The sound of slap still echoing in my head. Before me stood Mellisa, Gabriel’s mother, looking at me with a pair of eyes filled with disgust.

“Stop cursing my son!” She began, “Who do you think you are to be so arrogant?”

“You have been only a freeloader in the family for three whole years. You think serving meals and talking to a few clients earned Gabriel the contract?”

“If it's not been Anna’s father working in Pearl groups and the CEO of the Pearl group asking the Richards to consider Gabriel, would they have acknowledged our small company?”

Yes, that's true. Considering Gabriel’s work, he would never have secured the contract with Richards if the CEO of Pearl group had not convinced them.

But, the irony was, I was the CEO of Pearl group whom she had been calling a freeloader.

She walked closer to me. Her heels deliberately pressed against my palm, making me almost bleed. That's when a voice tore off from behind.

“Mom…” Gabriel stepped down the stage and rushed towards us. He grabbed Melissa’s hands and pulled her back. “She is bleeding!”

My heart melted. Perhaps, I misunderstood him. Perhaps, he still cared about me.

He was just manipulated by Anna who convinced him that it was her helping him behind that got him the contract. That's why he praised her before everyone.

But, deep down he still loved me.

“Gabriel…” I whispered, my voice hoarse as I managed to stand up. “I know it's only me in your heart.”

He did not look up at me. Instead, he turned to his mother and said, “Mom… it's a big day for me. Let's not ruin it with this drama.”

In the past, his mother had always bullied me for my humble background. But, he had always shielded me against her. I thought he would do the same. But this time, he turned to me and said something that made me doubt if I ever knew this person.

“Daphne…” he whispered in a low voice, “This is a big Gala, filled with elite guests. Sharing the stage with you at the moment will only downgrade my status.”

“Try to understand me, Daphne. It's for our future. Anna… she is helping me. I must make her feel special.”

A laughter of irony tore through my throat no matter how much I tried to suppress it. “Make her feel special? What about my feelings, Gabriel? I’m your wife!”

I know he had become image conscious in the past few months just after his business had reached certain heights. But, never in my worst nightmare I had expected that he would even feel humiliated standing next to me.

Just then Anna’s voice sounded from behind,

“You say you helped Gabriel secure the contract. But, the person who did it was Pearl Group’s CEO. Are you telling me that you, a woman who cooked meals at home, cleaned dishes and washed dirty clothes, is actually the CEO of Pearl Group, Daphne Franklin?”

The Gala erupted into laughter with everyone looking at me with glances full of mockery.

I shot a glance at Gabriel who remained silent, letting me be the centre of laughter, and the tiny hope that I had built a moment ago shattered instantly.

Anna did not stop at this. She bent down to pick the flowers of the bouquet I had thrown moments ago. Scattering the petals in the air, she continued, “You entered this gala with cheap flowers worth not more than ten dollars and you dare address yourself as Franklin?”

Another round of laughter echoed and this time, she walked down the stage. She stood just beside Gabriel before she gave me a smugful smile, saying, “Oh come on Daphne, if you were to impersonate such a high profile person, you should have at least come up with some more expensive gifts.”

The envelope in my hands that contained the deed of the skyscraper clutched even tighter as I watched the flowers Anna was making fun of while Gabriel let her do. I chose this bouquet because it had deep meaning for me, for us. But, it seemed like he had forgotten.

“Anna is right.” Gabriel said, his eyes twisting in disgust as he finally showed his true color. “You didn't even get a better dress to show up in such a big Gala. Wearing this cheap gown, did you really think I would invite you on the stage?”

Cheap gown?

The white gown I was wearing tonight was Gabriel’s most expensive gift to me. He said he could only afford that gown for me, intending to let me wear it at our wedding reception.

But, he could not afford the reception that time. So, he asked me to wait until he could afford it.

I chose this day to wear it because after I revealed my true identity to him, I was going to announce this gala as our wedding feast.

I laughed in irony. I laughed like a maniac.

“You really turned out to be a pathetic excuse for a man!” I said looking straight into his eyes. “I can't believe this. How did I ever fall for such crap of a man?”

“A ‘shit of a man’?” Gabriel repeated, his voice slowly turning to a cold, clinical tone. “Daphne, what do you expect me to do? Live a life of poverty and be with you for eternity?”

“I value the love you have given me and the sacrifice you have made for me. But, you are nobody who completely relies on me. You can't even support yourself let alone supporting me.”

“On the other hand, Anna is an independent lady focussed on her career and her family… They have been working in Pearl groups for three generations.”

“I don't mean to humiliate you but Anna is far more superior to you. Any man with a brain would choose her over you.”

