2026-02-15 07:36:38“Is this really what you want me to wear?”
Chris stood in front of the mirror, fingers tugging at the stiff collar of the shirt Charlotte had laid out on the bed.
The fabric felt foreign against his skin, like a costume he hadn’t auditioned for.
Charlotte didn’t look up from her phone. “Yes. It’s fine.”
“It’s just… not really my style.”
She sighed, finally lifting her eyes to him.
“Chris, it’s a year-end celebration. Every name that matters will be there. Can we not do this today?”
“I’m not trying to do anything,” he said quietly. “I just thought…”
“You thought wrong,” she cut in, already tapping her screen again.
“Wear it. We’re running late.”
That was the end of the conversation. Like most of them lately.
Chris sighed deeply
He wore it anyway.
They drove without speaking, the silence stretching between them until it felt heavier than words.
Chris watched the city blur past the window, knowing conversation would only make things worse.
When the car finally pulled up, he looked ahead and saw the Grand Meridian Hotel glowed like it existed in a different world. Several men stood at the entrance, dressed better than hotel security, their hands folded neatly in front of them. Crystal chandeliers, soft instrumental music, laughter that sounded practiced.
Chris followed Charlotte inside, one step behind her, his hand brushing the small of her back out of habit. She didn’t acknowledge the gesture.
“Charlotte!” a voice called.
Veronica Woods emerged from a group of elegantly dressed guests, champagne flute in hand, her smile wide and calculating.
“Star of the night,” Veronica said, kissing Charlotte’s cheek. “Look at you. Absolutely glowing.”
“Thank you,” Charlotte replied, smiling easily.
Veronica’s eyes slid to Chris.
“Oh,” she said. “You came too.”
“Yes,” Chris said.
“And Happy anniversary to us. It's three years today.” Chris said happily
There was a brief pause.
Veronica tilted her head. “Right. That was today, wasn’t it?”
Charlotte chuckled lightly. “It slipped my mind too.”
Bianca stood nearby, scrolling through her phone.
Chris looked down at his shoes and smiled weakly.
His wife forgot about their anniversary?
Ridiculous!
But he decided to shrug it off. Tonight was for Charlotte and he is so proud of her achievements.
“Hi, Bianca,” Chris said.
She glanced at him. “Hey.”
Lucas Wood, Charlotte’s step-brother heard his voice and approached, drink in hand, scanning Chris from head to toe.
“Interesting shirt choice. Charlotte dress you again?”
“It’s called coordination,” Veronica added sweetly. “Some men need help.”
Camilla, Charlotte’s closest friend leaned toward Bianca. “Imagine needing permission to dress yourself.”
They all burst into laughter.
Chris forced a smile.
“I badly need a drink.” He said to himself
“Excuse me for a moment.” He said sweetly to Charlotte but as he turned, whispers and quiet gasps spread through the crowd.
He looked back, curious to see what had caused the reaction.
“Fabio!” Veronica’s voice rose with excitement.
Fabio DeLuca entered like the room belonged to him. A loose circle formed around him without instruction.
“Fabio, darling,” Veronica said, moving quickly. “You made it.”
“I said I would.” He replied calmly.
Charlotte turned.
“Fabio,” she said, her face lighting up. “You made it.”
Fabio hugged her close, placing a gentle kiss on her right cheek.
“For you?” he replied. “Always.”
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Fabio said again, his eyes lingering on her a second too long.
His gaze landed on Chris briefly. Just long enough. But he said nothing to him.
“Chris,” Veronica called suddenly. “Be useful, will you? Get Fabio a glass of red wine.”
Chris hesitated. “There are servers…”
Charlotte’s gaze cut to him. Sharp. Warning.
“I prefer red wine.” Fabio said to Chris sharply.
He returned moments later with the glass.
“Here you go.”
When he returned, Fabio accepted the glass, studied it, then with a sinister smile on his face, he tilted his wrist just enough.
Red spilled across his shirt.
The room went silent
“Careless,” Fabio said mildly, inspecting the stain. “Do you know how expensive this fabric is?”
“I…no…I didn’t…” Chris tried to say something
Charlotte rushed forward. “Chris, what is wrong with you!?”
