Chapter 4
Vivienne’s purse was transparent.
That was the cruel irony.
She had chosen it because Eleanor once complained that Vivienne “carried secrets like a woman with something to hide.”
So tonight, Vivienne brought the simplest clutch she owned.
Clear sides.
Gold clasp.
Nothing hidden.
Chloe still snatched it from the table and turned it upside down.
Everything scattered across the marble floor.
Prenatal vitamins rolled beneath the golden light.
A lipstick hit someone’s shoe.
A receipt fluttered near a wineglass.
Her wallet landed open but unreadable.
The black electronic access card slid farther than the rest, catching the chandelier glow before stopping near the hem of Chloe’s gown.
No ring appeared.
No one apologized.
Chloe stared at the floor as if the ring might materialize through force of expectation.
Eleanor still gripped Vivienne’s torn fabric.
“Honest women have nothing to hide.”
Vivienne’s eyes filled.
Not from the accusation alone.
From the silence.
There were hundreds of people in the room.
Relatives.
Guests.
Servers.
Security.
Dominic.
Her husband.
The father of the child moving beneath her ribs.
And still, Vivienne stood alone with her gown torn open at the shoulder, one hand holding fabric closed, one hand shielding her belly.
She looked at Dominic.
“Dominic, say something.”
For one second, he looked ashamed.
That almost gave her hope.
Then he glanced at Eleanor.
At Chloe.
At the guests.
At the reputation of the family he had never learned to stand against.
“Just let them search you.”
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That was the sentence that ended the marriage before any lawyer could.
Read the full story 👉 The missing ring hurt less than Dominic’s choice to stand with the women humiliating his pregnant wife.
