Page 56 of Her Possessive Dominant Fake Husband

Allison watched too. The meetings, the boardroom, the way Claire and I stood together. She saw it. The ex who thought she had a permanent mark on my heart. She didn’t. Not anymore. Not since Claire.

I could feel her watching, see the moment it all clicked. Her understanding that she no longer had a hold on me or Claire. That she was the past, and I’d found my future. The surprise in her eyes, the realization that I didn’t need her, that I didn’t want her. She knew it, felt it, and like the coward she always was, she turned and ran.

Allison walked away. From my brother, from the lie she built, from the game she could no longer win. And me? I was happier she was gone, and good riddance. No regret, no anger—just absence. She was never worth it. Never worthy.

Allison thought she could break me once. She failed. She barely even touched the edges of who I am. But Claire? She could undo me with a word, hold me together with a touch. She mattered in a way Allison never could and never would.

And I wasn’t about to let her slip away. Not again.

I watched as Claire owned the day, a quiet sense of certainty and an unbreakable force that stole the breath from my lungs. She stood in the conference room—not just present, but undeniable—speaking, commanding, dismantling every expectation placed in her path.

I couldn’t look away. Couldn’t stop admiring the effortless power she carried, the gravity that made everything else pale in comparison. The men who doubted her listened. The women who once underestimated her followed.

And me? I stood back, letting her lead, letting her shine. Loving her more for it.

An executive tried to dismiss her, tried to wave away her words like they were nothing.

I didn’t let him.

“She’s right,” I said, cutting him off. “Claire’s right.”

I would never doubt her again. Of course, I didn’t have to step in. I chose to, because we were a team.

I chose her. Over my pride, over my ego, over everything that used to matter. Because none of it mattered anymore. Just Claire.

The way she filled every space in my life with certainty, with confidence, with love.

I watched her as she looked at me, saw the way her eyes softened, the way her lips turned up in a smile meant only forme. And as I walked across the room to take her hand, I knew— I was never letting her go.

Chapter Seventeen

Claire

“We’re doing what now?” I asked, feigning suspiciousness.

I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. This was Alexander. The way he looked at me hitched a breath in my chest.

As we stood in the last rays of sunlight, surrounded by vibrant hues of purple and gold, I thought about how I had spent so long questioning. But there was nothing uncertain in his gaze, nothing calculated or hidden as it met mine, pulling me closer to him and to the life we could have. This was happening.

“Going on vacation,” he said.

“Don’t you have work?” I couldn’t help but tease him.

He shrugged, looking laid back and impossibly handsome. “Everybody needs a vacation from time to time.”

“Ugh, fine,” I said, rolling my eyes. I loved the new Alexander, the man he was around me only. Gone was the ice, the distance, he was unapologetically himself, and I loved that.

We were on a plane within an hour.

He brought me to a place I had once dreamed of visiting. A place I’d mentioned in passing. It had been a quiet comment, tossed out like spare change, lost among all the uncertainty of our beginnings.

I hadn’t expected him to remember. I hadn’t expected him to care. But here we were. And it took everything inside me not to drown in the emotions swirling through my chest, not to collapse under the weight of something I wanted too much to name. Was this real? Was this him? Was this the us I’d almost stopped hoping for?

As we stepped off the plane, I was stunned by the beauty – and cleanliness - of Osaka International Airport. We were on our way to Kyoto, and I couldn’t wait to visit historic temples, serene gardens, and of course, to play amongst the petals of cherry blossoms.

“I want to renew our vows… if you’ll have me.”

I stood there, breath caught and unsure, listening to the low, sure grind of his voice as he said, “Not for a contract. Not for anyone else. Just for us.” And I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t stop the wild rush of my heart.

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