Chapter 1

My husband gave my company to his mistress.

On our fifth wedding anniversary.

“Please welcome the true creative force behind Aveline and the new co-founder of Aurelius Group—Vanessa Cole!”

Applause thundered through the ballroom.

I stood at the back of the crowd and watched Vanessa walk onto the stage with her arm linked through Adrian’s.

She wore a silver-white gown and a perfectly modest smile.

Around her neck was a sapphire necklace.

My breath stopped.

It was the last piece of jewelry my mother had left me.

Three years ago, it vanished from the safe at my family’s old house.

I searched every room before collapsing onto the floor, sobbing so hard I could barely breathe.

Adrian held me until sunrise.

He kissed my forehead and whispered, “I know what it means to you. I promise I’ll find it.”

The next day, he fired the housekeeper who had worked for my parents for twenty years.

I believed he was protecting me.

Now the necklace he had promised to recover was hanging around Vanessa’s neck.

Adrian reached up and adjusted it for her.

The gesture was effortless.

Familiar.

As though he had done it countless times before.

The giant screen behind them lit up.

Aveline’s fifth-anniversary brand video began to play.

The first design sketch appeared.

My nails dug into my palm.

I had drawn it.

Five years ago, Adrian sat with me on the floor of our tiny apartment, folding our first batch of product boxes.

I was so exhausted I could barely keep my eyes open.

He took the labels from me and carefully wrote my name on every sample.

Celeste Arden.

“One day, everyone will know you created Aveline,” he told me.

Now every one of my designs remained on that screen.

Only my name was gone.

In its place were photographs of Vanessa posing inside factories, offices, and product showrooms.

The host’s voice rang with admiration.

“Over the past five years, Vanessa has helped transform Aveline from a niche label into Aurelius Group’s most valuable product line.”

Vanessa accepted the microphone.

“I never intended to call myself a founder.”

She looked at Adrian, her eyes glistening.

“I just couldn’t stand watching him carry everything alone.”

Someone in the audience laughed.

“That’s what a real partnership looks like.”

“No wonder Adrian always brings her to every event.”

“Has anyone ever seen his wife at the company?”

Another voice lowered, but not enough.

“I heard she’s sickly. She stays home all the time.”

“What does a woman like that do besides spend his money?”

Adrian heard them.

He said nothing.

So did Vanessa.

She merely lowered her eyes, wearing the expression of a woman too gracious to defend herself.

I walked through the crowd toward the stage.

The moment Adrian saw me, his smile vanished.

“Celeste?”

His brows drew together.

“What are you doing here?”

It was the group’s anniversary gala.

It was also our wedding anniversary.

Yet he spoke as though I had entered a place where I did not belong.

I ignored him and looked directly at Vanessa.

“You’re claiming you designed Aveline?”

The ballroom fell silent.

Vanessa tightened her grip on the microphone, then quickly recovered her gentle smile.

“Celeste, I know you haven’t been yourself lately.”

“But we have clients and investors here tonight.”

“We can discuss our personal issues at home.”

With a few soft words, she turned me into a jealous wife causing a scene.

The expressions around me changed.

I pointed to the original Aveline fragrance bottle displayed on the screen.

“If you designed it, you should know why there’s a groove on the bottom, three millimeters left of center.”

Vanessa’s smile faltered.

“It was added to prevent slipping.”

“No.”

I held her gaze.

“An anti-slip groove would have been placed in the center.”

Whispers rippled through the ballroom.

Vanessa’s fingers tightened around the microphone.

I continued.

“Why were seven silver dots printed inside the original packaging?”

Her lips parted.

No answer came.

The seven dots represented the seven-minute voice message my mother had left me before she died.

That detail had never appeared in any company design document.

Only the person who created it would know.

I thought Adrian would at least look at me.

That he might remember the nights we sat on the apartment floor, folding every box by hand.

Instead, he stepped in front of Vanessa.

“That’s enough.”

His voice was cold.

I stared at him.

“She isn’t the founder.”

“Then what are you?”

The question hit me harder than a slap.

Adrian took a document from his assistant and tossed it onto a champagne table.

It was a printed email.

The date was four years ago.

I was the sender.

The message was only a few lines long.

Due to personal health reasons, I am voluntarily stepping away from Aveline’s daily operations.

Effective immediately, Adrian Vale will assume full responsibility for all management decisions.

My fingers turned cold.

I remembered that email.

I had just lost our baby.

