I picked up the place card.

"Where am I sitting?"

Sylvia paused.

"You'll be at the second table. Easier for you to look after the guests."

Sabina looked up quickly.

"Aunt Sylvia, why don't I take the second table instead?"

Sylvia pressed her back down into her seat.

"You'll be spending the whole evening talking design with several of the ladies. How would it look for you to sit at the second table?"

I looked down at the place card.

After Sabina's name it read: Delgado Brand Consultant.

I asked Sylvia.

"Is this your arrangement?"

She frowned.

"Didn't you study PR in college? This sort of thing is right up your alley."

Sabina said softly, "Mavis, Aunt Sylvia only trusts you with it."

I gave a small smile.

"Sure."

I set the place cards out and went to the kitchen to check on the refreshments.

The housekeeper said under her breath, "Ma'am, Mrs. Delgado said not to come out too early. Wait until the guests are seated before serving the tea."

Ma'am. That title only existed in the kitchen.

At seven, the guests began to arrive.

One of the ladies took Sabina by the hand.

"Miss Pruitt, you must be Mrs. Delgado? I've seen you in the news. You're even prettier in person."

Sabina flushed a little.

"You've misunderstood."

Sylvia jumped in at once, smiling.

"Sabina is very close to our family. Whether or not she's called Mrs. Delgado, she's just as dear to us."

I walked over carrying the tea, and the lady glanced at me.

"And who is this?"

Sylvia said, "Mavis. Family help."

Family help. Not the daughter-in-law, not Mrs. Delgado. Just someone around the house who could pour tea.

Morton walked in right then and heard it.

He looked at me, and for a second his expression turned uneasy.

I set the tea down.

"Mr. Delgado, your tea."

Morton's face changed.

"Mavis."

I didn't look at him. I turned and went back to the kitchen.

After the dinner got underway, Sylvia handed a gift box to Sabina.

"Sabina, this watch is from Morton's IPO. I picked it out just for you."

Sabina hurried to refuse.

"Aunt Sylvia, I can't accept this."

"What do you mean you can't? You've walked all this way with Morton. You've earned it."

I sat at the very edge of the second table.

My phone buzzed.

It was a message from Morton.

【Don't read too much into it. Mom's just thanking her.】

I replied.

【Read too much into what?】

He didn't answer again.

Before long, Morton came over holding a glass of wine.

"Go sit at the head table. I'll have my assistant switch the seats."

I lifted my head and looked at him.

"Switch them now?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you switch them before?"

He pressed his lips together.

"There were too many people just now."

I laughed.

"Are there fewer people now?"

Morton's face stiffened.

Just then, someone at the head table called out to him.

"Mr. Delgado, Miss Pruitt says the two of you even slept at the office back when you were starting the company. Is that true?"

The whole table laughed, and Sabina ducked her head, embarrassed.

Morton glanced at me, but he still turned and went back.

I stayed where I was, and all at once none of it seemed worth it.

After the dinner broke up, Sylvia walked Sabina to the door.

"It isn't safe for you to go back alone. Let Morton drive you."

Sabina looked at me.

"Mavis wouldn't mind, would she?"

I picked up my bag.

"I mind."

Everyone froze.

Sylvia's face darkened at once.

"Mavis, what has gotten into you today?"

I looked at her.

"You asked whether I minded, didn't you? I answered."

Morton came over.

"I'll have the driver take her."

Sylvia said immediately, "The driver can take an outsider, but how could you let the driver take Sabina?"

I gave a small laugh.

"So the driver's for outsiders."

Sabina's eyes reddened again.

“Never mind. I’ll get myself home.”

Morton looked at her, his brows drawing together.

In that single second, I already knew the answer.

He said, “I’ll drop her at the corner. I’ll be right back.”

I nodded.

“Go.”

He froze for a beat.

I didn’t wait for him to come back. As I stepped out of the old family estate, Jean called me.

“Why do you sound like that?”

I said, “Jean, do you think Morton loves me?”

The line went quiet for two seconds.

Then she said, “I always knew this day would come sooner or later.”

I stood at the curb, the wind stinging my eyes.

So the humiliation I thought I’d hidden so well, everyone else had seen a long time ago.

On the third day, Morton offered to take me to the company himself.

“There’s an internal celebration today. I’ll introduce you properly.”

I looked at him.

“Properly to what degree?”

He said, “In front of all the executives.”

I asked, “Is Sabina going?”

Morton paused.

“She’s the brand consultant. She might come.”

I smiled.

“Then I understand.”

He said, “Mavis, don’t pin everything on her.”

I said nothing more.

At three in the afternoon, I arrived downstairs at the Delgado building.

The receptionist saw Morton and shot to her feet.

“Mr. Delgado.”

Morton took my hand.

“This is my wife, Mavis.”

The receptionist blinked, then quickly nodded.

“Hello, Mrs. Delgado.”

It was the first time. And before I could feel even a flicker of anything, the turnstile buzzed.

Red light. My badge wouldn’t let me through.

The receptionist checked for a long while, her face growing more and more awkward.

