My own name in her mouth felt like a slap.
Ethan sighed.
“Don’t pity her. She’s had a comfortable life.”
“Because of her money,” Vanessa said.
I looked up slowly.
Ethan did not deny it.
Instead, he walked to the closet and poured himself a drink from the small bar I had designed for our anniversary.
“Her father built the company,” he said. “But she never had the stomach to control it. Too emotional. Too trusting. Too sentimental.”
Each word landed like broken glass.
Vanessa moved behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“And after she signs?”
“Then Carter Holdings transfers the remaining voting rights to me. The board will approve the restructuring. Her trust becomes locked under my management. She’ll still be rich enough to stay quiet, but not powerful enough to interfere.”
The room tilted.
This was not only an affair.
This was a takeover.
My marriage had not been dying.
It had been hunted.
