PART 2 — The Family Upstairs
“I’ve already started.”
Victor’s words stayed in my ear even after the call ended.
For several seconds, I didn’t move.
Neither did Chloe.
She was still standing behind the reception desk with that same superior little smile, completely unaware that the ground beneath Dominic’s empire had just begun to crack.
Sophia pulled gently at my coat.
“Mommy?”
I looked down.
Her little hands were still wrapped around the paper necklace.
One of the glitter hearts had bent where she had squeezed it too tightly.
I immediately crouched beside her.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Is Daddy really upstairs?”
I swallowed.
There were a hundred answers I could have given her.
But she was six.
She didn’t deserve to carry the ugliness of adult betrayal.
“He is.”
Her eyes brightened.
“Can we go surprise him now?”
Behind me, Chloe gave a quiet laugh.
That laugh decided something for me.
I stood slowly.
“Yes.”
I took Sophia’s hand.
“We’re going upstairs.”
Chloe’s expression changed instantly.
“Excuse me?”
I walked toward the elevators.
Her heels clicked rapidly behind us.
“Vivienne.”
I ignored her.
“You cannot go upstairs.”
I pressed the elevator button.
The illuminated number above the doors showed the elevator descending.
17.
16.
15.
Chloe stepped directly in front of us.“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
Her smile disappeared.
“Mr. Hale gave explicit instructions regarding tonight’s guest list.”
Mr. Hale.
Not Dominic.
Not my husband.
Not Sophia’s father.
Mr. Hale.
Interesting.
“And apparently,” I said quietly, “his wife isn’t on it.”
For the first time, Chloe looked uncomfortable.
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“What did you mean?”
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
The elevator continued descending.
11.
10.
9.
People around us were openly watching now.
A few pretended to check their phones.
Others whispered.
Chloe lowered her voice.
“You’re going to embarrass yourself.”
I almost smiled.
“No, Chloe.”
“I think someone else is about to be embarrassed.”
The elevator reached the lobby.
Ding.
The silver doors opened.
Chloe immediately stepped inside and blocked the control panel.
“I’m calling security.”
“Go ahead.”
Something in my voice made her hesitate.
I walked into the elevator with Sophia.
Two guests who had been waiting suddenly decided to take the next one.
Chloe followed us.
She pulled out her phone.
“Security?”
“This is Chloe Bennett.”
“I need assistance at the executive elevators.”
She glanced directly at me.
“We have an unauthorized guest attempting to access the gala.”
Unauthorized guest.
Sophia heard that.
Her smile faded.
“Mommy, are we not allowed to see Daddy?”
I looked at Chloe.
She looked away.
That was the moment I stopped feeling anything resembling mercy.
“Sweetheart,” I told Sophia, “you are allowed to see your father.”
The elevator doors began closing.
A hand suddenly appeared between them.
The doors reopened.
A tall man in a black suit stepped inside.
Then another.
Then a third.
Chloe visibly relaxed.
“Thank God.”
She pointed toward me.
“Please escort this woman and the child out of the building.”
The first security officer looked at me.
Then at Sophia.
Then back at Chloe.
He seemed uncomfortable.
“Ma’am, perhaps we can resolve this downstairs.”
“We’re going upstairs,” I said.
Chloe scoffed.
“No, you’re not.”
My phone vibrated.
A message from Victor.
I opened it.
Three words.
CHECK YOUR EMAIL.
I did.
One new message waited at the top of my inbox.
The subject line made my stomach tighten.
DOMINIC HALE — PRELIMINARY FINDINGS.
Victor had attached several documents.
I opened the first.
And suddenly everything Chloe had said made much more sense.
Dominic hadn’t simply brought another woman to the gala.
He had been constructing another life.
For almost eighteen months.
Her name was Vanessa Whitmore.
Daughter of Harrison Whitmore.
Chairman of Whitmore Capital.
The company currently negotiating what Dominic believed would be the biggest acquisition agreement of his career.
There were photographs.
Restaurant reservations.
Hotel records.
Private flights.
Emails.
And then…
A photograph from three months earlier.
Dominic.
Vanessa.
And a boy who looked approximately eight years old.
The caption underneath identified him.
Ethan Whitmore.
Vanessa’s son.
I stared at the screen.
So that was the “son” Chloe had mentioned.
Not Dominic’s son.
At least, not according to Victor’s preliminary report.
But apparently Dominic had been allowing people to believe otherwise.
