The Captain Who Flew Into Her Storm Chapter 03

The Captain Who Flew Into Her Storm Chapter 03

The celebration dinner that evening was held at the hotel across from the airline’s offices.

The private dining room buzzed with laughter as wine glasses clinked around the table.

The Director of Operations beamed at his most trusted captain and the new first officer seated

beside him.

“Callum, you stayed steady, and Tessa acted fast. Your judgment was spot-on, her execution was

decisive, and the two of you worked exceptionally well together.”

He continued, “You’re not getting any younger. Maybe it’s time you started thinking about settling

down. Tessa can be a little blunt, but she’s a good person.”

His meaning couldn’t have been more obvious.

The few people at the table who knew Callum and I were secretly married immediately fell silent,

their gazes drifting toward me.

Callum was quiet for several seconds before answering evenly.

“I appreciate your concern, but our flight schedule is demanding right now. I’m not thinking about

marriage.”

Tessa’s smile froze as the color drained from her face. Her eyes reddened, and she shoved back her

chair before fleeing the room.

Callum frowned as he watched her leave, then rose and followed her.

I followed them out to the hotel terrace.

Tessa had her back to me, her body buried against Callum’s chest.

“Why not?” she pleaded. “Captain Rhodes, I’m in love with you. I’ll work hard until I’m worthy of

you!”

With people still gathered in the nearby private dining rooms, Callum didn’t embrace her, but he

didn’t push her away either.

Anyone could see what his silent acceptance meant.

I remembered how he always stepped away whenever I approached him in front of our coworkers,

as if even the slightest intimacy between us were shameful.

Callum finally took Tessa by the shoulders and eased her back.

“You don’t want people saying you got ahead because of me. Get the operations plan under your belt first, and then…”

A sense of dread rose inside me, and my nails dug into my palm.

“What operations plan?”

Callum looked up, his expression tightening when he saw me.

My phone vibrated, and I looked down at the messages on the screen.

[Elara! Have you seen the announcement they just posted on the internal system?]

[Why is Tessa Monroe listed as the lead author of the High-Altitude Weather Dispatch Plan?],

[Weren’t you the one who stayed up for three nights putting the entire document together?]

My heart sank as I opened the announcement and scrolled through the attached document page by page, my fingers trembling.

Every sentence was mine.

Even the technical abbreviation I always misspelled was there exactly as I had typed it, completely

untouched.

I raised my phone, struggling to keep my hand steady.

“What is this?”

Callum glanced at the screen and answered flatly.

“I had her listed as the lead author for now. Her record is still thin, and she needs this for her

year-end review.”

“Once she logs more flight hours, she can gradually build the rest of her record.”

I almost laughed from sheer disbelief.

“So you used my work to pave the way for her without even asking me?”

Callum showed no guilt, sidestepping the real issue as if his reasoning were perfectly justified.

“The plan was a team effort. Tessa helped organize the material, so listing her as the lead author

was within procedure.”

“The final credit was the company’s decision, and I had the right to recommend her. Your

contribution will be recognized later.”

My voice trembled.

“How? By burying my name in a single line at the end of a report, like you always do?”

He was silent for a moment, and when he finally spoke, every word sent ice through my veins.

“Elara, you transferred to this airline because you wanted to stay close to me.”

“Recognition like this was never that important to you.”

“But Tessa is different. She needs this on her record to establish herself and advance”

A loud ringing filled my ears.

So he had known all along.

He knew I had stayed in my tower position because of him, and he knew exactly how much this plan

mattered to my promotion.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand. He simply didn’t care.

Worse, he had taken my sacrifice and patience for granted, treating my work as his to give away

whenever it suited him.

I closed my eyes until the anger settled, and when I opened them again, I knew exactly what I was going to do.

“I’m warning you. What you’ve done violates procedure, and if you move forward with this plan under her name, I’ll make sure it ruins both of you.”

Tessa widened her eyes in feigned innocence and raised her voice for everyone nearby to hear.

“Elara, please don’t do this. If you really want your name added to the plan I wrote, I don’t mind

sharing the credit with you. Just don’t fight with Captain Rhodes over it.”

Her voice quickly drew a crowd to the terrace entrance.

Whispers spread among them.

“Has Elara completely lost it over that promotion?”

“She’s just a tower controller, and now she’s trying to take credit for work that isn’t even hers.”

“They should fire her. She’s embarrassing the entire company.”

I stood there, stunned by the sheer absurdity of it all.

Callum didn’t correct Tessa and instead played along with her performance.

“Tessa, that’s enough. Don’t say any more.”

The Flight Operations Manager stepped forward with a grim expression.

“Elara, if you have an objection to the High-Altitude Weather Dispatch Plan, submit a formal

statement through the proper channels tomorrow.”

“Stop making a spectacle of yourself here.”

I looked around at the faces avoiding my gaze, smiled, and slipped my phone back into my pocket/

“Fine. Procedure it is.”

Callum’s brows drew together as if he had finally sensed something was wrong, and he reached for

“Elara.”

I sidestepped him and walked away without another word.

Callum tried to follow, but Tessa caught hold of his arm.

The next morning, I went straight to the ATC records office and filed a preservation request for the original radio recordings, weather data, and all related clearance logs.

The clerk on duty looked surprised but processed the request according to protocol.

I signed the paperwork, took the receipt, and then went to the Compliance Office to submit a USB

drive.

It contained a backup of the High-Altitude Weather Dispatch Plan’s complete edit history, exported

from my computer.

They thought deleting my name was enough to make the work theirs.

But records didn’t lie.

Then I went to Human Resources, confirmed the transfer, signed the final paperwork, turned in my employee badge, and left.

By the time I stepped out of the office building, night had fallen.

Standing at the curb, I blocked Callum’s number, blocked him on WhatsApp, and shut him out of

every internal messaging channel.

I locked my phone, gripped the handle of my suitcase, and walked into the night without looking

back.

The cabin door closed, and the plane began to taxi toward the runway.

Meanwhile, unable to get hold of my transfer request, Callum called me.

All he heard was a cold automated voice.

“We’re sorry. The number you have dialed is unavailable.”