She had turned toward another guest, whispering something behind her hand.
Then she looked back at me.
Her expression said everything.
She thought I was a nobody.
A foolish wife who had shown up uninvited.
A woman who had just discovered that her husband had another family.
She had no idea that the woman standing quietly in front of her had just made one phone call capable of shaking the entire company.
“Victor,” I whispered, “what exactly did you do?”
“Nothing permanent.”
A pause.
“Yet.”
My heart skipped.
“Yet?”
“Your instructions were very clear.”
His voice became colder.
“You told me to take away everything he thinks he owns.”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Then that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
The call ended.
I slowly lowered my phone.
For the first time since I had walked through those doors, I noticed something strange.
The reception area had gone unusually quiet.
A man in an expensive charcoal suit had stepped out from a private corridor.
He was speaking urgently into his phone.
Another executive walked past him, looking pale.
Then a third person appeared.
A woman wearing an executive badge hurried toward the elevators.
She stopped abruptly when she saw me.
Her eyes widened.
She looked at Chloe.
Then back at me.
Something in her expression made my stomach twist.
She knew me.
Or, more accurately…
She knew my family.
Before I could say anything, she quickly lowered her gaze and walked away.
Chloe noticed.
Her smile faded for half a second.
Then returned.
“Well,” she said, walking toward me again, “I think you’ve embarrassed yourself enough.”
I looked at her.
“I haven’t even gone upstairs yet.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“You’re still planning to?”
“Yes.”
“Vivienne.”
She sighed as though speaking to a child.
“You really don’t understand what’s happening.”
“No.”
I looked down at Sophia.
She was still holding her handmade necklace.
The glitter had already begun falling onto her little fingers.
She looked confused.
She looked frightened.
And she was trying very hard not to cry.
That hurt more than anything Chloe could have said.
I crouched in front of my daughter.
“Sweetheart.”
She looked at me.
“Is Daddy in trouble?”
My throat tightened.
I brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
“No, honey.”
I forced a smile.
“Mommy just needs to talk to Daddy.”
Sophia looked at the necklace.
“I made this for him.”
“I know.”
“He promised he’d wear it.”
“I know.”
Her lower lip trembled.
“Maybe he doesn’t want it anymore.”
That sentence nearly destroyed me.
I pulled her into my arms.
“Never think that.”
She buried her face against my shoulder.
I closed my eyes.
For six years, I had protected Dominic from my family.
I had protected his pride.
His reputation.
His fragile ego.
I had watched my brothers quietly rescue his company from bankruptcy more than once.
I had watched investment funds appear at precisely the right moment.
I had watched banks extend credit lines that should never have been approved.
Every time Dominic asked how his company survived another crisis, I smiled and told him he had been lucky.
I thought I was protecting our marriage.
I thought love meant standing beside someone while they became the person they wanted to be.
But perhaps I had been wrong.
Perhaps I hadn’t been protecting my marriage.
Perhaps I had been carrying it alone.
And tonight…
I finally put it down.
I stood and took Sophia’s hand.
“Let’s go upstairs.”
Chloe immediately stepped in front of the elevator.
“You can’t.”
I stared at her.
“Move.”
Her face hardened.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“This is a private executive function.”
“I know.”
“And you are not on the guest list.”
I looked at the elevator.
Then at her.
“Then call security.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Call security.”
For the first time, Chloe looked uncertain.
She reached for her radio.
But before she could speak, every elevator in the lobby suddenly stopped.
The digital displays went black.
A strange silence fell across the room.
Then someone’s phone rang.
Then another.
Then another.
Within seconds, the reception area erupted into confused whispers.
“What’s happening?”
“Why can’t I access the executive floors?”
“My badge isn’t working.”
“Is the network down?”
A man in a tuxedo rushed toward the reception desk.
“Chloe!”
She turned.
“What?”
“My access card just got revoked.”
Another executive hurried over.
“Mine too.”
Chloe stared at them.
“That’s impossible.”
Her phone vibrated.
She looked down.
The color drained from her face.
“What is it?” someone asked.
She didn’t answer.
She read the message again.
Then again.
I watched her carefully.
“What happened?”
She slowly raised her eyes toward me.
For the first time tonight…
She wasn’t looking at me with contempt.
She was looking at me with fear.
“Who are you?”
I said nothing.
Her phone vibrated again.
Then again.
Across the room, guests began receiving notifications.
One executive dropped his glass.
Another rushed toward the exit.
Someone shouted that the company’s banking accounts had been frozen.
Someone else said the board was being called into an emergency meeting.
Then the massive screen above the reception desk flickered.
The gala presentation disappeared.
A single message appeared.
EMERGENCY BOARD SESSION — IMMEDIATE ATTENDANCE REQUIRED.
The room went silent.
Chloe stared at the screen.
Then at me.
“You did this.”
I slowly shook my head.
“No.”
Her breathing became shallow.
“Then who did?”
I looked at my phone.
One new message had appeared.
From Victor.
PHASE ONE COMPLETE.
Underneath it was another sentence.
But Vivienne… you need to know something about Dominic before you go upstairs.
My blood ran cold.
I typed back immediately.
What?
Three dots appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Then his reply came.
The woman upstairs isn’t the only thing your husband has been hiding from you.
