All Chapters of Third Wedding, Right Groom : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

45 Chapters

CHAPTER 31: REALITY CRASHES DOWN

Morning came too soon, sunlight streaming through the bedroom windows with an almost aggressive brightness. I woke wrapped around Alexander, my head on his chest, his arm around my shoulders, our legs tangled together. For a moment—one perfect, peaceful moment—I just existed in that bubble of contentment.Then my phone started ringing.Alexander groaned, reaching blindly for the nightstand. "What time is it?""Too early for anyone to be calling unless it's an emergency," I muttered, finally locating my phone. Jessica's name flashed on the screen. I answered. "This better be good.""Have you seen the news?" Jessica's voice was tight, controlled, the way she got when she was trying not to panic.My stomach dropped. "What news?""Check your phone. Social media. Literally any news site. Miles gave an interview."I was already pulling up my browser, Alexander sitting up beside me, his hand on my back—steadying, supporting. The headline hit me like a physical blow:"Morretti CEO Opens Up Ab

CHAPTER 32: THE FIRST CRACKS

The first real sign that Miles's world was crumbling came three weeks after his disastrous media interview.I was having lunch with my father at Giovanni's—our place for serious conversations—when he set down his wine glass with a thoughtful expression."Have you heard about Morretti Development?" he asked casually, but there was nothing casual about the way he was watching me."I try not to follow their news," I admitted. "Why?""They lost the Hartwell contract."I nearly choked on my water. "What? How is that even possible? That contract was ironclad. Years of work went into it.""Apparently, James Hartwell wasn't pleased to discover that the 'brilliant strategist' he'd been working with—Valeria—had a fake degree and no actual qualifications." My father's expression was grim. "He felt deceived. And when he learned that the person who'd actually brought him the deal—you—was no longer with the company, he invoked the key personnel clause and pulled out."A key personnel clause. I'd bu

CHAPTER 33: DENIAL AND DOUBLING DOWN

My first day at Calvert Investments started with champagne."A tradition," Alexander explained as his executive team gathered in the conference room to welcome me. "Every new senior hire gets a toast. Don't worry, it's just one glass. We're not day-drinking.""Speak for yourself," said Marcus Chen, the head of acquisitions, raising his glass with a grin. "Welcome to the team, Lila. We've heard great things about your work."I caught Alexander's eye across the room. He gave me a subtle smile, professional but warm. We'd agreed on boundaries—no excessive PDA at work, separate meetings when possible, complete transparency on any joint projects. We were determined to prove I'd earned this position on merit, not marriage."Thank you all," I said, accepting the glass. "I'm excited to be here and looking forward to working with everyone."That's when I noticed her. A woman in her early thirties, impeccably dressed in a navy suit that probably cost more than my first car, watching me with an

CHAPTER 34: VICTORIA MAKES HER MOVE

Victoria didn't back off. If anything, Alexander's attempt to establish boundaries only seemed to make her more determined.It started subtly. Too subtly for Alexander to notice, but glaringly obvious to me.She began scheduling meetings with Alexander during lunch—times she knew I usually met him in his office to eat together. "So sorry to interrupt," she'd say with a smile that didn't reach her eyes, "but we really need to discuss the Morrison acquisition before the client call this afternoon."She volunteered for every project Alexander led, positioning herself as indispensable. "I've already done the preliminary research," she'd say in team meetings. "It makes sense for me to continue as point person."She started dressing differently—skirts a little shorter, necklines a little lower, always impeccably styled but with an edge that hadn't been there before. And she made sure to lean in close when talking to Alexander, to touch his arm for emphasis, to laugh warmly at his comments.

CHAPTER 35: THE EXPOSÉ

The exposé hit on a Tuesday morning.I was in my office, reviewing investment proposals for a new luxury development project, when my phone started buzzing with notifications. Text after text, email after email, all with variations of the same message: Have you seen this?The article was in the Business Chronicle, their investigative journalism wing. The headline made my stomach drop:"Built on Lies: How Valeria Morretti's Fake Credentials Nearly Destroyed a Development Empire"I clicked through with shaking hands, my coffee forgotten.The piece was devastating. Thorough, meticulously researched, and absolutely damning. The journalist had obtained copies of Valeria's fake diploma, interviewed the "university" that supposedly issued it (which turned out to be a diploma mill shut down by the state five years ago), and traced the timeline of how she'd used these credentials to secure her position at Morretti Development.But it went further than just the fake degree.The article detailed