Why?
The answer appeared in the next document.
A forwarded email.
FROM: Dominic Hale.
TO: Harrison Whitmore.
I read the first lines.
My blood went cold.
Dominic had described Vanessa and Ethan as “the family I intend to build my future around.”
My husband had written those words.
While coming home to Sophia and me every night.
While kissing our daughter goodnight.
While sitting across from me at breakfast.
While telling me he was working late.
While asking me to be patient because the company needed him.
The elevator suddenly felt too small.
“Mommy?”
Sophia’s voice pulled me back.
I locked my phone.
“I’m okay.”
She studied my face.
Children always know when adults are lying.
But she nodded anyway.
The security officer cleared his throat.
“Mrs. Hale, I really do need to ask you to return to the lobby.”
I looked at his name badge.
“Mr. Turner, how long have you worked here?”
He blinked.
“Seven years.”
“Then you were here when Hale Dynamics almost collapsed six years ago.”
His expression shifted.
Chloe frowned.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
I ignored her.
“Do you remember Sterling Meridian?”
Mr. Turner nodded.
“Of course.”
Everybody in that building knew Sterling Meridian.
They just didn’t know who stood behind it.
The investment group had injected nearly forty million dollars into Hale Dynamics when no bank would touch the company.
Two years later, another Sterling-controlled fund had purchased the debt that kept Dominic from losing his headquarters.
After that came contracts.
Introductions.
Credit facilities.
Supplier guarantees.
Political connections.
Dominic believed his brilliance had opened those doors.
It hadn’t.
My family had.
Quietly.
Carefully.
Because I had asked them to.
I had once sat across from Victor at my parents’ dining table and begged him to give Dominic a chance.
“He wants to build something of his own,” I had said.
Victor had stared at me for a long time.
Then he asked one question.
“Does he know who you are?”
“No.”
“And you want to keep it that way?”
“Yes.”
Victor hadn’t liked it.
But he loved me.
So he agreed.
My brothers never gave Dominic money directly.
They were too smart for that.
Instead, companies Dominic had never connected to the Sterling family invested in him.
Banks suddenly reconsidered rejected applications.
Potential clients returned phone calls.
Suppliers extended terms.
Regulators moved faster.
Investors appeared.
Doors opened.
And Dominic walked through every one of them believing he had forced them open himself.
By the time Hale Dynamics became successful, Dominic had started telling interviews that nobody had ever helped him.
I never corrected him.
I had been proud of him.
God, how foolish that felt now.
The elevator reached the top floor.
Ding.
The doors opened.
Music drifted toward us.
A string quartet.
Laughter.
Champagne glasses.
Hundreds of guests filled the enormous ballroom overlooking the city.
A giant illuminated HALE DYNAMICS logo hung above the stage.
Dominic’s face appeared across several enormous screens beside the words:
BUILDING TOMORROW.
I nearly laughed.
Chloe hurried ahead of us.
“This is your last chance,” she hissed.
“Leave quietly.”
I looked past her.
And there he was.
Dominic.
My husband of nine years.
Standing beneath crystal chandeliers in a tailored tuxedo I had helped him choose.
His arm was wrapped around Vanessa Whitmore’s waist.
Beside them stood Ethan.
Dominic’s hand rested proudly on the boy’s shoulder.
They looked like a family.
A photographer stepped backward.
“Closer together, please.”
Vanessa leaned into Dominic.
Dominic smiled.
Ethan grinned.
Flash.
Sophia stopped walking.
I felt her tiny hand tighten around mine.
“Mommy…”
I looked down.
She was staring at her father.
Then at Vanessa.
Then at Ethan.
Her excitement disappeared.
“Who are they?”
Before I could answer, someone near Dominic raised a champagne glass.
“To Dominic and Vanessa!”
Several people cheered.
“To the future!”
More applause.
Sophia looked up at me.
Her eyes were filling with tears.
“Why is Daddy holding her?”
That question nearly destroyed me.
Not Dominic’s affair.
Not Chloe’s humiliation.
Not the documents.
That question.
I crouched beside my daughter.
“Give me your necklace.”
She hesitated.
“But I made it for Daddy.”
“I know.”
“Is he still going to wear it?”
I couldn’t answer.
Then a voice cut through the crowd.
“Vivienne?”
Dominic had seen me.
His face went white.
Vanessa followed his gaze.
So did Harrison Whitmore.
The room slowly quieted.
