Chapter 6
The elevator rose only four floors, but it felt like leaving one life and entering another.
Maeve watched her reflection in the glass.
Ivory blouse.
Cream trousers.
Pearls.
Confetti in her hair.
No tears yet.
She looked like a woman arriving from a celebration, not one who had just watched her husband propose to the CEO of the company they built.
Cynthia stayed on the line.
“I need you in the east conference suite. Not your old office.”
Maeve almost laughed.
Old office.
Valerie had taken that too.
She had called it an “executive layout optimization,” and Gavin had approved the change while telling Maeve it was not personal.
Nothing was personal when it hurt Maeve.
Everything was personal when it threatened Gavin.
The elevator opened.
Maeve stepped into a quieter executive floor where the music from the atrium became a faint pulse through the walls.
A junior assistant saw her and froze.
Maeve recognized the look.
Pity mixed with fear.
“Mrs. Carter,” the assistant whispered.
Maeve nodded and kept walking.
She did not want pity.
Pity was what powerful rooms offered women after helping men erase them.
In the east conference suite, Cynthia’s team was already assembled on screens and phones. No readable documents were displayed. No numbers, no ownership charts, no final notices visible to anyone walking past.
Cynthia appeared on the main video call, silver hair pulled back, expression composed.
“Maeve, I’m going to ask you one question for the record. Did you consent to Gavin Carter publicly representing himself as divorced or legally free to propose marriage to Valerie Wolfe?”
Maeve stood at the end of the table.
“No.”
“Did you sign any divorce filing, asset waiver, settlement, voting authorization, spousal consent, or release connected to today’s event?”
“No.”
“Did Gavin tell you to bring the London tickets today?”
Maeve placed the envelopes on the table.
“Yes.”
Cynthia’s mouth tightened.
“That was reckless of him.”
Maeve looked at the roses still visible far below in the atrium through the glass.
“No,” she said quietly. “It was cruel.”
Cynthia paused.
“You’re right.”
May you like
For the first time that day, someone was.
Read Chapter 7 👉 Because Gavin’s mistake was not only kissing Valerie—it was creating a public record of the lie he needed Maeve to sign away.