CHAPTER 36: VICTORIA ESCALATES

Victoria saw an opening in the chaos.With the Morretti scandal dominating headlines and everyone in the office buzzing about my connection to it, Victoria positioned herself as my ally. My supporter. My friend."You must be dealing with so much right now," she said, appearing at my office door the day after the exposé. "All this media attention, people dredging up your past. If you need anything—someone to vent to, someone to cover meetings—I'm here."It should have felt supportive. Instead, it felt calculated. Like she was positioning herself as the understanding colleague, while I was the dramatic one with baggage."I'm fine," I said, keeping my tone professional. "But thank you.""Of course," she said with that smile that didn't reach her eyes. "We girls have to stick together, right? Especially when dealing with difficult ex-situations."The way she said "ex" made it clear she saw Miles as a weakness. A vulnerability she could exploit.Over the next week, Victoria's tactics became

CHAPTER 37: THE CONFRONTATION

Victoria's response to the HR reprimand was swift and surgical: she became the perfect employee. Professional, distant, impeccably appropriate. She stopped the after-hours texts. Stopped finding excuses to work late with Alexander. Stopped the casual touches and lingering looks.For two weeks, she was a model of workplace professionalism."See?" Alexander said, relieved. "HR intervention worked. She's backed off."I wasn't so sure. There was something too perfect about Victoria's sudden transformation. Something too calculated in the way she now avoided even casual conversation with either of us, maintaining exactly the right amount of professional distance to appear cooperative while making it clear she resented the hell out of us.But with Victoria apparently under control, life settled into something resembling normalcy. Work was good—I was leading my first major project, a mixed-use development that combined luxury residential with commercial space. Alexander and I were finding ou

CHAPTER 38: MILES STARTS THERAPY

Three months after Morretti Development's bankruptcy, I ran into Miles's therapist.Not intentionally. Dr. Sarah Chen was giving a lecture at a professional development conference I was attending—a talk about recognizing codependency in professional relationships and how it impacts business decisions. I went because the topic was relevant to my work. I stayed because everything she was saying felt eerily familiar."Codependent professionals often enable destructive behavior in colleagues or family members," she was saying, "because they've learned to conflate love or loyalty with sacrifice. They believe that setting boundaries is selfish. That saying no is abandonment. They become so enmeshed in another person's dysfunction that they lose sight of their own needs, their own judgment, their own reality."I found myself taking notes. Not for work, but for myself. For the foundation idea that had been percolating in the back of my mind for months now.After the lecture, I approached her

CHAPTER 39: VALERIA'S DESCENT

The calls started a week after Miles's apology.At first, they were just hang-ups—my phone ringing, unknown numbers, silence when I answered, then the click of disconnection. Annoying, but not threatening. I blocked each number as it came up.Then the voicemails started."You destroyed everything," the first one said, Valeria's voice high and strained. "Miles cut me off. The company's gone. My reputation is ruined. And it's all your fault. You couldn't just be understanding. You couldn't just share him. You had to take everything."I saved the voicemail and forwarded it to Alexander, who immediately forwarded it to our lawyer."This is harassment," he said, his jaw tight. "We're documenting everything. If she escalates, we're getting a restraining order."She escalated.The next voicemail was angrier: "You think you're so perfect with your new husband and your new job. But I know what you really are. You're a home-wrecker. You destroyed my family. Miles was all I had, and you took him

CHAPTER 40: THE ESCALATION

Valeria was released on bail pending her court date."What?" I said when Alexander told me. "How is that even possible? She threatened me directly. In front of witnesses.""Her lawyer argued she wasn't a flight risk, that she had no prior criminal record, and that her threats were born of emotional distress, not genuine intent to harm." Alexander's voice was tight with frustration. "The judge granted bail with conditions—she has to wear an ankle monitor, she can't come within 500 feet of you or our home or your workplace, and she has to check in with a court officer daily.""That doesn't make me feel safe," I said."I know. We're keeping the security detail. And the restraining order is officially in effect. If she violates it, she goes straight to jail."For two weeks, Valeria stayed away. The ankle monitor kept her away from our home and my office. The calls and texts stopped. I started to relax, to believe that maybe the arrest had scared her into compliance.I should have known be

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