Home / He Gave Her My Gown. I Returned His Ring / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of He Gave Her My Gown. I Returned His Ring: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

A few days later, Adrian came into my study and asked for one of my evening gowns.My mother had commissioned it for our engagement gala before she died. She had chosen the fabric herself and worked with the designer on the pattern of diamonds across the skirt.“Chloe is coming to the foundation gala on Friday,” he said. “She liked the dress. I told her she could wear it.”I set down my pen.“You should have asked me first.”“It’s one evening, Vivian. You’re not using it.”“It belongs to me. She can choose something else.”He frowned.“It’s her first formal appearance with me. I don’t want her walking into that room feeling she doesn’t belong.”“Then help her find a dress. You can’t offer her mine.”“Do we really need to argue about this?”“I’ve answered you.”After he left, I asked the housekeeper to arrange for the gown to be collected with the rest of my mother’s things.She called back ten minutes later.“Mr. Moretti had it sent to Miss Bennett’s stylist this morning. I understood

Chapter 2

Adrian’s expression hardened. He put a hand against Chloe’s back as the conversations around us resumed, more quietly than before.Chloe looked down at the gown.“Adrian said everything had been arranged. I didn’t know you’d refused. I can change.”I nodded and took out my phone.“Please come to collect the gown,” I told my assistant in a message. “The event staff can arrange somewhere for Miss Bennett to change.”Adrian spoke before I put the phone away.“There’s no need. I told you that you could wear it.”He had already promised Chloe, and he expected me to go along with it. My refusal was something we could argue about later, after she had worn the dress.Across the room, a trustee caught my eye. The others were taking their seats. I had made the arrangements for the gown; I wasn’t going to spend the rest of the evening asking him to respect them.“My assistant will handle the collection. The trustees are waiting for me.”I turned toward the adjoining reception room. Chloe followed

Chapter 3

“No.”Adrian stared at me.“She stepped into the table,” I said. “I asked her to let go of my arm. I won’t apologize for that.”Chloe kept her eyes lowered. The staff member beside her waited with a folded napkin.“That’s enough, Vivian.”Adrian glanced toward the guests watching us.“Go home. We’ll talk when you’ve calmed down.”“I have a meeting to finish.”I stepped around him and went into the adjoining room. The trustees made space for me at the table, and I opened my folder.An hour later, as I was leaving, Adrian caught up with me in the hall.“I’ll replace the dress.”“Have the original returned to my assistant.”“I said I’d make it up to you.”I handed my coat to the attendant so I could put it on.“My assistant will send you the delivery address.”I left without waiting for him.By the following afternoon, the gala footage was circulating online.My assistant asked whether I wanted to issue a statement.“Send anything relevant to my lawyer. I’ll deal with it after the move.”

Chapter 4

The piano movers arrived at nine. I watched them secure the lid and carry the last of my mother’s things out of the house, then drove to the restoration studio.The gown lay across a worktable.“The champagne can be treated,” the specialist said. “The alterations are another matter.”She turned back the lining. The waist had been taken in, part of the embroidery had been cut away, and the skirt had been shortened through the diamond pattern my mother had chosen.The removed stones were in a small plastic bag.“Can you restore it?”“We can make a replacement panel. But some of the original fabric and embroidery were discarded. We can’t put those back.”I ran a finger along the cut edge, then took my hand away.“Preserve what’s left. Send me a proposal before you do any work.”“Of course.”“Who approved the alterations?”She showed me the stylist’s instructions and the authorization from Adrian’s office.The studio had asked the stylist to bring the records. Adrian arrived with Chloe whi

Chapter 5

Adrian POVI read the note again. Vivian had written that she was ending our engagement.The housekeeper came upstairs and stopped at the spilled food.“When did she leave?”“This afternoon, sir. Her driver took the luggage. She asked me to remove her place setting.”I took out my phone and called her. The call went straight to voicemail.“Shall I ask the security team to find out where she is?”“No.”I put the phone down beside her ring.“She wants me to make the first move.”The gala two nights earlier, the alterations she'd seen that morning—I kept telling myself those were the reasons she'd left. It was easier than thinking about why I'd introduced Chloe as my girlfriend while Vivian was still wearing my ring.She'd lived here for the past few years. After the purge within the Whitmore family, some of their assets had been frozen, and the family protection she'd once enjoyed was no longer there. But she hadn't lost her career or connections. Her London investment team was still han

