Chapter 2
Charles took me to The Serenity Room, the most exclusive restaurant in Capital City. I'd only ever seen the name in finance magazines. Rumor had it the bill per person easily hit four figures, and even then, one might not get a reservation.
The moment the staff saw Charles, they bowed in unison. "Mr. Foster, right this way. Your usual table is ready."
Charles kept his gaze straight ahead, holding my hand—his palm dry and warm.
Meanwhile, back at our old house, Adam was throwing a fit. When I didn't reply and he realized he'd been blocked, he went ballistic and smashed his phone.
Emily, draped in my silk robe, wrapped her arms around him from behind. "Calm down, Adam. Susan is probably just acting out. She's so head over heels for you, she'll be crawling back in no time."
Her words were like a shot in the arm for his ego. He convinced himself I was just playing hard to get.
"She just needs to be put in her place," Adam sneered, pulling Emily close. "Come on, I'm taking you somewhere special for dinner. I want her to see exactly what she's missing out on."
He decided to take her to "The Serenity Room"—the exclusive spot he always used to wine and dine his VIP clients but had never once invited me to. He was dead certain I'd be somewhere crying my eyes out, left to lick my wounds alone in some dark corner. He wanted to flaunt Emily right in front of me and deliver the final blow.
Just as Charles' limited-edition Bugatti pulled up to the entrance, Adam and Emily were stepping out of their car.
Adam spotted me the second I got out. A look of smug satisfaction crossed his face; he probably thought that after leaving him, I'd run off with some washed-up old man. But the moment he saw who stepped out of the driver's seat, his face went stiff.
"Mr... Mr. Foster?" he stammered, looking like he'd just seen a ghost.
Charles didn't even bother to look at him. He walked straight over to me and, with total ease, smoothed out my wind-tousled hair. His touch was intimate, his voice filled with a tenderness I'd never heard before. "Are you cold?"
The sight was a total eyesore for Emily. She was green with envy, and she deliberately raised her voice so everyone nearby could hear. "Susan, what a coincidence. And who might this be? You're barely even divorced and already..."
She let the sentence hang, the implication clear as day—I was a loose woman with no shame. In the past, I might have felt flustered or ashamed. Now I just found it pathetic.
I let out a sneer and slid my arm through Charles'. Even through his crisp shirt, I could feel the lean strength of his muscles. I met Adam and Emily's stunned stares and spoke deliberately. "Allow me to introduce you. This is my boyfriend, Charles."
Adam's face went from ghostly pale to livid in an instant. He looked at Charles—at his towering frame, his effortless class, and a million-dollar Patek Philippe on his wrist, the kind he had only glimpsed on magazine covers.
Jealousy, humiliation, and a flicker of terror he didn't want to admit to nearly drowned him. He couldn't wrap his head around how the housewife he'd just kicked to the curb was now standing next to his big boss. And not just standing there—they were intimate.
The public shaming he'd planned had completely backfired.
Clinging to his pathetic ego, Adam glared at me. "Susan, you really went to the extremes just to get back at me, didn't you?" His voice was twisted with rage. "Do you even know who Mr. Foster is? He's way out of your league."
Emily jumped at the chance, her eyes going red as she slipped right into her classic damsel-in-distress routine. She turned to Charles, her voice trembling. "Mr. Foster, please don't let her fool you. Her divorce from Adam is all my fault—I'll take the blame for everything. But Susan still loves Adam deep down. She's just using you to make him jealous. Please, don't fall for it."
As she spoke, she leaned in, perfectly angling her body to "faint" right into Charles' arms. It was her go-to move—play the victim to win a man's sympathy and protection.
Too bad for her; she picked the wrong guy today.