I watched the man I believed care more about people's hearts than their background. The man in my image suddenly blurring into a new man who only cared about his status and reputation in the public.

At that moment, I realised I had wasted three whole years of my life on a man who was not worth it. Not at all.

I laughed. After shooting a short glance at Anna, I turned to look at Gabriel as I asked, “You say her family has been serving Pearl groups for three generations? If that was true, she would have known the person you are looking down on, calling a nobody is actually the person who she is serving as she claims.”

“You claim I can't support myself?” I laughed in sarcasm before continuing, “But, I’m the one who is supporting the business of all these Elites you have invited today.”

Having said that, I threw my hair backward, revealing the pearl group's signature necklace.

The crowd went silent at once with everyone’s gaze fixed on my necklace and mouth hung open in shock.

“This… this is Heart’s Azura.”

“Only the young miss of Pearl’s group has this.”

“Is she really… Daphne Franklin?”

“Enough…” Gabriel roared, “You’re delusional. You’ve spent so much time playing housewife that you’ve started hallucinating a life where you actually matter. You aren’t a CEO. And this necklace must have been forged.”

“I have lived three years with you. I know how exactly your worth is.”

He reached into his tuxedo jacket and pulled out a thick envelope. The crispness of the paper sounded like a guillotine blade.

“I was going to wait until tomorrow to do this quietly, but since you love a spectacle so much…” He flicked the envelope. It hit my chest before sliding onto the floor, right next to the crushed petals of the bouquet.

“There are the divorce papers. Sign them and get out. Don't worry, I’ve left you the house. It’s the least I can do for three years of laundry.”

The room erupted again. I looked at the papers, then at the man I had loved—the man who didn't even recognize the very gown he had once promised would be my wedding dress. The irony was a bitter poison in my throat.

“You want me to sign?” I asked, my voice suddenly becoming eerily calm. The shaking stopped.

“Sign it and vanish,” Gabriel snapped. “I never want to see your face again.”

I picked up the pen from nearby. The crowd leaned in, phones out, recording my ‘humiliation’. I didn't look at the alimony clauses. I didn't look at the property division. I flipped straight to the last page.

With a swift, elegant flourish of the wrist, I signed the document.

I tossed the pen onto the papers and shoved them into his chest.

Gabriel caught the papers against his chest, a smirk of triumph playing on his lips. "Finally. Now, get out of my sight before I have security drag you—"

"Wait," a sharp, cultured voice cut through the air.

Mr. Harrison, an elderly billionaire and a founding partner of the Pearl Group, stepped forward from the front row.

"Gabriel, let me see those papers," Harrison commanded.

"It’s just a divorce settlement, Mr. Harrison," Gabriel said, his voice instantly turning sycophantic. "My delusional ex-wife was just leaving.”

Harrison didn't wait. He snatched the document. The room fell into a suffocating silence as the old man adjusted his glasses, his hands beginning to tremble.

"This signature..." Harrison whispered, his voice amplified by the stunned quiet of the hall.

"There are only three people in the world who know the specific, interlaced 'F' of the Franklin cipher. This isn't just a name. This is Daphne Franklin."

The laughter in the room didn't just stop, it died.

"Mr. Harrison, you must be mistaken," Anna said, her voice high and frantic as she stepped forward. "That’s just Daphne. She’s a nobody. She probably just scribbled—"

The air in the ballroom curdled as the double doors at the far end were flung open with a resonance that silenced even the faint hum of the air conditioning.

Every head turned.

A phalanx of gray-suited security detail marched in, forming a literal corridor of steel. At the center walked Arthur Vance, the Global CEO of Pearl Group—a man whose face was more synonymous with international power than most world leaders.

He didn't spare a glance at the elite guests or the buffet of expensive champagne. His eyes were locked onto a single point in the room.

Gabriel’s face went pale,"Mr. Vance! I didn't realize you were coming personally to—"

Vance didn't just ignore him, he walked through Gabriel as if he were made of glass. He stopped exactly three paces in front of me. To the absolute horror of the crowd, the man who controlled the fortunes of millions came to a dead halt, clicked his heels, and executed a deep, ninety-degree bow.

"The board of directors offers their sincerest apologies for the delay, Chairwoman," Vance’s voice boomed, steady and reverent. "The private jet was held up in Norhaven. We have the internal audit reports you requested on the misappropriation of funds within this branch."

He straightened, his gaze turning like a predator’s toward the trembling Anna. "And as for the staff claiming 'three generations of service'..." Vance’s lip curled in cold disdain.

"You must be the junior clerk’s daughter. Pack your desk. You, and the man who thinks a signature can be forged, are officially blacklisted from every Pearl-affiliated entity on the planet.”