"Three hours before Chicago’s most exclusive private gala, my husband stood in our bedroom and told me he was taking his mistress instead of me. “I want a divorce, Evelyn. Be gone by morning.” What he didn’t know was that before midnight, I would walk into the same ballroom beside the one man he had spent fifteen years making sure he never owed a favor.

Dominic stumbled backward away from our VIP table as if hit by a physical force. The floor beneath him felt like it was caving in. Panic, raw and unadulterated, seized his chest. He turned around and scanned the room for his usual allies—the politicians he had donated to, the bankers who had clinked glasses with him earlier, the journalists who begged for his quotes.

Every single one of them deliberately turned their backs on him.

When a predator in Chicago high society bleeds, the surrounding sharks don't help—they feast.

Dominic grabbed his phone with trembling fingers and dialed his chief legal officer, Harold Finch.

“Harold! Stop the divorce filing! Cancel the NDA email! Do not send anything to Evelyn!” Dominic screamed into the phone, ignoring the glances from surrounding guests.

“Dominic? What are you talking about?” Finch’s voice sounded exhausted over the line. “I already sent the official notice to her personal email an hour ago, as you demanded. Why? What’s happening?”

“She’s Richard Mercer’s daughter, you idiot!” Dominic yelled, his voice cracking with hysteria. “She’s the Mercer heir!”

There was a long, horrifying silence on the other end of the phone. Then came the sound of papers frantically rustling.

“Dominic... tell me you’re joking,” Finch whispered in horror. “Mercer International? The company that holds our primary logistics patent?”

“Yes! She’s pulling the software license at midnight! Vanguard Capital is already pulling out of the IPO! Fix this, Harold! Find a legal loophole! Block the injunction!”

“We can't block a patent revocation, Dominic!” Finch shouted back, his composure entirely gone. “If Mercer pulls the license, our core operations freeze immediately. We won't be able to fulfill the Department of Defense contracts! That’s treasonous breach of contract—we’ll face federal fines in the hundreds of millions! You’ll be ruined!”

Dominic felt his knees go weak. He caught himself on the edge of a mahogany bar counter. “There has to be something we can do...”

“Where is she?” Finch asked urgently.

“She’s still at the gala... with her father.”

“Beg her,” Finch said bluntly. “On your knees if you have to. Because if Evelyn Mercer signs that revocation order at midnight, Vale Enterprises is bankrupt by sunrise, and you could be facing criminal charges for misleading board investors.”

The line went dead.

Dominic turned around in a state of absolute frenzy. He looked for me across the crowded ballroom.

Meanwhile, Vanessa Quinn intercepted him near the exit, her eyes wide with fear. She held her phone in her hand, showing him headline alerts that were already popping up on local business news sites.

“BREAKING: Rumors Swirl Around Vale Enterprises IPO as Mercer International Heir Revealed.”

“Dominic!” Vanessa hissed, grabbing his coat sleeve. “What is going on? The reporters outside are asking if I’m being terminated! My PR reputation is being destroyed! You need to release a statement saying we’re just colleagues!”

Dominic looked down at Vanessa—the woman he had ruined his life for. Suddenly, her striking looks, her expensive dress, and her rehearsed charm seemed utterly hideous to him.

“Get away from me,” Dominic growled through his teeth.

“What? Dominic, I supported you!” Vanessa gasped.

“You dragged me into this!” Dominic roared, losing his temper completely in the middle of the crowded venue. “You pushed me to fire Evelyn! You insisted on coming to this gala tonight! You ruined everything!”

“I didn't make you sleep with me for ten months, you weak coward!” Vanessa yelled back, slapping him hard across the face.

The loud slap echoed across the lobby. Guests turned, whispering and taking photos. Vanessa turned on her high heels and stormed out into the rain, leaving Dominic standing alone, disgraced, humiliated, and utterly broken.

Dominic wiped his bruised cheek, his eyes wildly searching the room. It was 11:52 PM. Eight minutes left.

May you like

My sister's new boyfriend walked into Thanksgiving and shook my hand lik...

“Then make something else,” my mother-in-law said after secretly giving...

$My husband slammed his fist against the mahogany dining table and ordered me to apologize to his sister or get out. Twelve family guests watched, waiting for me to cry. He seemed to have forgotten that I owned the house before we even met. I stood up, walked behind his sister's chair, and asked one question about nearly $60,000. The reaction from his business partner told me everything I needed to know\...$