Chris searched for words, but they slipped away from him.
He faced Charlotte and tried to explain, but Camilla cut in.
“Do you know what you’ve done, Chris!?” Camilla said loudly.
Lucas stepped forward and grabbed his collar. “Apologize to him right now!”
Chris turned and looked at Charlotte.
“You know I wouldn’t…”
Smack!
Veronica slapped him.
The sound echoed.
“Enough! Apologize to Fabio right now, Chris” she said.
“What?
His voice broke. “I’m sorry.”
“Louder.” Veronica pressed.
“I’m sorry, Fabio.”
Fabio adjusted his jacket. “Good.”
Chris chuckled dryly.
He looked at Charlotte again.
She just stood there and watched them ridicule him in front of all these people?
This night couldn’t get any worse.
But he was wrong.
At dinner, Chris sat among people who spoke around him, not to him.
Fabio led most of the conversation, subtly humiliating him.
“So, Chris,” Fabio said, swirling his wine, “what do you do again?”
“I’m developing an app…”
“Oh,” Bianca laughed. “That thing.”
Lucas leaned back. “How’s that going? Any profits yet?”
Chris swallowed. “It’s still in development.”
Fabio chuckled. “Ah. Ambition is admirable” he said, cutting his steak slowly.
“But without backing, it becomes dangerous.”
Laughter followed.
Charlotte flushed with embarrassment.
“Must be nice,” Fabio continued, “having a wife who actually pays the bills.”
The table erupted in laughter again.
Chris was overwhelmed.
His head spun from the alcohol, a desperate haze to dull the sting of the ridicule he’d endured.
Unable to breathe, he stepped onto the balcony.
Charlotte sighed deeply.
“Please excuse me.” She said as she followed him.
Charlotte walked briskly to catch up with him.
When Chris saw her coming, he took in deep breaths.
“I just need a moment to clear my head, Charlotte.” Chris said in a low tone.
“You must be mistaken that I came here to comfort you, Chris.” Charlotte replied coldly.
Why the hell did you leave the party like that?” she asked fiercely.
“For God’s sake, Charlotte! I was being laughed at! Ridiculed!” Chris said with pain visible in his voice.
“You’re too sensitive.” Charlotte said with disdain
“They laughed at me.” Chris said as he looked at her in disbelief.
“Then grow thicker skin.” She replied coldly.
He looked at her. “Do you even care?”
“Three years today. Three years since I’ve decided to live with you. Did you even remember?” Chris spoke, his eyes heavy with pain.
“Why are you bringing that up again? It’s just an anniversary. It skipped my mind!” she said haughtily.
Chris stared at her in disbelief
Where had the sweet girl he once fell for, gone?
Before he could say something else, a voice broke out.
“Charlotte,” Fabio said, stepping out.
“Can you walk me to the restroom?”
She gave Fabio a bright, easy smile, one Chris hadn’t seen in months and said, “Of course.”
Chris couldn’t believe his eyes.
He moved before he could stop himself, catching her hand as she turned to follow Fabio.
“Are you really leaving, Charlotte?” Chris asked, the question trembling on his lips.
