The Price of Being Mrs Knight

Arabella Montgomery had three rules for surviving a room full of wealthy people.

Never sweat.

Never show them what you want.

And never, under any circumstances, let Adrian Knight have the last word.

Unfortunately, the third rule was proving particularly difficult tonight.

Across the ballroom, Adrian stood among Westhaven’s most influential businessmen in a perfectly tailored black tuxedo. Tall, broad-shouldered, and effortlessly intimidating, he looked like a man who had never been told no and had certainly never learned to accept it.

Arabella hated that she noticed him.

She hated even more that he seemed to know it.

“You’re staring,” Vanessa Whitmore murmured beside her.

Arabella turned to her childhood best friend. “I’m observing.”

“Of course you are.”

“His arrogance is fascinating. I wonder how someone manages to have so much confidence with so little charm.”

Vanessa laughed into her champagne.

“Then why haven’t you looked away?”

“Because I’m conducting research.”

“Naturally.”

Before Vanessa could tease her further, a familiar hand settled at Arabella’s waist.

“Researching what, darling?”

Sebastian Cole stood beside her, handsome in a dark suit, his warm smile making him look like the most approachable man in the room.

Her fiancé.

The man she intended to marry.

“Nothing important,” Arabella replied, turning toward him.

Sebastian kissed her cheek. “Good. I’d hate to compete for your attention.”

She smiled. Sebastian was thoughtful, charming, and attentive in all the ways a woman might hope her future husband would be. He remembered the little things she mentioned and always seemed to know when she needed cheering up.

Her father adored him.

Her friends approved of him.

And Arabella believed she had found someone she could trust.

“Have you spoken to your father about the investment proposal?” Sebastian asked.

“Not yet. He’s been busy preparing for tonight.”

“I understand. But it would be good to have his thoughts before the end of the week.”

“I’ll speak to him tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

His attention drifted toward the ballroom entrance, where a woman in a silver dress had just arrived.

Arabella followed his gaze.

“Who is she?”

Sebastian looked back at her. “Who?”

“The woman in silver.”

He glanced toward the entrance again before shrugging. “I don’t know. Why?”

“No reason.”

“You’re overthinking things, Arabella.”

Perhaps she was. She forced herself to look away.

Tonight was about the Montgomery Foundation, her family’s charitable organisation, which had spent decades funding education and healthcare initiatives across Westhaven. Her father, Richard Montgomery, believed wealth meant little if it could not be used to help others.

Arabella admired him for that.

Lately, however, something had changed. He was distracted, constantly taking calls and disappearing into meetings he refused to explain.

She had noticed. She simply hadn’t found the right moment to ask.

“Miss Montgomery.”

The familiar voice made her close her eyes briefly.

Adrian Knight stood before her.

“Mr Knight,” she replied coolly.

“Enjoying the evening?”

“Immensely. It was peaceful until you arrived.”

Sebastian laughed.

Adrian’s expression barely changed. His pale eyes settled on Arabella with quiet amusement.

“Still confusing rudeness with wit, I see.”

“And you’re still confusing money with a personality.”

Vanessa nearly choked on her drink.

“Do you two ever have a conversation without insulting each other?” Sebastian asked.

“No,” they answered simultaneously.

For a brief moment, Adrian’s mouth curved into something almost resembling a smile.

Then it vanished.

“Enjoy the gala, Miss Montgomery.”

“That’s the plan.”

His gaze lingered on her before he turned away.

Arabella watched him disappear into the crowd, irritated that even a brief conversation with him could ruin her composure.

Across the ballroom, Adrian stopped beside a tall window overlooking Westhaven’s glittering skyline.

He wasn’t watching Arabella anymore.

His attention was fixed on Richard Montgomery.

And whatever he saw on the older man’s face made his own expression turn cold.

Arabella didn’t notice.

She was smiling for a photograph beside her fiancé, surrounded by people she trusted, in a world she believed she understood.

She had no reason to suspect that beneath the glitter, something was already beginning to unravel.

She wasn’t wrong.