I Said Divorce When He Sent Me Red Roses Chapter 05

I Said Divorce When He Sent Me Red Roses Chapter 05

Desperate to prove his sincerity, Callum had dressed in a full black suit, a lapel pin I’d gifted him years prior pinned neatly to his breast pocket.

He lingered by the cemetery entrance, glancing down to straighten his cuffs once more, as if he’d only just learned how to carry himself with proper solemnity.

He glanced down at his wristwatch casually.

Five past five.

His movements faltered for a split second, and he lifted his gaze to peer deep into the cemetery grounds.

There was no sign of me anywhere.

Confusion pricked at him, yet he forced himself to remain and wait.

His phone screen lit up over and over again during that stretch of time.

Maris bombarded his inbox with endless text messages.

He typed out replies to her while he waited for me, his mind completely slipping from the original purpose of his visit today—to pay respects to my mother.

He also forgot that Maris was the woman who’d personally handed a bouquet of red roses to my mother all those years ago.

Callum knew I never ran late to anything.

Even after half an hour had slipped by, the first thought that crossed his mind wasn’t worry that something terrible had happened to me on my drive over.

If Rourke Biotech didn’t still need my research expertise, if the upcoming drug trials weren’t fully dependent on my work?

He wouldn’t have bothered with this shallow, half-hearted gesture at all.

Rain clouds hung heavy overhead that afternoon.

The cemetery sat on the city’s outskirts, so the storm broke there first.

At six o’clock on the dot, low thunder rolled across the sky, and heavy raindrops slammed against the polished black marble headstones.

It was only then that Callum finally thought to dial my cell phone.

Cell service was spotty within the cemetery grounds, and the call failed to connect time after time.

Frustration boiled over inside him. He hurled the white funeral bouquet he’d brought onto the muddy grass and fired off another text to me.

“Annelise, are you deliberately messing with me?”

“I’ve waited here alone for a full hour.”

“You know my legs can’t stand exposure to cold rain.”

The message marked as sent successfully.

His phone still couldn’t complete the call to my number.

Unfortunately for him, even with the delivery receipt, I’d never read a single word of it.

I’d snapped my SIM card and thrown it away before I even boarded the car to the airport.

The tiny leftover balance on the old account was the only reason the server still accepted incoming texts for the disconnected number.

Could Callum truly not endure waiting a single hour for me?

How many hours had I spent waiting for him over all the years we’d been together?

Hour upon hour, stretching into countless uncountable stretches of lonely waiting.

Callum had never been a patient man.

Not where I was concerned, at any rate.

Once his fit of irritation faded, he trudged through the pouring rain toward the parking lot.

As soon as his car reached an area with stable cell reception, he redialed my number without pause.

All the angry accusations he’d rehearsed in his throat died instantly, cut short by the cold automated voice echoing through his car speakers.

“We’re sorry, the number you have dialed cannot be reached at this time…”

This marked the very first time I’d ignored his calls entirely.

Even so, his initial reaction held no trace of concern for my safety.

Instead, he jumped to the conclusion I was pulling this stunt out of petty jealousy, desperate to grab his attention.

If someone truly loved another person, wouldn’t panic be the first feeling that hit them when their calls went unanswered?

Callum ripped hard at his suit collar in a fit of aggravation.

Rainwater dripped in steady streams from the ends of his hair, and he slammed his palm repeatedly against the steering wheel out of irritation.

A heartbeat later, he hit the gas and sped back toward the company building.

A heavy premonition weighed down his chest.

He was certain I’d returned to my office.

Yet the second he pushed open the office door, all he could smell was Maris’s cloying, sweet perfume wrapping around him.

Maris’s eyes filled with exaggerated worry the moment she spotted Callum soaked head to toe by rain. She snatched a wool blanket off the desktop and hurried over to him.

“Callum, how did you get this drenched? Sit down quickly, let me dry you off.”

Callum dodged the blanket she held out toward him, his voice dropping to an icy sharp tone.

“Didn’t I tell you not to take over her office?”

“Did you brush my warning off like meaningless background noise?”

Tears instantly welled in Maris’s eyes, her face twisting into a hurt expression.

The whole company had watched Callum drag her out of this office and strike her across the cheek that afternoon. Everyone had seen her humiliating defeat.

“Why are you shouting at me?”

“Annelise handed in her resignation of her own free will. The office sits empty now, so why can’t I use it?”

“Callum Rourke, how many times have you turned on me like this just for her sake?”

“You were never this cruel to me before.”

The word resignation slipped off her tongue, stabbing straight through Callum’s nerves like a sharp needle.

His vision swam, and he nearly lost his balance on his feet.

He tried to steady his racing emotions, yet Maris’s constant chattering sent a throbbing ache through his skull.

“Be quiet.”

The sharp command fell from his lips, and Maris knew better than to push the subject further, clamping her mouth shut at once.

She’d been so furious moments ago she’d shouted his full legal name without a hint of deference.

She’d fully expected him to soften and soothe her like he always had in the past, yet this time he showed no trace of sympathy for her hurt feelings.

Knowing she still relied entirely on the Rourke family’s influence to advance her own career, Maris quickly softened her tone to sound gentle and vulnerable.

“Callum, did something terrible happen to upset you? You can tell me anything that’s weighing on your heart.”

Callum ignored her entirely. He picked up his office phone and summoned the HR manager straight away.

“Did you sign off on Annelise’s resignation application?”

The HR manager’s face blanched pale with anxiety. “No, Mr. Rourke, I never approved it.”

Callum’s expression darkened even further upon hearing that reply.

At that moment, several long-tenured senior staff members who’d lingered nearby finally spoke up, unable to hold their tongues any longer.

“Dr. Annelise holds unmatched skill and years of valuable research experience. If she’s set on leaving, no manager’s signature is required to stop her.”

“Exactly right. Rourke Biotech only managed to stay afloat in its early days thanks entirely to Dr. Annelise’s groundbreaking research findings.”

“She never even signed an official formal employment contract with the firm. That resignation email was nothing more than a procedural formality.”

Those words dragged Callum’s memories all the way back to the company’s founding days.

He’d told me back then, “Annelise, everything I own belongs to you too. What need would we have for a binding contract between us?”

I’d carried the official title of Lead Head of Research, yet I’d never held any real authoritative power within the company structure.

Without a signed employment contract granting me company seal access, countless administrative tasks had grown unnecessarily complicated over the years.

Still, my whole world had revolved around Callum back then.

I’d convinced myself that handling the core research work alone was enough, and every other corporate detail mattered little to me.

I never imagined this lack of formal binding paperwork would turn out to be the cleanest, most uncomplicated escape route available to me now.

No employment contract to trap me here.

No non-compete clauses restricting my future work.

No binding legal obligations tying me to Rourke Biotech.

I was free to walk away, whenever I chose.