Chapter 12: She Walked Toward Him, Divorce Papers in Hand

Two hours later, Lily's hair and makeup were finished.

She picked up the small pearl-white leather clutch beside her and headed downstairs.

"Whoa!" Mrs. Collins clapped a hand to her chest. "That can't be my employer that's an actual angel!"

She stood frozen at the bottom of the stairs, watching Lily descend in a pearl-white satin gown, utterly captivated.

She'd always known Lily was beautiful. Dressed up like this, it was something else entirely.

Lily laughed, genuinely pleased. "Go ahead, Mrs. Collins, keep the compliments coming."

Mrs. Collins hurried over to help lift the hem of her skirt.

She'd meant to use this moment to gently warn Lily to keep a closer eye on Melissa she had a growing suspicion the girl's feelings for Nathan weren't as innocent as advertised.

But looking at Lily now, radiant like this, the worry felt almost silly.

Unless the man's gone blind, she thought, no one leaves a wife this stunning to go chase after someone like her.

She decided to hold her tongue, at least for today.

It was Nathan's big day, after all. No sense sending his wife off to celebrate with something ugly weighing on her mind.

Mrs. Collins walked her out to the car. "Have a wonderful day, ma'am for you and Mr. Pierce both."

Ryan was behind the wheel of the black Maybach Nathan's favorite car, the one he drove more than any other.

Lily settled into the back seat.

As she turned her head, she reached up out of habit to smooth the low bun she'd had styled into her hair.

Ryan caught the movement in the rearview mirror her long neck bared and elegant now that her hair was up, small pearl earrings gleaming warmly against pale earlobes. She looked, he thought, like something carved from porcelain.

"Ryan, could you grab me some tissues?"

"Of course!"

He hit the button for the glove compartment one-handed. It popped open with a click.

He reached in

"Here you g"

He didn't finish the sentence.

A cold sweat broke out across his back in an instant.

What he'd grabbed wasn't tissues.

It was an open box of condoms, more than half used, the garish packaging jarring against the car's black and gray interior.

The air in the car went dead still.

Ryan's mind blanked, heart slamming against his ribs.

"Ma'am! I'm so sorry a few days ago I borrowed this car from Mr. Pierce, and my girlfriend and I, we"

The lie came out clumsy and unconvincing.

This was Nathan's personal vehicle. He didn't loan it out to anyone, let alone his assistant. And Ryan, a seasoned aide who'd worked for Nathan for years, wasn't reckless enough to do something like that in a multi-million-dollar car that wasn't even his.

While Ryan spiraled, Lily just smiled faintly. "Don't worry, Ryan. I know exactly what kind of man your boss is."

Relief flooded his face. He shoved the box into his pocket and handed her an actual pack of tissues.

Lily smoothed the wrinkles from her dress, fingertips ice-cold.

It doesn't matter, Nathan.

Your reckoning's coming either way.

Just wait.

At the venue, Nathan stood center stage under a wash of spotlight, his tailored suit gleaming under the lights.

Microphone in hand, his voice carried deep and full of confidence. "Once we go public, a larger share of our profits will go back to every family member and every friend who's stood beside us through this journey..."

The crowd erupted. Shareholders beamed. Camera flashes went off in a steady rhythm, the whole event streaming live across every platform.

Lily sat in the front row the best seat, reserved personally by Nathan back straight, hands folded elegantly over her knees, the pearl embroidery on her dress catching soft light.

She looked, for all the world, like the perfect supportive wife.

She smiled at the right moments.

She applauded on cue.

Only someone sitting close enough might have noticed the strange stillness underneath it all the calm that comes right before something breaks loose.

A cold, deliberate kind of calm.

Once Nathan wrapped up his speech, the program shifted into its planned interactive segment, the host inviting several key shareholders and partners up to say a few words.

That was when Lily stood.

As she rose, her pearl-white skirt rippled down like moonlit water, catching the light in waves.

She pulled a folder from her bag.

Held it steady in one hand.

She left her seat and started down the reserved side aisle, walking calmly toward the stage.

She'd reached the point where the aisle met the platform barely a couple of feet from Nathan.

She took a breath.

Soon. Whatever this was love, hate, resentment, all of it tangled together it ends tonight.

Her phone buzzed hard in her bag.

A dull, insistent vibration.

She ignored it completely.

Nothing no call, no interruption was stopping her from finishing what she'd come here to do.

She kept walking, expression flat.

Then, without warning

A hand seized her from behind, gripping her wrist tight enough to stop her mid-step.

She stumbled, thrown off balance, and turned sharply to see who it was.

Mr. Reed.

His face was pale. "The bank statements I pulled with you two days ago my staff just finished the review. There's a serious problem. Nathan's only ever drawn one dollar a month from the company. Nearly everything moving through his personal account traces back to funds transferred by Mrs. Beatrice Pierce."

Lily went completely still.

In all his years practicing law, Reed had never encountered someone this calculated.

She forced a steadying breath. "So if I go up there right now, the divorce happens, his reputation's destroyed either way but I walk away with nothing of his."

"Even the house you live in is titled under Beatrice Pierce, along with everything tied to Pierce Group. Your fireworks studio was financed through a five-million-dollar loan taken out jointly in both your names."

"There's no property, no significant assets, no company shares registered under Nathan personally. That prenup he made such a show of signing legally, it's worth nothing at all."

Reed gripped her hand tightly. "We need to think this through carefully. Figure out another angle. Miss Ashford, you need to come with me right now."

Lily exhaled slowly.

She closed her hand around the flash drive in her bag and said, low and rough, "If he's not going to lose everything tonight, then he's going to suffer for it first. Let's go, Mr. Reed. Backstage."

Reed stared at her, caught off guard.

It took him a second to understand.

Lily's eyes were steady. "Let's collect a little interest from the Pierce family first."

Nathan might still get his shining moment tonight. That was fine. She intended to make sure it cost him everything else.

This was the price for betraying his marriage.

Reed drew a breath. "I don't have a plan yet, but we'll figure something out on the way. From the pacing of the program, his remarks should run for a while longer."

"Let's move," Lily said.

The two of them slipped quickly out through the side hall.

At that exact moment, two separate pairs of eyes tracked her retreat across the room.

One belonged to Adrian dark, unreadable, edged with something quieter underneath.

He rose to his feet and followed.

They'd only just rounded the corner backstage when his voice cut through. "Lily!"

She startled, spinning around.

Seeing it was him, she relaxed slightly. "Mr. Sterling small world. But I'm in the middle of something urgent, so if you'll excuse me"

Adrian lifted a hand, blocking her path. "Backstage? Come with me instead."

Reed leaned in, murmuring under his breath, "Miss Ashford, who is this?"

Lily's brow furrowed.

Adrian's eyebrow lifted, gaze fixed on her, voice perfectly even. "This building belongs to the Sterling family. Follow me.”