Chapter 3 - THE HUSBAND WHO STOOD STILL
Dominic came toward me.
“Vivienne, listen to me.”
I stepped backward.
“Don’t.”
His face twisted.
“I didn’t know.”
“You knew enough.”
“I didn’t know they were planning this.”
“You knew how they treated me.”
“That’s different.”
“No.”
My voice stayed calm.
“That is exactly the same.”
He lowered his voice.
“Can we please talk privately?”
I looked around the ballroom.
Two hundred people had watched his mother tear my dress.
Two hundred people had watched his sister accuse me of theft.
Two hundred people had watched him stand silently beside them.
“Why?”
I asked.
“You didn’t need privacy when they humiliated me.”
Dominic flinched.
My father said nothing.
This was my fight.
And he understood that.
Dominic rubbed one hand over his face.
“I should have defended you.”
“Yes.”
“I was trying to keep things from escalating.”
I almost laughed.
“Your mother ripped my dress open.”
“I know.”
“Your sister tried to frame me for stealing a million-dollar ring.”
“I know.”
“You told me to cooperate.”
His eyes dropped.
“I made a mistake.”
“No, Dominic.”
I shook my head.
“You made a choice.”
The difference landed.
He looked at my stomach.
His expression softened.
“Our baby.”
I instinctively covered my belly.
“Our baby is exactly why I won’t pretend this is acceptable anymore.”
Eleanor stepped forward.
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
Every head turned toward her.
She looked at Dominic.
“Are you actually going to let her manipulate you with a pregnancy?”
My father took one slow step toward her.
Richard grabbed Eleanor’s wrist.
“Stop talking.”
She yanked away.
“No.”
Then she looked at me.
“You have been poisoning this family since the day you arrived.”
I stared at her.
“How?”
“You played innocent.”
“I was polite.”
“You hid who you were.”
“I never lied.”
“You allowed us to believe you were nobody.”
That sentence told me everything.
I smiled sadly.
“You thought I was nobody because I didn’t have money?”
Eleanor’s jaw tightened.
“I thought you were unsuitable for Dominic.”
“And if my father owns this hotel?”
She hesitated.
“That changes nothing.”
My father finally spoke.
“Good.”
Eleanor looked at him.
Arthur’s expression remained calm.
“Because if discovering my daughter has money suddenly made her acceptable to you, I would think even less of you.”
Richard closed his eyes.
Chloe stood near the head table, mascara beginning to streak her cheeks.
“This is supposed to be my wedding.”
I looked at her.
“And you decided the most important memory from your wedding should be destroying me.”
Her groom, Michael, had not spoken since the security video began.
Now he removed his wedding ring.
Chloe saw him.
Her face changed immediately.
“Michael.”
He placed the ring on the table.
“No.”
She hurried toward him.
“No, no, no.”
Michael stepped away.
“You planned to frame an eight-month-pregnant woman for felony theft at our wedding.”
“She ruined everything.”
“She did nothing.”
Chloe pointed toward me.
“She walked in acting superior.”
I almost laughed.
I had barely spoken all night.
Michael shook his head.
“This isn’t about tonight.”
Chloe froze.
He looked toward Arthur.
Then toward me.
“I think you should know something.”
Dominic’s head lifted.
Michael continued.
“Three weeks ago, Chloe asked me whether a criminal conviction could affect a spouse’s claim to marital assets during divorce.”
A cold sensation moved down my spine.
Dominic stared at his sister.
“Why would you ask that?”
Michael looked directly at him.
“Because she said you were going to divorce Vivienne after the baby was born.”
The ballroom went silent again.
I turned slowly toward my husband.
Dominic looked horrified.
“That isn’t true.”
Michael’s expression hardened.
“She said you already had the paperwork.”
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And for the first time that night, I wondered whether Dominic’s silence had been cowardice.
Or part of something much worse.
