My husband's secretary had been swiping my card like it was her personal allowance, and she'd even called me a useless trophy wife right there in the middle of a French restaurant.

I was so furious I froze her card on the spot. Left her without a cent to pay the bill. Not only did she lose face in front of everyone, but the manager held her there for an entire day and night.

When my husband found out, he just tapped me on the nose playfully.

"You! A grown woman getting jealous over a little secretary? And now she's the laughingstock of the whole city."

He didn't blame me. Acted like nothing had happened. Until my birthday, when he took me out to a French restaurant.

He ordered dozens of expensive dishes and bottles of wine, said some friends of his were coming to celebrate.

"Honey, I need to step out for a bit. I'll be right back to celebrate with you."

I waited until the restaurant was about to close. He never came back. His friends never showed.

When I pulled out my card to pay, the manager shook his head. "Ms. Henson, this card has been frozen."

——

"Frozen?"

Harry Gilbert had given me this card himself. Before we left, he'd even taken my own card away, saying since it was my birthday, he should be the one to pay.

I'd been so touched. Secretly proud of myself for finding such a thoughtful husband.

Now he was nowhere to be found. I'd called him dozens of times. Nothing.

If this card didn't work, I was in trouble.

The manager's expression shifted from polite to impatient.

"Ms. Henson, do you have another card?"

"Just so we're clear—we don't do tabs here. You of all people should know that after what happened last month."

Of course I remembered. Last month, Harry's secretary had gone on a spending spree with his card, then called me a useless trophy wife to my face.

A sick feeling crept up my spine. Was this Harry's way of getting revenge for her?

The click of heels echoed from the entrance. I turned—and there was Harry, his arm wrapped around his secretary, whose face was twisted with smug hatred.

Behind them trailed a group of his friends, every single one of them watching me like I was tonight's entertainment.

"Celeste Henson." Silvia Finch's voice dripped with venom. "You love punishing people who can't pay their bills, don't you? Let's see how you handle it."

The room erupted.

"I heard she's from some dirt-poor family. Only got lucky because Mr. Gilbert took a shine to her. And now her own husband shows up with his new woman to watch her squirm."

"Ha! This is what happens when you try to climb the ladder on looks alone."

"Exactly. How long does a pretty face last? The second a rich man finds someone younger and prettier, your luxury lifestyle is over."

My fists clenched. Humiliation burned through me.

Just as I'd suspected. Harry had set this whole thing up for his secretary.

He walked Silvia to a table at the front, pulled out her chair, and sat down beside her.

"Don't worry, sweetheart." His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. "However she humiliated you that day, I'll pay her back double."

Silvia's face lit up. She turned and kissed him right on the lips.

"Thank you, Harry."

Then she looked at me, eyes sharp with triumph. "Celeste, you're nothing but a pretty face. A waste of space. What gave you the right to freeze my card?"

She grabbed one of the expensive wine bottles from the table and hurled it at my feet.

Crash.

Red wine splashed across my face. I stood there, dripping, looking every bit as pathetic as they wanted me to look.

"Ha!" Silvia laughed. "Worthless. I've got Harry to pay for whatever I break. But you?" She grinned. "You're done."

Harry watched me with that same mocking smile. "Stop glaring at me like you want to eat me alive. If you've got money, pay the bill and leave."

"Ha! What money? She couldn't pay this if her life depended on it."

"The food, the wine they've already uncorked—she couldn't even look at that total without flinching."

"She's been living off Mr. Gilbert's money this whole time. Without him, she's nothing."

To make sure I was completely humiliated, Harry stood up with a cold laugh, his gaze sweeping across the room.

"Anyone who helps Celeste out of this mess becomes my enemy—and an enemy of the Gilbert family."

Everyone knew the Gilberts were the wealthiest family in Cresthaven. No one would dare cross Harry.

A few business partners I was actually close with started to rise from their seats, ready to step in for me.

But the moment they heard Harry's words, they sat back down fast, terrified he might notice.

"See? Mr. Gilbert isn't playing around."

"He's protecting his little secretary harder than he ever protected his wife!"

"Right? I thought being his legal spouse would count for something—that he was just angry. But this is real."

"After that threat, who's going to help her?"

I lost control. I stormed over and grabbed Harry's arm. "Harry, are you really going to humiliate me like this for some scheming little homewrecker?"

Harry sneered and backhanded me across the face.

Slap.

"Yes."

I turned back to stare at him, barely able to believe what just happened.

Three years of marriage. We were famous for being the perfect couple. He was the one who pursued me when I first came to Cresthaven.

At our wedding, he made vows—swore he'd be faithful forever, that he'd love me with his life until the end of time.

