Chapter 6
Chloe recovered first because secretaries who survive powerful men learn to hide panic quickly.
She stepped away from the reception counter and lifted a hand.
“This is a private event.”
One of the sharply dressed figures stopped just beyond the elevator.
A woman in a dark suit looked at Chloe with professional calm.
No badge shown.
No document visible.
No identity revealed.
Just the kind of stillness that makes dishonest people ask whether they are standing in the wrong place.
Chloe lowered her hand.
Dominic saw that.
Vivienne saw him see it.
He turned toward her again.
“Call him off.”
Vivienne looked at him.
“You don’t know who I called.”
His face tightened.
That was answer enough.
He knew exactly whom she had called.
Maybe not which team.
Maybe not which lever.
But he knew Victor’s name carried consequences beyond family anger.
Vanessa stepped down from the staircase, the young boy following uncertainly behind her.
She placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Dominic, what is going on?”
The boy looked at Sophia.
Sophia hid behind Vivienne’s coat.
The two children stared at each other across the lobby, both innocent, both trapped inside adult lies.
Vivienne hated Dominic for that most.
Not the affair.
Not even the public humiliation.
The children.
He had built a second stage with another child on it, then let Sophia enter through the front doors carrying a necklace.
Dominic said, “Vanessa, take him upstairs.”
Vivienne’s eyes sharpened.
“There it is.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“Compartmentalizing.”
His face darkened.
“You don’t get to judge me in front of them.”
“Them?” Vivienne repeated. “Your executives? Your mistress? Her son? Our daughter? Be specific, Dominic. Which audience deserves the cleaner version?”
Vanessa’s face flushed.
Chloe looked toward the woman near the elevator, who had not moved.
Several guests’ phones vibrated again.
This time the silence that followed was heavier.
Dominic’s hand tightened around the champagne glass until Vivienne thought it might crack.
“Vivienne,” he said, “you are making a mistake that cannot be undone.”
She looked at Sophia.
Then back at him.
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“You made several first.”
Read Chapter 7 👉 Because Dominic still believed Vivienne could be frightened by consequences, but she had already watched their daughter lose faith in him.
