Because nobody rushes into a wedding for twelve percent unless the twelve percent matters."

A beat passed.

"It can decide who controls the company," he said.

Nora looked back at the document and read the release date again. Vanessa had run because she thought Julian's future was gone. Her parents had panicked because the wedding agreement was collapsing. Julian had been standing at the altar with a deadline she knew nothing about.

"Today was the last day," she said.

"Yes."

She tapped the trust date printed on the page. "You could have led with that in the car."

Julian gave a small nod. "I could have."

"Why didn't you?"

He looked at the folder in her hands. "You were angry."

"I am still angry."

"I noticed," he said.

His tone was dry enough that Nora let the matter go for the moment.

The car turned through iron gates and followed a curved drive toward a large, quiet house. She had expected something grander from the Vale name. More marble, maybe. People in uniforms appearing from nowhere. Instead, two lights were on downstairs and no one came running when the car stopped.

Julian got out first. Nora gathered Vanessa's skirt and followed, realizing only then that she had no change of clothes, no toothbrush, and no idea where she was supposed to sleep. Inside, Julian led her to a dining room. A tablet and a glass of water waited at one end of the table.

"My lawyer sent the full agreement," he said.

Nora sat. "You had one ready."

"For the wedding," he said.

"For Vanessa."

Julian nodded. "Yes."

She hated the little pinch that answer caused. It was ridiculous. The ring, the dress, the guest list, the flowers in the church, all of it had been chosen around Vanessa. A contract should not have been the thing that bothered her.

She opened the file anyway.

Six months. Separate property. Public appearances when necessary. No interference with her employment. Either party free to seek divorce after the trust period.

Then she reached the compensation clause.

"No."

Julian had taken the chair across from her. "Which part?"

"The money."

"It is standard compensation for the time and inconvenience," Julian said.

"I'm not taking it."

He glanced at the rest of the document. "You should finish reading before you decide."

Nora pushed the tablet across the table far enough that he could see the clause. "Delete that one and I will." He studied her for a few seconds, then picked up his phone. "All right."

That was almost disappointing. She had prepared an argument.

"My job stays mine," she said.

Julian tapped the line with one finger. "It says so."

"I know what it says. I'm making sure you hear me say it."

Julian leaned back. "I hear you."

"My salary is mine. Your money is yours. Separate rooms."

Julian nodded. "Fine."

"If my parents ask you for favors because I'm your wife, don't give them anything."

Julian stopped leaning back and set his phone on the table. Nora kept her eyes on the tablet. "Business introductions, contracts, donations, whatever version they come up with. I don't want this turned into another family opportunity."

"All right."

She looked at him. "You understand I'm serious?"

"Yes."

Nora checked his face as if she might have missed an objection, then continued through the pages. "If we have to appear somewhere together, tell me ahead of time. I won't lie to reporters about where Vanessa went. And no affairs while we're married. I don't care what happens after six months, but I'm not spending those six months finding myself in gossip columns because you got bored."

Julian's eyebrows rose. "You think boredom is the main risk?"

"I don't know you well enough to rank the risks."

A quiet laugh escaped him before he looked back at the agreement. Nora pretended not to hear it. At the final page, she stopped again. "When the six months are over, if I ask for a divorce, you sign."

"I will," Julian said.

"No delay while somebody finds another clause in your grandfather's paperwork."

He met her eyes. "You have my word."

She looked at him for a long moment, then read the agreement from the beginning again. No one was crying across the table or telling her what would happen to the family if she refused.

"Send me the revised version after your lawyer removes the compensation."

Julian sent a message. "Done."

"And after I read that?"

"You decide," he said.

The new file arrived two minutes later. Nora checked every changed line before she signed. Julian signed after her.

They did not shake hands again. Julian stood and reached for his cane.

Something from the car returned to her. "If the crash had never happened, would Marcus be acting CEO?" Julian paused.

"No."

Nora turned the tablet around in her hands. "So what happened?" His face gave her nothing. The dry humor from a few minutes earlier was gone.

Julian closed his hand around the cane. "Don't ask me about the crash."

"That's not much of an explanation."

"It isn't supposed to be," he said.

The answer came flat, not clever. Nora considered pushing. Then she remembered that she had just spent half an hour insisting on boundaries of her own.

"Fine," she said. "I'm not promising I won't ask forever."

"I wouldn't expect you to."

He led her toward the stairs and told her the driver could take her to her apartment after she saw her room. Nora followed, hauling the dress clear of her shoes. At the first step, she moved aside. The cane tapped once against the floor as Julian approached. Nora realized she had made room for him without thinking.

He climbed.

Not quickly. Not effortlessly either. His left leg was stiff, and once his hand closed around the rail. But the cane was support, not a rescue. He reached the landing without stopping.

At the top he glanced back and found Nora still two steps below him.

"What?"

She looked at the cane, then at him.

"Nothing."

Julian waited a second, clearly unconvinced, then continued down the hall. Nora followed. At the landing, he shifted the cane to his other hand and kept walking without asking anyone for help.