Chapter 5 - The Uninvited Guest
The country club was dripping in white roses and crystal chandeliers.
Classical music drifted through the air as three hundred of the city's elite took their seats in the grand ballroom, waiting for the ceremony to begin.
I stood in the shadows near the grand double doors, Brinley resting comfortably on my hip, the sealed envelope held tightly in my free hand.
The music shifted to the traditional bridal march.
The doors opened, but it wasn't the bride who walked through.
It was me.
A collective gasp rippled through the room as I stepped onto the white carpet.
The crimson dress stood out like blood on snow. I walked with slow, deliberate steps, my head held high, my heels clicking rhythmically against the marble floor.
Whispers erupted like wildfire. Many of the business elites in the room actually knew who I was. They knew the Vance family. They had been wondering for years why I was pretending to be a nobody married to a startup CEO.
At the end of the aisle, Connor stood waiting for his bride.
When he saw me, the arrogant smile melted off his face, replaced by a mask of pure, unadulterated fury.
"What the hell is this?!" he hissed, stepping forward as I reached the altar.
Betsy, sitting in the front row, shot up from her chair. "Security! Get this pathetic woman out of here!"
I didn't look at Betsy. I kept my eyes locked entirely on Connor.
"You invited me, Connor," I said, my voice calm, projecting just enough for the front rows to hear. "I came to give you your wedding gift."
"You are insane," he gritted out, his face flushing red. "You're embarrassing yourself, Clara. Leave. Now. Before I have you thrown out."
Just then, Alyssa appeared at the entrance of the ballroom, looking like a fluffy white marshmallow in her oversized gown. She froze, staring in horror as she realized I had hijacked her grand entrance.
"Connor!" Alyssa shrieked from the back of the room.
I smiled, a terrifyingly calm expression that finally made Connor take a step back. He looked at me, really looked at me, and for the first time in six years, he didn't see a submissive wife.
He saw a predator.
I lifted the sealed envelope and pressed it flat against his chest.
Reflexively, he took it.
"Open it," I whispered.
"I'm not opening your crazy letters—"
"Open it, Connor. Or I will read it out loud to the three hundred people sitting in this room, including the investors you've been lying to all week."
His jaw tightened. His hands were trembling slightly as he broke the red wax seal and pulled out the crisp legal documents inside.
I watched his eyes dart back and forth across the page.
I watched the exact moment his brain processed the words Apex Capital.
May you like
I watched him read the clause that proved his intellectual property, his software, his office building, and his entire company belonged to me.
I watched as the blood drained entirely from his face, leaving him ghost white.
