Chapter 2: The Red Room Humiliation

The grand ballroom of the Plaza was a sea of shimmering silk and fake smiles. I stood beside Julian, dressed in the drab, high-necked lace gown he had chosen to ensure I looked like a mourning widow when compared to Sarah’s vibrant blood-red silk.

"Try to look grateful, Elena," Julian hissed, his hand tightening painfully on my arm as we stepped toward the stage. "It is not every day an orphan like you gets to stand in a room filled with dignitaries."

I didn't answer. I let my shoulders slump, playing the role of the invisible, broken wife to perfection. I needed everyone present to believe that I was nothing so that when I finally struck, they would never see it coming.

The keynote address was a blur of corporate jargon that I couldn't comprehend. Not until Julian reached for the microphone. "Good evening everyone, and thank you for making out time from your busy schedules," 

"Tonight, we have all gathered here to celebrate the future of the Thorne Group," he voice boomed, his sapphire eyes remained cold as he looked down at the crowd. "And that future requires a partner with status, not just a placeholder who has outlived her usefulness and purpose."

" That was quite hurtful." A woman behind me murmured.

"Do we know who he is referring to or are all going to pretend we have no idea what he's talking about?" Another said.

Beside him, Sarah glowed, her fingers tracing the emeralds that belonged to Julian's mother, the same jewels I was never allowed to touch.

"Sarah and I have a special announcement to make." He said, looking at her with a smile I had never seen him wore.

"As of this moment," Julian’s voice echoed through the deathly silent room, "Elena and I are no longer a couple, we are separated. And that brings us to the special announcement...my engagement to Sarah Vance is now official".

The room erupted. I could feel the heat of a hundred camera flashing in my direction, the light stinging my eyes and skin like physical blows. I waited for my moment to speak, to drop the bombshell about the Blackwood Trust. But Sarah was faster than I was.

She stepped toward me, a glass of vintage Merlot in her hand and a triumphant, viper-like glint in her eyes. "Oh, my poor, dear Elena, darling," she cooed, her high-pitched voice carrying over the murmurs. "You look so... pale, You need a little color. It must have been the announcement. "

As I opened my mouth to retaliate, Sarah’s heel "slipped."

The heavy red wine splashed across the front of my dusty rose dress, soaking the lace and staining my skin like a fresh wound. I stood frozen as the liquid dripped onto the floor. I wished the ground would open up and swallow me as I watched the elite of New York City laughing behind their manicured hands.

"Ohh, I am so sorry," Sarah giggled, though her eyes remained cold and calculating. "You know how I can be clumsy when I am excited." 

Julian didn't help me. He didn't even look at me with pity. He looked at me with the same disdain he would show a malfunctioning appliance.

 "Security," he barked, "escort this mess out of my gala. She’s causing a scene and making my guests very uncomfortable."

The head of security, a man who had greeted me every morning for three years, grabbed my upper arm, his fingers digging into my flesh, hurting me with no emotions in his eyes.

"Are you really going to do this?" I asked in a whisper but got no response from him.

"Wait," Julian said, stepping closer as the guards began to drag me toward the back exit. He leaned in, the scent of expensive scotch and betrayal were thick on his breath.

"Don't bother going back to the penthouse, Elena," he whispered, his voice a low, jagged blade. "I have already had the locks changed. Every designer rag I bought you, every memory of the last three years... it is all currently burning in a trash heap in the courtyard. You came to me with nothing, and tonight, I am making sure you leave with even less."

" I don't want to remain with you in that shabby place you call a penthouse!" I shot back at him. "I am sure you are yet to know that this marriage isn't entirely over."

"What is she talking about, Julian?" Sarah asked, fear, obviously in her voice.

"Your lawyer is yet to inform you about the Reconciliation clause?" I smirked.

"What do you mean, a Reconciliation clause'?" Julian hissed. 

I briefly looked at him before laughing like a maniac, drawing more attention to us. And just before anyone could speak, Julian's lawyer rushed through the crowd as he made for us.

"What nonsense is she talking about, Evan?" He seethed, pointing at me.

"She is absolutely right, Julian. There is a Reconciliation clause which I will be explaining now. I need your fully attention but first, we should engage your guests." Evan replied.

Sarah quickly swung into action.

 "We have an amazing display outside for you all, pls do well to go outside and enjoy." She said, shooing the guests outside to witness the fireworks they had prepared.

"Speak!" Julian snapped at Evans who started talking like he had been programmed to.

He listened for a moment, his eyes darting to me. "No... there has to be a way around it. The Vance merger depends on... public stability? Three weeks? You are telling me if she leaves tonight, I lose the board's vote?"

" Sadly." Was Evans simple reply.

The man who had just ordered that I be thrown me out like trash now looked like he was choking on his own pride.

"Elena," he rasped.

"The papers are signed, Julian. I am leaving."

"You can't," he blurted out. "You heard Evan... there is a mandatory twenty one day cooling-off period in our pre-nup. If we don't reside in the same house and attend the upcoming Thorne Anniversary Gala together, the Vances will pull out of the merger. They think a divorce right now looks unstable."

I finally turned to look at him, my obsidian eyes cold. "How is that my problem? You just told the Elites' in the City that we are officially done. Now you need me to save your billion-dollar merger?"

" I will give you five million dollars." He said, tightening his fist, looking like a cornered rabbit.

I chuckled, rolling my tongue in my mouth. "I'll stay for twenty-one days, Julian. But not under the same roof and also, the price has just gone up. And I promise you... by the time those three weeks are over, you’ll be the one begging for a way out."

He signaled the guards, and I was shoved through the heavy doors into the freezing New York rain, the sound of the gala's laughter cut short by the slam of the gold-plated entrance.

I stood on the sidewalk, drenched in wine and rain, a discarded toy in the eyes of the city. But as a black limousine pulled up to the curb, the window rolling down to reveal a pair of predatory silver-gray eyes, I realized the war hadn't just begun, it had just turned lethal.