A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust

Calliope started up her car, and somehow all three of them squeezed into her

sedan. She didn't bother protesting. If Lisette hadn't been there, Calliope probably would've left them to fend for themselves, but with Lisette in tow, she almost enjoyed making her uncomfortable.

They headed off toward the office.

During the drive, Horatio peppered Calliope with questions. She answered what she could, keeping her eyes on the road. Most of his concerns circled back to his legs. She was honest: she couldn't promise a miracle, but things definitely wouldn't get any worse under her care.

That was enough to put Horatio at ease. His biggest fear was things going downhill. If that wasn't on the table, he could live with it.

Valerian sat in the back, watching Calliope focus on the traffic ahead. After a moment, he spoke up, almost sheepishly. "Callie, you saved my life once, and I never really made it up to you. If there's ever anything I do that bothers you, just tell me. If there's something you want, I'll do my best to get it for you. Honestly, I've been kind of a jerk these past few years. I guess I've never really paid you the attention you deserve..."

It was like a lightbulb had suddenly gone off for Valerian. Maybe it was what Lisette pulled yesterday that finally woke him up, but he realized he owed Calliope a lot of apologies, and he had a lot of changing to do.

Calliope shot him a sideways glance and snorted. "Having a sudden epiphany, are we? All those times I asked you to change, you never even tried. Even when you found out the truth, you still took Lisette's side, didn't you? Not worried about hurting her feelings anymore?"

Valerian's face flushed. He couldn't forget his own behavior-how he'd always managed to hurt Callie, all while shielding Lisette. He'd always favored Lisette. But lately...he was starting to see things differently. Maybe trusting Lisette so blindly hadn't been such a good idea after all.

"Yeah, you're right," he admitted quietly. "I messed up. Lisette was wrong, and I won't cover for her anymore. If she comes back to the office, I won't cut her any slack."

"She'll probably come running to you, crying about it," Calliope warned.

"If you're doing your job by the book, that's all anyone can ask," Valerian replied.

Calliope checked the rearview

mirror, raising an eyebrow at him "I'll

stick to the rules. Whether she gets

it or not, I can't control. She might just think I'm out to get her

"Do what you need to do, Callie," Monty put in from the passenger seat, his tone serious. "If anyone at the office has something to say about it, I've got your back."

Monty's expression hardened. He'd

seen how much better things had gotten at work since Calliope and Franco had stepped in. He trusted her-he knew she was the one who could turn the company around. He wasn't about to let Lisette mess that up.

Lisette might've been good at her job once, but if she was just here to make trouble for Callie, that wasn't going to fly.

"That's all I needed to hear," Calliope said.

Horatio added from the back, “I'm with you too, Callie. You haven't even been at the company that long, but everyone can see things arenoveldrama

finally looking up. I trust you, you

really care about this place."

Calliope nodded, a faint smile touching her lips. A few minutes later, she pulled

the car into the company parking lot.