Divorce to Destiny: Reclaiming My CEO Husband

(Cass)

I pace the estate office, Viktor's phone pressed tightly to my ear. Viktor leans against the desk, his arms crossed, the picture of calm professionalism.

Good. I want to ignore the way he held me earlier, like I actually mattered to him.

He's trained to say the right things to defuse situations. That's all it was.

Jayden picks up, his voice tense but steady. "Cass. She's okay. I mean, she's in an induced coma for a few days but she's okay."

"Thank God!" I say, my voice cracking. I can't stop the tremble in my hands. "Are you with her still?"

"Yes," he says, and I let out a shaky breath. "The head wound is under control, the coma is to wait for the swelling and her blood pressure to go down. But she is going to get through this." "What about the baby?"

"No," he cuts me off sharply. "Just positive talk. She's strong. They both are."

His voice softens, and I realize how much he's struggling to hold it together. It's so unlike him to sound vulnerable.

"I'm coming home..."

"Wait, you can tell her. I'll put you on speaker. I need the bathroom anyway."

"Too much information, Jayden."

"You're on speaker. I know she'd want to hear you."

"Winona," I say, swallowing hard. "It's me. Cass. You scared the hell out of me, you know that? But I'm not mad. Okay, I am mad. A little."

I'm trying to act normal.

"Just... keep getting better. I'm coming to see you. Viktor and I are leaving as soon as this dinner is over tomorrow night. I can tell you all about my amazing Canape. I'll make it for you." I glance at Viktor, who gives me a curt nod.

"I can't wait to see the kids and take care of you a little. Hah! You're going to hate that. But too bad. I'm going back to my old workplace too, I think they all deserve an apology from me."

"I'm back," Jayden says again, his voice steady. "The kids are coming tomorrow. I think having them around will help."

"Good," I manage to say, though my throat feels tight. "That's good. The kids will keep her entertained. Careful though, you might wake up with permanent marker eyebrows and a moustache." I give a small laugh. Jayden speaks again. "Cass... thank you for acting so fast. You and Viktor. The doctors said getting to her early and me stopping the bleeding saved her life."

Tears sting my eyes, but I blink them away. "Of course. She's my sister."

"She's everything," Jayden says and the raw emotion in his voice nearly breaks me.

"I'll see you soon. Take care of her until I get there, okay? Viktor wants a word. Bye."

"Bye."

I hand the phone to Viktor. "Jayden, everything is running smoothly at Nexus Global. I'll update more in person."

He disconnects the call.

"You better get some sleep," Viktor says, his voice low and even.

I whirl on him, my emotions boiling over. "Stop it. Stop running my life. Sure you were nice to me just now, I get it. It's your job. But just stop acting like my damn father. I'm not your project."

His eyes narrow slightly, but he doesn't react otherwise. "You're upset. Understandable."

"Don't you dare analyze me right now," I snap fabbing a finger in his direction. "I know what this is. You're trained to handle difficult people like me. To say the right things, to make us calm down. But I'm fine now. I won't smash up anymore of Gus' precious stuff."

He shifts slightly, a muscle ticking in his jaw. "Fine."ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

"Fine," I cross my arms, glaring at him.

"Good," he says, his tone suddenly brisk. "Just be ready to leave."

"I will be."

And just like that, he's back to being Viktor, the professional. I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, half expecting some sign that the vulnerability from earlier wasn't a

figment of my imagination.

But he's already at the desk, rifling through papers like nothing happened. Staff are cleaning up my damage.

Fine. Two can play that game.

Winona has enough to deal with right now, and the last thing she needs is me spiraling over Viktor.

She was already worried about Gabriel being older; I'm not about to add 'falling for Jayden's emotionally unreachable security guard' to her list of things to stress about. "Great. Cool chat." I leave.

As I head back to the cottage, I can't help but think about the way Viktor held me earlier. The way his voice softened.

I gotta admit, he's hot as fuck. But I'm not going there. I'm not even sure he knows how to... do it. I mean, I'm not even thinking about it. I'm not.

Right now, all that matters is not adding more stress from my hair-brained ideas to Winona's plate.

Viktor is off limits. Apart from the age gap, we are like ice and fire. They can't exist at the same time. Eventually one will destroy the other.