Dominic removed his arm from Vanessa’s waist.
“Vivienne.”
He walked toward us quickly.
“What are you doing here?”
Not hello.
Not what a wonderful surprise.
Not Sophia!
What are you doing here?
Sophia held the necklace behind her back.
Dominic noticed her.
For one brief second, guilt flashed across his face.
“Sophia.”
She stared at him.
“Daddy?”
Dominic looked around nervously.
Dozens of executives were watching.
Vanessa remained near the stage.
Ethan stood beside her.
“Vivienne,” Dominic whispered, “this is not the place.”
I almost couldn’t believe him.
“You’re right.”
His shoulders relaxed slightly.
“It isn’t.”
I looked toward Vanessa.
“But apparently it was the perfect place to introduce your new family.”
His face hardened.
“Keep your voice down.”
“No.”
“Vivienne.”
“No.”
Chloe appeared beside him.
“I tried to stop her.”
Dominic glanced at Chloe.
“You should have called me immediately.”
“I did.”
“You didn’t answer.”
He rubbed his forehead.
Then he turned to me.
“Take Sophia home.”
Sophia flinched.
I felt it through her hand.
Something inside me went completely still.
“You want your daughter to leave?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“It’s exactly what you said.”
Dominic looked around.
“This event is important.”
“And she isn’t?”
“Stop twisting my words.”
Vanessa finally approached us.
She was beautiful.
Elegant.
Perfectly composed.
She looked at me with curiosity rather than embarrassment.
That told me everything.
She didn’t know.
At least not the whole truth.
“Dominic,” she said quietly, “who is this?”
Dominic froze.
I watched him.
I wanted to see what kind of man I had married.
He had three choices.
Tell the truth.
Lie.
Or remain silent.
He chose the worst one.
“This is Vivienne.”
Vanessa waited.
“And?”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“A complicated personal situation.”
I actually smiled.
Nine years of marriage.
A six-year-old daughter.
A complicated personal situation.
Sophia whispered, “Mommy, what does complicated mean?”
Vanessa’s eyes dropped toward her.
Then toward the handmade necklace in Sophia’s hands.
Something changed in her expression.
“Dominic.”
Her voice sharpened.
“Who is the child?”
Dominic said nothing.
So I answered for him.
“His daughter.”
Vanessa went pale.
Harrison Whitmore stepped forward.
“Dominic?”
The entire room had gone silent.
Vanessa looked from Sophia to me.
“His daughter?”
“Yes.”
“And you are?”
I extended my left hand slightly.
My wedding ring caught the chandelier light.
“His wife.”
Someone gasped.
Vanessa stumbled backward.
“No.”
She turned toward Dominic.
“You told me you were divorced.”
Dominic immediately reached for her.
“Vanessa, listen—”
She slapped his hand away.
“You said the divorce had been finalized two years ago.”
I laughed once.
Quietly.
“There was never a divorce.”
Harrison’s face darkened.
“Dominic.”
“I can explain.”
“I strongly suggest you do.”
Dominic looked around the ballroom.
His humiliation was now complete.
Or so he thought.
Because my phone vibrated again.
Victor.
This time he called.
I answered.
“Tell me.”
“First layer is done.”
“What does that mean?”
“The Sterling-controlled credit facility has been suspended pending review.”
I looked at Dominic.
He was still trying to calm Vanessa.
Victor continued.
“The bridge financing is frozen.”
My eyes moved toward Harrison.
“The acquisition?”
“Dead unless the Whitmores fund it independently.”
“And the headquarters?”
“Mortgaged through a Sterling affiliate.”
I closed my eyes briefly.
Of course it was.
Victor had structured almost everything.
“What else?”
There was a pause.
Then his voice changed.
“Vivienne.”
I knew that tone.
“What?”
“We found something bigger.”
“How much bigger?”
“Criminal-big.”
I stepped away from Sophia so she couldn’t hear.
“What did he do?”
“We’re still verifying.”
“Victor.”
“Dominic moved money.”
My heart sank.
“From where?”
“Several places.”
Victor exhaled slowly.
“But one account matters more than the others.”
“Which account?”
“The education trust.”
I stopped breathing.
“What education trust?”
Another pause.
“Sophia’s.”
I turned toward my daughter.
She was standing a few feet away, still clutching the necklace she had made for the father who had just called her presence inconvenient.
“How much?”
“Almost all of it.”
My knees nearly weakened.
