🖤
It didn't take long because when Caleb decided something, he didn't hesitate. No delays, no second drafts, no reconsideration just action.
The message went out internally first. A formal notice, clear, direct not vague, not controlled the way it had been before.
This time, it said what it needed to say.
There is a personal relationship.
It does not interfere with professional responsibilities.
It will not be hidden or misrepresented moving forward.
No loopholes, no softened language just truth and within minutes everything changed. The reaction was immediate stronger than before because this time there was no question left. No room for speculation, no distance to interpret. Emails flooded in, messages, calls. Some supportive, some cautious, some clearly… not.
Across the office, it spread fast.
"He confirmed it."
"He actually said it outright."
"Wait—so it's real?"
No more guessing, no more wondering just… fact.
Cassy felt it instantly not from what people said but from how they looked. More direct, more aware because now there was nothing unspoken anymore.
Her phone buzzed. Message after message. Questions, reactions but she didn't check them right away because her focus was on one thing. Him.
She walked into his office without knocking for the first time since everything changed like before.
Caleb looked up and there was no hesitation in his expression. No second-guessing, no doubt. "It's done," he said.
Cassy nodded slowly. "I saw."
Silence settled between them but this time, it wasn't distant, it wasn't careful, it was… open.
"…You really did it," she said not disbelief just… acknowledgment.
Caleb stepped closer. "I told you I would." A pause. "And I meant it."
Cassy studied him because this changed everything not just for them but for everything around them.
"…There's no buffer now," she said quietly. "No distance." "No protection."
Caleb didn't hesitate. "I don't want it." That answer was simple but it carried weight.
Silence because now they were standing in something completely different. Not hidden, not controlled, exposed, real.
"…This is going to get worse before it gets better," Cassy said. Not as fear, as fact.
Caleb nodded. "I know." A pause. "But this time, we're not adjusting around it."
That was the shift, the real one. No more shrinking, no more stepping back just standing in it fully.
Outside, the reaction was already escalating. Not just internally externally too because something like this, it didn't stay contained, it spread. And now there was nothing to stop it.
Adrian stepped into the office moments later. More serious than before. "They've seen it." No need to specify who. Everyone. "The stakeholders. The clients. The board." A pause. "And they're responding."
Cassy exhaled slowly. "…Of course they are."
Caleb didn't move. "What kind of response?"
Adrian hesitated just slightly. "Mixed." A pause. "Some are supportive." Another pause. "Others are… not."
Silence because that was expected, inevitable.
"…We'll handle it," Caleb said steadily, certain.
Adrian nodded. "I know you will." And then he stepped back out leaving them alone again.
Cassy looked at Caleb. "…This is real now."
Caleb met her gaze. "It always was." A pause. "Now they just know it."
That was the difference. No more hidden layers, no more careful distance just truth out in the open, unavoidable.
Cassy stepped closer. Closing the space completely this time because now there was no reason not to. "…Then we deal with it," she said softly.
Caleb nodded. "Together."
And for the first time in a long time, that word didn't feel complicated, didn't feel conditional, didn't feel like something they had to protect. It just felt real because now everything else had been stripped away. No more hiding, no more control just them.
And whatever came next and it was coming fast.