Page 77 of Temporary Vows

She leads me out the door, and as we head downstairs, I think about how I made it through the last few months.

If I can survive that, I can survive whatever my upcoming marriage has in store for me.

And I won’t just endure it. I’ll make it work in my favor.

Dorian said our arrangement would be mutually beneficial.

It’s time I make sure it is.

Chapter 17

Dorian

“If these projections hold, we should be clearing twenty percent returns next quarter. I don’t intend to fall short of that.” Dad’s voice cuts across the meeting room, steady and absolute.

All eyes are fixed on him sitting at the head of the table. No one—not even me—would dare look away, not while he’s talking about projections.

Joining me around the table are the board members, my brothers, andParker.

Out the corner of my eye, I watch him focusing. Sadly, he’s sitting opposite me.

Despite the asshole he is, when it comes to business, he takes it seriously. And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but he’s good at his job. I just want the asshole to be good back in England, where I can’t see him and he doesn’t pose a threat to me.

I hate that he’s even in here. I’d argue that he has no reason to attend our board meeting, but my father would disagree.Heavily.Then he’d point out, like he did the other day, that if Parker was givenmyjob, he’d need to be aware of senior-level matters.

What a fucking thing to say to me. And right there in front of Parker, who smiled back at me smugly as fuck.

Let him keep smiling. That’s all he can do.

I’ll be telling my father about Elodie at the end of the meeting. Then everyone else will know, and soon, the word will spread that the second eldest Vale son is getting married.

Elodie should be moved in by now. Albert delivered her signed contract to my lawyers an hour ago, and all that is left to do is plan the wedding. Finally, control is back in my hands.

“Secured the Ashford contract. Gives us a strong entry point if we handle it properly,” Dad continues. “I expect execution to match the opportunity. No hesitation. No mistakes. Anyone could have brought in that contract. What matters is what we do with it now.”

Anyone could have brought in that contract…

Dad wasn’t looking at me specifically when he said that, but it felt like another jab in my side. Something to remind me that I am replaceable.

It may not have been his intention, but these days, every conversation we share, whether directly or indirectly, feels like we’re on the battlefield.

It was me who secured the Ashford contract, all by myself.

Usually, Knox and I work together on the high-profile equity investment portfolios. But I’d been the one to spot it. The one to move first. The one who made sure it didn’t slip through our fingers.

I saw that damn contract through from conception to closure, and in the end signed off another multimillion-dollar deal, adding to the Vale Global empire. I worked my ass off, but in my father’s eyes… Anyone could have done it.

I don’t allow much to bother me, but hearing that pisses me off.

Dad rests his hands on the table and looks around at each person. When his gaze lands on me, his left eye twitches. A tell he’s still agitated.

I don’t care. I simply stare back as if nothing is, or has ever been, wrong. I’m sure that agitates him all the more.

He looks away and continues talking. “I want this company running itself by the time I leave for England.”

Oh, it will. I’ll make sure of it. To do so, when I acquire my new role, the first thing I’ll do is send Parker back to England, where he and my father can work happily ever after.

Until then, I need to see the journey through.