Chapter 6 - The Reason for Silence
As Maksym finally turned his back on my ruined family and walked toward me, I saw the confusion in the eyes of the wedding guests.
Why the secrecy? Why the silence?
They couldn't comprehend a world where a woman wouldn't instantly parade a billionaire husband around for social credit. But they didn't know my family.
Five years ago, when I first met Maksym, he wasn't a billionaire. He was a ruthless, brilliant start-up founder fighting a vicious corporate war to keep his company from being swallowed by predators.
We fell in love in quiet coffee shops and late-night walks.
When I got pregnant with Sofiyka, we were overjoyed. But my family found out about my pregnancy before I could introduce him. They demanded to know his net worth. They demanded to know what he could do for them. My father threatened to ruin Maksym's fragile reputation in the industry by planting false stories if Maksym didn't give him a "dowry" of company shares.
Maksym wanted to destroy them right then. But I knew my father's connections. I knew the damage he could do to the man I loved.
So, I made a choice. I took the blame. I let my family believe I was a reckless fool who got knocked up and abandoned. I let them cast me out to the edges of their lives.
And in the shadows, Maksym and I got married in a quiet, empty courthouse.
For five years, he built his empire into an impenetrable fortress. We lived our real life in a private estate hours away, while I maintained a tiny apartment in the city just for the mandatory, agonizing family appearances I couldn't escape without arousing suspicion.
We waited until he was untouchable. We waited until the very companies my father and Marko worshipped were bowing at Maksym's feet.
Tonight was supposed to be my final appearance. The final charade before we moved to Switzerland permanently. We just had to get through one more night of quiet.
But my father couldn't even let me have that. He had to push.
Maksym reached me. The cold fury in his eyes instantly melted into something so painfully gentle that it made my chest ache.
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He took off his heavy, warm wool coat and wrapped it tightly around my freezing, dripping shoulders. The scent of his cedar and bergamot cologne instantly grounded me, blocking out the smell of chlorine and spilled wine.
Then, he dropped to one knee, uncaring about the water soaking his tailored trousers.