My parents had created that trust when Sophia was born.
Dominic wasn’t supposed to have access.
“How?”
“That’s what I’m finding out.”
“When?”
“Over the last fourteen months.”
Fourteen months.
Almost exactly when his relationship with Vanessa had apparently become serious.
“What did he use it for?”
“We’re tracing it.”
“Victor.”
“I said we’re tracing it.”
“I need an answer.”
His voice softened.
“You’ll have one.”
Across the ballroom, Dominic suddenly looked at his phone.
His face changed.
Then another executive checked his.
Then another.
Whispers spread through the room.
The CFO hurried toward Dominic.
“Dominic.”
“Not now.”
“You need to see this.”
“I said not now.”
“The Sterling Meridian facility has been suspended.”
Dominic froze.
“What?”
“And First Continental just froze the expansion credit line.”
“That’s impossible.”
“It happened five minutes ago.”
Another executive rushed over.
“The acquisition team is asking whether Whitmore Capital is still proceeding.”
Harrison looked at him.
“No.”
One word.
That was all it took.
Dominic turned toward him.
“Harrison.”
“You lied to my daughter.”
“I can explain everything.”
“You lied to me.”
“This has nothing to do with the acquisition.”
“It has everything to do with the acquisition.”
“Harrison, please.”
“No.”
Harrison took Vanessa’s arm.
“We’re leaving.”
Dominic panicked.
“Wait.”
Vanessa looked toward Sophia.
Her anger disappeared for a moment.
She walked over slowly.
Sophia moved closer to me.
Vanessa crouched.
“I’m sorry.”
Sophia stared at her.
Vanessa’s voice trembled.
“I didn’t know.”
Then she stood and looked at me.
“I truly didn’t.”
I believed her.
Maybe because I recognized the look in her eyes.
Dominic had lied to both of us.
Just differently.
Vanessa walked away with her father and Ethan.
Dominic watched the biggest deal of his career disappear through the ballroom doors.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
“What?”
His face drained of color.
“What do you mean withdrawn?”
Another call came through.
Then another.
People began checking their phones throughout the ballroom.
A giant screen behind the stage suddenly went black.
The HALE DYNAMICS logo disappeared.
The music stopped.
The room erupted into confused whispers.
Dominic stared around him.
“What the hell is happening?”
I knew.
Victor.
Another message arrived.
BOARD EMERGENCY SESSION CALLED.
11:00 P.M.
Dominic looked at me.
For the first time that night, he truly looked at me.
His eyes narrowed.
“What did you do?”
I said nothing.
He stepped closer.
“Vivienne.”
“What did you do?”
I slipped my phone into my handbag.
“You told me to take Sophia home.”
His eyes flickered.
“Answer me.”
“So I’m taking her home.”
I reached for Sophia.
Dominic grabbed my wrist.
Hard.
The room went silent again.
“Don’t walk away from me.”
I looked down at his hand.
Then back into his eyes.
“Take your hand off me.”
“Not until you tell me what’s happening.”
“You have three seconds.”
He laughed nervously.
“You think you can threaten me?”
“One.”
“Vivienne, stop this.”
“Two.”
His grip tightened.
Before I could say three, another voice came from behind him.
“I suggest you release my sister.”
Dominic froze.
I knew that voice.
Slowly, he turned.
Victor Sterling stood at the ballroom entrance.
He wasn’t alone.
Two attorneys walked beside him.
Behind them stood three members of Hale Dynamics’ board.
And beside those board members was a man Dominic clearly recognized.
The company’s chief financial officer.
Victor walked toward us.
His expression was perfectly calm.
Dominic released my wrist.
“What are you doing here?”
Victor ignored him.
He looked at me first.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
He looked at Sophia.
His expression immediately softened.
“Hey, princess.”
“Uncle Victor!”
Sophia ran toward him.
Victor lifted her into his arms.
Then he noticed the necklace.
“What’s that?”
Sophia looked embarrassed.
“I made it for Daddy.”
Victor looked at Dominic.
Something dangerous entered his eyes.
But he smiled at Sophia.
“It’s beautiful.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
Sophia looked toward Dominic.
Then back at Victor.
“You can have it.”
Victor’s face broke.
Only for a second.
Then he bent his head.
“I’d be honored.”
Sophia carefully placed the paper necklace around his neck.
A multimillionaire attorney-investor standing in a ballroom full of executives…
Wearing a glitter-covered paper necklace.