Chapter 6

The following morning, Vivian's place at the breakfast table was still empty.After breakfast, I went to Moretti family headquarters as usual. I didn't ask the housekeeper about her again, nor did I try calling her. Her note was still in my pocket. I kept telling myself she would reconsider once she'd had time to cool off.After the morning meeting, my secretary reminded me that I had a family dinner scheduled for that evening.“Cancel it.”I opened the next file.“Keep the evening free.”I'd told Vivian we'd talk over dinner. She had said she wasn't available; I'd arranged it anyway. Even after reading her note, I was clearing another evening as though she had agreed to come.The gown was beyond restoration, but I could commission a new one from a top designer. I could even select suitable diamonds from the family's jewelry collection. None of that would be a problem as long as she was willing to come home.At noon, Chloe Bennett arrived at my office with lunch.“People online are say

Chapter 7

“Find her flight.”I placed the tablet back on the desk.“Contact the airport and verify last night's departures. Then have our intelligence liaison check whether anyone among the Whitmore family's former associates arranged her travel.”My assistant immediately left to handle it.But several hours passed, and the information we received remained limited. Vivian hadn't used the Moretti family's private aviation services or booked through any of the travel agencies we regularly worked with. The airport could confirm some vehicle and flight records, but it couldn't provide a complete account of her private travel arrangements.I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.“How much did she take with her?”“Her belongings were collected before she left, sir. The piano movers came that morning. Her driver took the luggage and the box containing the gown.”I frowned.“She kept her work in London. I knew that. I just never thought she'd move there without me.”My assistant hesitated.“Si

Chapter 8

I hadn't slept a wink all night.By dawn, the family's intelligence liaison had delivered a new investigative report. An unfamiliar phone number was registered in London, but what caught my attention was its communication history over the past three years.“Several financial advisers in London have maintained long-standing contacts in New York and Zurich,” the liaison reported. “Two of them previously handled the Whitmore family's legitimate European holdings and overseas capital arrangements. We can only confirm that they're still in contact with Vivian. We haven't been able to obtain the contents of their conversations.”I opened the file.Three years ago, when the Whitmore family was hit by an internal purge, Vivian had moved into the estate on Long Island less than a month earlier. It was around that time that she had started using this number.More importantly, over the past three years, she had gradually recovered equity stakes in several overseas assets that had been taken over

Chapter 9

Rain was falling over London.When I arrived at the venue, there were still ten minutes before the scheduled negotiations. Moretti family legal counsel and the head of European affairs were already waiting in the conference room. Documents detailing the port logistics network's operations lay across the table, alongside proposals submitted by the various parties.By the time I pushed open the door, the meeting was already underway.Vivian Whitmore was seated at the head of the table.She wore a sharply tailored charcoal-gray suit. Several documents were spread out before her as she reviewed an asset transfer clause with the lawyer seated opposite. Two advisers I didn't recognize sat beside her, while a former senior member of the Whitmore family’s European operations occupied the seats on her other side.When she saw me, she showed neither surprise nor any inclination to pause what she was doing.“Good morning, Mr. Moretti.”Her tone was as composed as if she were greeting any other bu

Chapter 10

The day after the London negotiations, I went to see Vivian at her hotel.She had just finished a video conference. Several documents were spread across the desk, and one of her advisers was briefing her on several legacy properties owned by the Whitmore family across Europe. A legal document awaited her signature beside them.When I walked in, she gestured for the adviser to hold on.“What brings you here?”“I want to talk.”She closed her laptop and asked the adviser to leave us alone.I took the seat opposite her.“About New York. I introduced Chloe as my girlfriend while we were still engaged. I had no right to do that. Or to give her your mother's gown. I'll cover the damage, but I know that doesn't undo either decision.”“Then you understand why I ended the engagement.”Her voice remained even.“I know what it meant to you,” I said.“You knew it was something my mother had left me, and you still allowed someone else to alter it. You knew I didn't want Chloe living in my private s

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