Filed To Story: The Lingering Kiss of Farewell Novel
There was even a cooling??ff period of three weeks, where either one of them could change their minds, the divorce clause that stated it would be a no??ontest divorce, with a full non??isclosure agreement about their marriage and it being a contract marriage, that was never to be revealed by either one of them.
Her or Marrin’s signature was right there along with Calvin’s and his own as the witness. He slid their marriage certificate across the table to show there had been a three??eek gap between the signing of the contract and the marriage date. To show her that she’d not backed out and had gone ahead with it willingly.
That neither of them had changed their minds.
“You went into the marriage not only willingly, but with your eyes open, all the facts laid out prior to going to the courthouse and getting married. There was no big fancy wedding. You didn’t actually want one because it wasn’t a real marriage, and Calvin saw no need for there to be one either,”
he told her.
“Again, a mutual agreement between the two of you.”
“None of this means that he wasn’t abusive behind closed doors,”
Liam stated.
“Just that she entered the marriage willingly.”
“It doesn’t,”
Wil agreed.
“I probably can’t prove that beyond a doubt. Maybe I could have under better circumstances if there was no incident between Marilyn and Calvin.”
He nodded.
“So I’m not even going to try. but I know it wasn’t like that. Calvin and Marrin got along famously, and actually liked each other as people, which is what helped the public see them as perfect together, had dubbed them Houston’s Dream Couple. They worked in co??xisting Industries and their skills complemented each other.”
“We didn’t live together,”
Marilyn asked, sounded a bit curious to him.
“No, that and the no??issing rule. They were about keeping both of your feelings for each other platonic and neither of you getting confused about it being an actual real marriage. Protecting each other’s hearts and emotions…
“Though that didn’t work in the end, about two years into the contract marriage, you Marilyn, told Calvin in a half??ddled sleep state when he was sleeping over, in your marital bed, from my understanding of it. That you loved him, and well… that kind of changed things, and he started to see you in a different light, and then his walls came down around you, and he fell in love with you as well. He told me the day he knew he loved you, actually.
“I don’t believe that, we got divorced,”
Marilyn stated flatly and raised an eyebrow at him.
“Mm, you did, because your contract marriage had very specific clauses, so a divorce was necessary to get rid of all of them. Then a new proper marriage was to be had, between the two of you, one born of love, where you nor Calvin had to hide your feelings for each other. Could have a family and be truly happy. A real marriage.”
“That is what you say.”
Liam murmured.
Wil looked at Liam, and the man was still looking at the contract, had it right in front of himself. Marilyn was done looking at it.
“Liam, you may take that and show it to your wife if you like. I just need a signed confidentiality agreement from you to say neither of you will bring it up, first. Get her opinion on how one would get out of a contract marriage like that, in order to have a real marriage.”
Though he didn’t think the man was going to do that, it was possible that he understood that this was how it was done.
“Or you could call her and just ask the most logical way to do that if you like.”
He watched Liam do just that, call his wife and ask the question. He’d had to read out a few of the clauses in it and then, after just a few minutes, he’d huffed a little as his eyes had met Wils, as he disconnected the call. Wil just nodded and smiled at him when Liam said nothing at all. But he slid that non??isclosure agreement over to him and Liam signed it, seeing as he’d just discussed it with his wife.
Marilyn
She read through that contract and recognised her own handwriting. It was a bit weird to see the name Marrin Huxley and then her signature next to it. She’d read the clause to say she’d change her name to Marrin Reeves once they were married. It wasn’t all that different from Marilyn Riddley’s, and she knew it.
Then the marriage certificate she’d signed everything Marrin Reeves, because that was then her legal name, and again it was her neatly printed handwriting and the signature was very similar in style to Marilyn Riddleys. She couldn’t deny it to herself that she had signed both of these forms.
Sitting there listening to Wil state things about Calvin and Marrin so very calmly to her, she didn’t know if he was telling the truth or lying and was just very good at it. He was a lawyer and could she’d seen stay calm under pressure, had done so even with Calvin losing it in that conference room. He’d only been mad with
Calvin, not her.
I’m curious Marilyn,”
William interrupted her thoughts.
“Why did you name the twins Cal and Vin?”
he asked her, and she saw there was more than just curiosity in him, a little bit of amusement as well, she thought.
Because he’d already formulated an answer in his mind, she knew.
“Callum and Vincent is what I named them.”
She corrected him simply.
“Mm, but when shortened down and said together, those two names become Cal and Vin, which intern rolls into Calvin. I believe that you named them after their father.”
She frowned at him now and even as Liam told her she didn’t have to answer that question, William smiled as he leaned back in his chair. He thought her denial of it meant she also thought this, and it was a clear point in his or Calvin’s favour.
“I’ll be honest with you, William,”
Marilyn told him.
“I recalled nothing of my past when I woke up, not who their father was. I didn’t even know I was pregnant, but the dash??am footage recorded me stating the name Calvin before the accident happened….
“I guess I believed I’d been calling their father, so I named them after the last person I called before I lost my memories.”
She told him truthfully, there was no need to lie about it.
“So, you did name them after Calvin then?”