And somehow he looked prouder than any man in the room.
Dominic stared at him.
Then at me.
Then back at Victor.
“Your sister?”
Victor finally faced him.
“Yes.”
Dominic frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Victor’s expression became almost amused.
“You really don’t know.”
“Know what?”
Victor looked at me.
I nodded.
Enough hiding.
Victor extended his hand.
“Victor Sterling.”
Dominic stared.
The name registered immediately.
Everyone in corporate finance knew that name.
Dominic’s face slowly changed.
“Sterling?”
“Yes.”
His eyes moved toward me.
Then back toward Victor.
“No.”
Victor smiled without warmth.
“Yes.”
Dominic shook his head.
“Vivienne’s maiden name is Stone.”
“No,” I said.
“Stone was my grandmother’s name.”
He stared at me.
“My legal name before we married was Vivienne Eleanor Sterling.”
The color disappeared from his face.
“You’re…”
“Yes.”
Behind him, the CFO whispered something under his breath.
Victor adjusted Sophia comfortably in his arms.
“Would you like to know why your first major loan was approved?”
Dominic said nothing.
“Sterling Bank Group.”
“My brother.”
“Would you like to know who purchased your distressed debt six years ago?”
Silence.
“Sterling Meridian Holdings.”
“My family.”
Victor stepped closer.
“Your first federal logistics contract?”
Dominic’s lips parted.
“Our eldest brother made the introduction.”
“Your headquarters refinancing?”
“My company.”
“Your expansion capital?”
“Also us.”
“Your emergency credit facility?”
“Us.”
Victor’s eyes hardened.
“You didn’t build this empire alone, Dominic.”
“My sister quietly kept it alive because she believed in you.”
Dominic looked at me as though seeing a stranger.
“You lied to me.”
I almost laughed.
That was his response.
After everything.
“You’re accusing me of lying?”
“You hid this from me for nine years!”
“I wanted a husband who loved Vivienne.”
“Not a man who married Sterling.”
“I never asked for any of this!”
“No.”
Victor’s voice cut through the room.
“You just spent it.”
Dominic turned.
“What does that mean?”
Victor handed Sophia to me.
Then he removed a folder from beneath his arm.
“This.”
He dropped it onto a nearby cocktail table.
Dominic stared at it.
“Open it.”
Dominic didn’t move.
“Open it.”
Slowly, Dominic picked up the folder.
His eyes scanned the first page.
Then the second.
His breathing changed.
“What is this?”
Victor watched him.
“You tell us.”
Dominic looked at me.
“Vivienne, I can explain.”
That sentence told me Victor had found the truth.
I stepped forward.
“What did you do with Sophia’s money?”
Dominic’s face went completely white.
The CFO looked sharply at him.
“What money?”
I didn’t take my eyes off my husband.
“Our daughter’s education trust.”
“Vivienne—”
“How did you access it?”
“It isn’t what you think.”
“How much did you take?”
“I was going to put it back.”
My stomach turned.
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“How much?”
Dominic lowered his voice.
“It was temporary.”
“How much?”
People were recording now.
Phones were everywhere.
Dominic looked around.
“Can we please discuss this privately?”
“No.”
My voice echoed across the ballroom.
“You were comfortable humiliating your wife publicly.”
“You were comfortable pretending another woman and her child were your family publicly.”
“You can explain yourself publicly.”
Dominic stared at me.
Then Victor said the number.
“Two million, eight hundred and forty thousand dollars.”
Gasps swept through the ballroom.
Sophia’s trust had contained far more than money for college.
It had been designed to protect her future.
Education.
Housing.
Medical needs.
Her first business, if she wanted one.
Her first home.
Security.
Freedom.
A gift from grandparents who adored her.
And Dominic had taken almost three million dollars.
“Where is it?”
I whispered.
Dominic didn’t answer.
“WHERE IS IT?”
Sophia jumped.
I immediately regretted raising my voice.
Victor stepped closer to Dominic.
“Tell her.”
Dominic looked at the floor.
Then the CFO spoke.
“Oh my God.”
Everyone turned toward him.
He was staring at the documents.
“I know where part of it went.”
Dominic’s head snapped up.
“Martin.”
The CFO looked sick.
“The Harbor Point acquisition.”
Victor nodded.
“That’s one.”
Martin stared at Dominic.
“You told the board that money came from a private investor.”
“It did.”
“Your daughter was the private investor?”
