When His Secret Family Took the Spotlight

When I handed the designs to the new hire, Chloe Bennett, everyone froze for a second before the teasing began.

"Leave it to Ms. Aldridge to be this generous. You're seriously just giving those away? You spent an entire year working on them!"

"Claire, you spoil Mr. Winslow's daughter so much, you might as well be her godmother at this point."

Chloe immediately lifted her chin, shooting me a smug, almost triumphant look.

My husband, Julian Winslow, wasn't nearly as pleased. His lips pressed into a thin line as he stared at me, his eyes fixed intently on my face.

The uncomfortable look on his face nearly made me laugh.

Julian and I had been married for ten years, but as far as the rest of the world knew, he was still single.

He always claimed that going public with our marriage would complicate things at the company, so year after year, he insisted we keep it a secret.

He wouldn't even drive to work with me, afraid someone might see us together and start asking questions. While he left home in his car every morning, I got up early and took the bus across town on my own.

At the office, the line he drew between us was even clearer. I wasn't allowed to call him by his first name, much less "honey." At Winslow Corp, he was my boss, and I was expected to address him as "Mr. Winslow" like everyone else.

And for ten years, I went along with it.

I kept our marriage hidden and stood beside him as he built the company from the ground up, helping turn a fledgling business into the success it was today. I never complained. Not once.

Then yesterday, a jewelry collection I'd designed took first place at one of the industry's biggest competitions. The collection was valued in the seven figures, and the publicity alone brought a flood of new clients and partnership offers to the company.

Apparently, that was finally enough.

As my "reward," Julian agreed to announce our marriage at tomorrow's press conference.

I'd waited ten years for Julian to finally say yes. I was so excited that I barely slept that night.

The next morning, I got up early and spent hours getting ready. I even blew six months' salary on a designer dress, wanting to look like I belonged at Julian's side when he finally introduced me as his wife.

Except when the time came, I wasn't the woman standing beside him.

After everything I'd done to prepare for this moment, I'd somehow ended up as the punchline.

Once, I would have caused a scene. I would have demanded answers, furious that he'd humiliated me in front of everyone.

But now, I felt strangely calm.

I simply looked at the three of them standing together onstage, every inch the picture-perfect family.

Then I smiled. "Congratulations. You three make a lovely family. I hope you stay that way."

Julian's expression hardened. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get a word out, a little girl's cry cut through the room.

Chloe tugged at his sleeve. "Julian, I think Daisy's scared…"

Julian glanced at me coldly. "Look at what you've done."

Then, without another word, he shoved me aside.

He scooped Daisy Mont into his arms, took Chloe by the hand, and walked out of the venue without so much as a backward glance.

I was wearing four-inch heels. The force of his shove sent me stumbling, my ankle twisting beneath me before I crashed into the champagne tower behind me.

Glasses toppled one after another.

I hit the floor hard as champagne soaked through my dress and shattered glass rained down around me. A dull ache spread across my back where I'd struck the table.

Julian never even turned around.

I watched him disappear through the doors, and suddenly, the whole thing seemed almost laughable.

He could show more concern for someone else's child than he'd ever shown for his own wife and daughter.

Daisy shed a few frightened tears, and he dropped everything to comfort her.

Yet when our daughter had once been so sick with fever that she could barely stay conscious, Julian hadn't even bothered to come home.