Previous Chapter
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Chapter 250
The heavy iron gates of the main Mikaelson estate slid shut, sealing out the rest of Arcadia City. Inside the sprawling private grounds, the usual oppressive silence had completely dissolved. Tonight, the fortress was alive with an uncharacteristic, vibrant warmth.To personally celebrate the total neutralization of the Gordon threat and the safety of his fiancée, Chris had ordered the estate staff to prepare a massive, open-air feast within the grand stone courtyard. He hadn't restricted the celebration to elite corporate executives or high-ranking family directors. Instead, long wooden tables stretched across the manicured lawns, illuminated by the flickering amber glow of massive iron fire pits and string lights woven through the ancient oak trees. Every single personal security guard, driver, perimeter watchman, and front-line mercenary on both the Mikaelson and Greene Global payrolls had a seat at the tables.The crisp night air of Arcadia City was thick with the rich, mouth-wate
Chapter 249
A profound, revitalizing silence settled over Onyx Harbor. With the Zenith High Council completely dismantled and their corrupt grip broken, the blackouts that had plagued the commercial districts ceased overnight. The municipal power grid stabilized, surging with a clean, uninterrupted current. It was as if a suffocating, heavy weight had been lifted from the chest of the entire city. For months, the population had lived under the shadow of corporate extortion. Now, small businesses reopened their doors, the neon signs of the entertainment sectors burned steady into the dawn, and the streets hummed with a newfound, peaceful energy. The fear that had defined Zenith's reign was evaporating, replaced by the realization that a new era had begun.High above the bustling streets, insulated from the city’s ambient noise by triple-paned reinforced glass, Chris Greene sat in his executive office at the top of the Greene Global tower. The room was dark save for the ambient glow of the city bel
Chapter 248
Gordon finally turned around and walked toward them. When he was in front of her, His knees buckled under the sudden, crushing weight of total defeat, and he sank onto the cold ground next to his bleeding, groaning son. He stared up at her, his face turning pale, his lips trembling as his thirty-year empire dissolved into pure dust before his eyes. "You... you violated the terms. We gave you the girl...""I don't negotiate the survival of the Mikaelson name with bankrupt criminals," Lynda whispered. She turned her head toward her commanders. "Throw them both in the back of the transport vans. Take them directly to the subterranean cells of the Mikaelson estate. They are going to face a very long, very thorough trial for corporate espionage and kidnapping."As the doors of the vans slammed shut on the bound, humiliated Gordons, Lynda turned back to Michelle, her expression softening. "The threat is neutralized, Lady Michelle. The Gordons are erased. Let us get you home.”Meanwhile I
Chapter 247
He turned his attention back to Lynda. "Here are our terms for the trade, Lynda. We hand over Michelle Antonio right now, entirely unharmed. In exchange, you grant my son and me a twelve-hour operational window of total immunity. You pull back your shadow blockades from the western docks, you let our private transport jet leave the regional airspace, and you guarantee that your tactical cells will not pursue us into our South American territories. If you refuse, or if a single sniper fires a round, my son will pull the trigger on the girl, and we will all die together in this clearing. Decide. Right now."Lynda stood perfectly still for several long, agonizing seconds. The heavy silence in the shipping yard was thick enough to choke on. She looked past Gordon, her eyes locking onto Michelle.Michelle gave a single, slow, and deliberate nod of her head. She understood the chess board perfectly. She knew that survival in this moment was the only priority, because once she was safe, the
Chapter 246
"How are you such a completely useless son?" the patriarch spat, his voice dropping into a hateful tone that cut deeper than any physical blow. "How on earth did I raise such a parasite? You aren't even an asset to this family—you are a cancer that just destroyed thirty years of my labor in a single night!"Michelle stood near the doorway, flanked by the two mercenaries. Even with her hands bound, her expression was one of pure amusement. She watched the breakdown of the Gordon dynasty with cold satisfaction. Levitt wiped the blood from his mouth, a spark of defensive, desperate anger flaring in his eyes as he scrambled to his feet. "Dad! Insulting me doesn't solve anything right now! The fact is, the Antonio girl is here! She’s standing right in front of us! Instead of screaming at me, how do we use her to get ourselves out of this mess?"The entitlement in Levitt’s voice, the total failure to grasp the sheer gravity of the apocalypse he had invited into their home was the final st
Chapter 245
"Help me lift her!" Levitt gasped to the last remaining mercenary, his voice cracking with pure terror. Together, they roughly dragged Michelle's limp body out of the back of the crippled van and threw her into the rear of a small, nondescript utility truck that had been parked inside the warehouse as a final emergency escape vehicle."I'll hold them off, sir! Get out of here!" the mercenary yelled, turning back toward the main warehouse floor with his weapon raised.Levitt didn't look back. He jumped into the driver's seat of the utility truck, slammed it into gear, and smashed through a rotted wooden loading dock door that led out into a deep, unlit concrete drainage canal behind the industrial park. He accelerated into the darkness just as a team of Mikaelson shadow soldiers blew the inner doors off the loading dock.When Lynda's commanders reached the platform, the area was empty. They found the bodies of the mercenaries, the abandoned black van, and the tracks of an escaping vehi
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