And now? Just three years later, every promise, every beautiful memory—destroyed by his cold cruelty.

Just like people always said: marry into wealth with nothing but a pretty face, and you'll never have any dignity.

The moment someone younger and prettier comes along, your life as a rich man's wife is over.

But Harry had no idea. When I married into the Gilbert family, I wasn't after their money. I married him because I loved him.

Facing my bloodshot eyes, Harry pulled out a napkin and turned away dismissively, wiping the hand he'd just struck me with.

"You knew I cared about that secretary, and you still had to push it."

"Celeste, if you can't pay this bill, I'll have the manager strip you naked and throw you out of this restaurant."

The room erupted. Everyone stared at me with mockery and hunger in their eyes.

"Mr. Gilbert's really going all out—making his own wife run out naked for the new girl."

"Can you believe it?"

"She won't be his wife for long. After tonight, she'll be nobody."

"Shh, let's just watch."

The older businessmen looked on with amusement.

"I want to see if she's got the body to match all that pride."

My face burned with humiliation.

Harry had taken my card before we left the house, catching me off guard.

All I had was the designer dress on my back. I had no way to pay.

And my phone was dead. That's when I realized—Harry had planned all of this.

"It's getting late, Celeste. The restaurant's waiting for you to settle up so they can close."

"Don't tell me you can't even afford to pay!"

"What a shame that would be. Getting detained and hauled off to the police station for skipping out on a bill—isn't that exactly what you did to me once?"

Silvia pulled out a slender cigarette, placed it between her lips, and lit up. She blew the smoke directly in my face, her expression dripping with arrogance.

I couldn't stop myself. My hand shot up and slapped her hard across the face.

The table went flying. Chaos erupted.

Harry rushed to Silvia's side, then snapped at his bodyguards. Before I could react, they grabbed me and threw me to the ground.

"Celeste, that's enough!"

"Oh, so you can torment people all you want, but no one's allowed to fight back?"

I glared at Harry, my eyes burning. The Gilbert family's meteoric rise to the top of Cresthaven's wealth rankings in just three years? That was me. I'd leveraged every connection my family had to clear their path. Even the underground players who wanted to cause trouble for the Gilberts backed off—because of who I was.

Tonight, on my birthday, I'd planned to finally tell Harry the truth. That I wasn't some nobody. That I was the heir to the most powerful of Southport's four great families.

I was going to bring him home to meet my parents.

I never imagined his heart could change this fast.

I'd misjudged him. Overestimated his character.

"Harry, are you really going to make me walk out of here humiliated?"

Harry let out a cold laugh. "What else? You think I arranged all this just for show?"

Silvia, emboldened by the bodyguards, swung her fist into my face. "You worthless tramp. Here are your options: get arrested for not paying, or strip naked, hold this steak in your teeth, and crawl out of here on all fours like a dog."

She grinned. "Oh, and the difference? Option one, you keep your clothes. Option two, you lose your clothes and your dignity. So hurry up and pick—I'm getting impatient."

Dozens of eyes watched me like I was tonight's entertainment.

I clenched my fists until my knuckles went white, staring at Harry without a shred of emotion.

"Fine. If this is what you've chosen, then when the Gilbert family goes bankrupt, that's on you."

The moment the words left my mouth, Silvia burst out laughing.

"Ha! Did you hear that?"

"Does she think she's living in a romance novel? Playing the secret heiress?"

"She's clearly lost her mind."

Harry's eyes flashed with anger. He thought I was bluffing too.

He grabbed a plate of food and hurled it at me. "Stop talking nonsense. You're going to bankrupt the Gilberts? Who do you think you are?"

"Worry about your own problems first."

"Manager!"

The manager caught his cue and approached with security flanking him. His tone was cold but professional. "Ms. Henson, will you be paying in cash, or is someone coming to cover the bill?"

I scanned the room and spotted a woman I'd worked with before—a business contact I'd met while negotiating deals on behalf of the Gilberts.

I started walking toward her.

The second she saw me coming, she scrambled out of her seat and backed away.

"Celeste, stay back—I can't pay for you—"

"Relax. I'm not asking you to pay. I just need to borrow your phone."

"Please?"

"I'm calling a friend to bring money."

Silvia's laughter cut through the room. "Oh, this is rich! Who in all of Cresthaven would dare come bail you out?"

She waved dismissively. "Fine, let her make her little call. We'll give her thirty minutes. If nobody shows up with the cash by then—" She gestured at the overweight businessmen leering nearby. "—these gentlemen can strip her themselves. A woman who's been with the city's richest man must be worth sampling, right?"