diff --git a/src/dve/core_engine/backends/implementations/duckdb/contract.py b/src/dve/core_engine/backends/implementations/duckdb/contract.py
index d9bb9bc..90bb02e 100644
--- a/src/dve/core_engine/backends/implementations/duckdb/contract.py
+++ b/src/dve/core_engine/backends/implementations/duckdb/contract.py
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ def apply_data_contract(
                 if relation_is_empty(relation):
                     self.logger.warning(f"+ Empty relation for {entity_name}")
                     empty_df = pl.DataFrame([], schema=polars_schema)  # type: ignore # pylint: disable=W0612
-                    relation = self._connection.sql("select * from empty_df")
+                    entities[entity_name] = self._connection.sql("select * from empty_df")
                     continue
 
                 self.logger.info(f"+ Applying contract to: {entity_name}")
diff --git a/src/dve/pipeline/pipeline.py b/src/dve/pipeline/pipeline.py
index 53185a0..85e516d 100644
--- a/src/dve/pipeline/pipeline.py
+++ b/src/dve/pipeline/pipeline.py
@@ -661,6 +661,7 @@ def apply_business_rules(  # pylint: disable=R0914,R0915
             submission_status.validation_failed = True
         elif not rules_success:
             submission_status.processing_failed = True
+            return submission_info, submission_status
 
         for entity_name, entity in entity_manager.entities.items():
             # Note BI filtering done within the apply_rules