“Mr. Delgado, the family contact bound in the system is Miss Sabina Pruitt.”

Morton’s face darkened in an instant.

“Who entered that?”

The administrative manager hurried down.

“Mr. Delgado, Mrs. Delgado arranged it before. She said Miss Pruitt came to the office often, so it would be convenient for her to get in and out.”

I looked at that turnstile. Sabina could walk through without registering.

Me, the actual Mrs. Delgado, was blocked at the door.

Morton tightened his grip on my hand.

“Change it right now.”

The administrative manager opened the back end and asked carefully, “Mr. Delgado, do you want me to delete Miss Pruitt’s access?”

“Add Mavis first.”

I lifted my head to look at him.

“Why not delete hers?”

He said in a low voice, “She still has projects to come and go for.”

I pulled my hand free.

“Then don’t bother adding mine.”

Morton frowned.

“Mavis.”

I said, “I don’t want to be tacked on after her.”

Inside the conference room, the executives were already seated.

When I walked in, Sabina was standing in front of the big screen, presenting the brand campaign.

On the cover of the proposal was her name. I stopped.

That proposal was the one I’d stayed up three nights to help Morton revise.

From the user profiles to the crisis-response plan, from the post-IPO brand pivot to the entry point into the female consumer market, all of it was my work.

Morton saw it too, and his expression shifted.

When Sabina finished, applause filled the room.

Someone said with a smile, “Consultant Pruitt truly is the person closest to Mr. Delgado who understands the brand best.”

Sabina glanced at Morton.

“Actually, Morton gave me his input on a lot of the details.”

I gave a small smile.

Morton stood up.

“Mavis was involved in this proposal too.”

Too.

One word, and my three sleepless nights became a casual favor.

Sabina spoke up at once. “Right, Mavis looked over a few typos for me.”

Someone in the room laughed.

“Mrs. Delgado is very meticulous too.”

I looked at Morton. His brows were pulled tight.

"Sabina, explain yourself."

Sabina's face went white.

"I thought Mavis was just helping polish it. Morton, you never told me—"

There she went again.

One "I didn't know," and every fault got shoved back onto someone else.

The conference room froze.

Morton dismissed the executives.

Once they'd all gone, I opened my laptop.

"The original file. Edit history. Timestamps on when it was sent. It's all right here."

Morton stared at the screen, his face darkening bit by bit.

Sabina's eyes reddened.

"Mavis, I really didn't do it on purpose. Auntie said you don't like being in the spotlight, so I put my name on it."

I laughed.

"I don't like the spotlight?"

"Or is it that you all don't like me being seen?"

Morton looked at Sabina.

"Who told you to do this?"

Sabina bit her lip.

"Auntie said the investors know me better, that putting my name on the campaign would be safer."

Morton closed his eyes. I watched him.

"So you thought it was safer too."

He said, "I didn't know."

Those three words. I'd heard them too many times.

I shut the laptop.

"Use the campaign. Go ahead."

Morton caught my arm.

"Mavis, I'll credit you."

"No need."

"Why?"

I looked at him.

"Something that's been stolen and handed back is already dirty."

That night, the Delgado brand campaign blew up online.

Some blogger dug up how parts of it lined up almost word for word with a public talk I'd given before.

The comments filled with people calling Sabina a plagiarist.

My mother-in-law called.

Her first words weren't to ask if I'd been wronged.

They were, "Mavis, put out a statement. Say you authorized Sabina to use the campaign."

I thought I'd misheard.

"What did you say?"

"Morton just went public. There can't be any bad press. Sabina still has to make her way in this industry. Give her a hand."

I gripped the phone.

"And what about me?"

My mother-in-law's patience thinned.

"You're a Delgado. What's wrong with family taking a little hardship?"

Morton called soon after, his voice worn out.

"Mavis, put out the statement first. I'll make it up to you later."

I asked him.

"Make up what?"

"Credit, a bonus, a public thank-you—whatever you want."

"Then why can't we just tell the truth now?"

He was silent.

"Because Sabina's connected to the resources behind a new project. Nothing can go wrong right now."

I laughed.

"So you're choosing her again."

Morton's voice dropped a little.

"I'm not choosing her. I'm choosing what's best for everyone."

I hung up.

That night, I contacted Lawyer Hughes.

【Can the divorce agreement be drawn up tonight?】

He answered fast.

【Yes. The more complete the evidence, the better.】

I opened my laptop and sorted through three years of it, one piece at a time—transfer records, chat logs, campaign source files, press-release screenshots, screenshots of my social media privacy groups.

At two in the morning, Morton came home.

He stood in the study doorway.

"Still up?"

I didn't turn around.

"Almost done."

"About the statement—"

"I won't be putting it out."

Morton walked in.

"Mavis, can you not pick a fight with me right now, of all times?"

I looked up at him.

"Morton, do you know what the most laughable part is?"

He frowned.

"What?"

"When you all needed me invisible, you said I was family."

"When you all needed me to take the blame, you said I was family too."

His face lost a little color.

"But I'm not a trash can."

Friday night, Morton said he was going back to the old family estate.