The doctor ordered me to remain on bed rest.

Every day, Adrian sat beside me and urged me to sign.

“The investors won’t feel secure unless you step away.”

“It’s only temporary.”

“When you’re stronger, I’ll personally bring you back.”

So I agreed.

Not because I had stopped caring about the company.

Because I trusted him.

Adrian held the email up for everyone to see.

“She chose to leave.”

“No one forced her.”

He looked at me with a calmness that felt almost cruel.

“For four years, Vanessa has met with clients, visited factories, and handled every crisis beside me.”

“And what did you do?”

“You refused to attend board meetings. You refused to meet investors. You never even came to the company gala.”

My throat tightened.

“You were the one who said I needed to rest.”

“I also told you that you could return whenever you wanted.”

He gave a humorless laugh.

“But did you?”

Every time I tried to return, Adrian found another reason to stop me.

The investors were nervous. Vanessa had just taken over. My sudden return would embarrass the team.

Once, he wrapped his arms around me and said, “When we have another baby, you won’t miss working so much.”

Each time, I stepped back.

Until everyone believed I had never been there at all.

Vanessa spoke softly.

“Celeste, I never wanted to take anything from you.”

Her fingers brushed the sapphire necklace.

“Not even this.”

“Adrian said you hadn’t worn it in years.”

I stared at her.

“So you decided to wear it?”

Her eyes immediately filled with tears.

Adrian took her hand.

“Don’t explain yourself to her.”

Then he turned to me.

“You’ve already ruined half the evening.”

“Don’t make it worse.”

“I ruined the evening?”

My voice came out quietly.

“You gave another woman my designs, my story, and my mother’s necklace.”

“And now you’re telling me I’m the one destroying everything?”

Adrian’s expression hardened.

He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out another document.

This time, it was a divorce agreement.

He placed a pen beside it.

“If you’re determined to drag this out in public, then let’s end it.”

Shocked murmurs spread through the crowd.

Vanessa stepped back half a pace.

But she did not release Adrian’s hand.

I opened the agreement.

I would receive the downtown apartment.

Along with its mortgage.

I would keep the cash in our shared account.

Less than twenty thousand dollars.

Adrian would retain all company shares, vehicles, investment accounts, and corporate assets.

He had even listed the artwork in the dining room and both cars in the garage.

Every item had been divided with meticulous care.

“How long have you been preparing this?” I asked.

Adrian did not answer.

He only pushed the pen closer.

“Sign it.”

“At least people will remember that you were once my wife.”

Once.

We were still married.

Yet in his mind, I had already become part of his past.

I lifted my eyes.

“And if I refuse?”

“My lawyers will handle it.”

He leaned closer and lowered his voice.

“Don’t overestimate yourself, Celeste.”

“You’ve been gone from the company for four years.”

“You have no team, no clients, and no one remembers your name.”

“Without me, you won’t even be able to maintain the life you have now.”

I looked at the man I had married.

Five years ago, he took the first investment I raised by mortgaging my apartment and promised, “When I succeed, I’ll make sure everyone knows you were the beginning of all this.”

Now he had succeeded.

And he wanted to erase the beginning.

I picked up the pen.

Vanessa’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

Satisfaction flickered in Adrian’s eyes.

They both believed I would sign without reading.

Instead, I set the pen beside the agreement and began turning the pages.

The apartment.

The bank accounts.

The cars.

The company shares.

Even the wine collection in our kitchen had been included.

Then I reached the final page.

My hand stopped.

Aveline was not mentioned anywhere.

Not once.

It was the group’s most valuable brand.

The same brand Adrian had publicly handed to Vanessa that night.

Yet while dividing every asset we owned, he had deliberately left it out.

I raised my head.

“Why isn’t Aveline listed?”

Adrian’s expression changed.

Only for a second.

But I saw it.

He lunged forward and pressed his hand over the agreement.

“That’s none of your concern.”

Then he yanked the papers out of my hands.

The movement was so abrupt that he nearly lost control of himself.

Vanessa was no longer smiling.

She looked at Adrian.

They exchanged a brief glance.

And suddenly, everything became clear.

The gala.

The mistress.

My missing name.

The divorce agreement they had prepared long before tonight.

None of it was truly about ending our marriage.

What Adrian feared was not what the agreement contained.

It was the one name he had deliberately left out.

Aveline.

And perhaps the thing he had always intended to take from me was never simply my place as his wife.