“It was a loan.”
“She’s six!”
Dominic slammed the folder onto the table.
“I WAS GOING TO RETURN IT!”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Sophia began crying.
That ended the confrontation for me.
I picked her up.
“No more.”
Dominic moved toward us.
“Vivienne, wait.”
I stepped back.
“You don’t get to come near her right now.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“Then perhaps you should have remembered that before stealing from her.”
His face twisted.
“I did everything for this family.”
“No.”
I looked around at the ballroom.
“You did everything for this.”
The chandeliers.
The champagne.
The giant screens.
The executives.
The applause.
The illusion.
Dominic had traded everything real for people who would disappear the moment the money did.
And they were already disappearing.
Guests quietly headed toward the elevators.
Executives whispered in corners.
Board members avoided Dominic’s eyes.
The celebration was dying around him.
Victor touched my shoulder.
“Car is downstairs.”
I nodded.
We started toward the doors.
“Vivienne!”
Dominic shouted behind me.
I kept walking.
Then Victor’s phone rang.
He stopped.
I turned.
Victor listened without speaking.
His expression changed.
Not anger.
Not surprise.
Something worse.
He looked directly at Dominic.
“Are you certain?”
A pause.
“When?”
Another pause.
Victor slowly lowered the phone.
I knew immediately.
There was more.
“What?”
He didn’t answer.
“Victor.”
His eyes moved toward Sophia.
“Not here.”
My stomach tightened.
“Tell me.”
Dominic suddenly looked frightened.
And I noticed it.
That was the strange part.
Before Victor had said a single word…
Dominic already looked frightened.
Victor noticed too.
His eyes narrowed.
“You know.”
Dominic shook his head.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Victor walked toward him.
“Then why do you look terrified?”
“I’m not.”
Victor stared at him for several seconds.
Then he turned to me.
“The money from Sophia’s trust wasn’t just used for Harbor Point.”
I felt cold.
“Where else?”
“Almost nine hundred thousand dollars was transferred through three shell companies.”
“To who?”
“We finally identified the beneficiary.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Victor said one name.
“Chloe Bennett.”
Every head in the ballroom turned.
Toward the reception secretary.
Chloe had been standing near the elevators.
Her face was ghost-white.
My mind struggled to understand.
“Chloe?”
Victor nodded.
“She received the money.”
I looked at Dominic.
Then at Chloe.
Then at Vanessa’s empty place near the stage.
This was no longer one affair.
No longer one lie.
Something much larger had been happening inside my marriage.
Chloe suddenly grabbed her handbag.
Victor pointed toward the doors.
“Don’t.”
She froze.
Dominic stepped forward.
“Victor, you have no authority to detain anyone.”
Victor looked at him.
“You’re right.”
Then the ballroom doors opened.
Two federal investigators entered.
Dominic stopped breathing.
Victor’s voice became quiet.
“That’s why I called people who do.”
Sophia buried her face against my shoulder.
I held her tighter.
One investigator approached Dominic.
The other walked directly toward Chloe.
And then Chloe did something none of us expected.
She started crying.
Not quietly.
Not gracefully.
She pointed at Dominic.
“He made me do it.”
Dominic’s face transformed.
“Shut up.”
Victor’s eyes sharpened.
Chloe shook her head frantically.
“No.”
“I’m done protecting you.”
“Chloe.”
“I have everything.”
Dominic rushed toward her.
Security stepped between them.
Chloe reached inside her handbag.
She pulled out a small black flash drive.
And held it up.
“I kept copies.”
Dominic stared at that flash drive as though it were a loaded weapon.
The investigator took it carefully.
“What’s on this?”
Chloe looked directly at me.
For the first time all evening, there was no arrogance in her expression.
Only fear.
“Proof.”
“Of what?”
Her lips trembled.
“Dominic wasn’t just stealing from Sophia.”
My heart stopped.
Chloe looked toward the hundreds of employees and executives standing around us.
“He’s been stealing from all of them.”
And somewhere behind me…
Victor whispered two words.
“Got you.”
That was when I realized the gala had never been the real scandal.
It was only the door.
And we had just opened it.
Because before that night was over, Victor would uncover where millions of dollars had actually gone, Chloe would reveal the secret Dominic had been desperate to bury, and I would learn that the woman upstairs wasn’t the most dangerous betrayal in my marriage.
The worst betrayal had my signature on it.
And I had never signed a thing.
