Alex's eyes snapped to Nicole, his expression turning from cold to accusatory. "You said Maya brought you that food."
"She did! She wouldn't hurt me, Alex!"
Alex stepped toward her, his shadow looming. "The security footage shows Maya didn't buy that food. She was handed the bag by a man in a black car two blocks from the gate.
He leaned in, his voice a terrifying whisper. "Did you set this up, Nicole? Did you help her smuggle a 'crisis' into my home to try and renegotiate your payout?"
Alex's accusations lingered in the air like a poisonous fog. He didn't wait for her to defend herself; he simply walked out, leaving Nicole alone in the vast, silent bedroom. Alex had placed the mansion under a total communication blackout. Her phone was gone, and the internet was cut. She was truly a prisoner now.
By next morning, the silence was finally broken. Nicole was sitting by the window, staring out at the rain, when a maid entered with a silver tray. On it was an envelope made of thick, cream-colored cardstock. It bore the gold-embossed crest of the DuPont family.
You are cordially invited to the Annual Rose & Diamond Charity Luncheon. Hosted by Victoria DuPont.
Nicole felt a chill.
"Mr. Sterling is downstairs," the maid said softly. "He says you are to be ready in twenty minutes. He is escorting you to the DuPont estate."
Nicole was shocked. Alex was actually letting her leave? She dressed quickly in a modest, high-collared lavender dress that hid her trembling collarbone. When she descended the stairs, Alex was waiting by the door. He looked impeccable, but the air around him was freezing.
"You're letting me go?" she asked, her voice small.
"It's a public event. If the Sterling wife is missing from Victoria's luncheon, it creates questions I don't want to answer," Alex said, not looking at her. He held the door open. "But make no mistake. My security will be at every exit. You eat nothing I haven't cleared. And if you try to meet with your friend Maya, you won't like the consequences."
The drive to the DuPont mansion was silent. Alex was a wall of stone beside her. He didn't care about the invitation; he cared about the optics.
When they arrived, the grand garden was filled with the elite of London—"old money" families who looked at Nicole as if she were a smudge on a painting. Alex dropped her at the entrance of the marquee.
"I have a meeting in the study with Victoria's father," Alex said, his hand lingering on her arm just long enough for the cameras to catch it. "Stay in the main tent. Do not embarrass me."
He walked away, leaving her to face the lions alone.
Nicole tried to blend into the background, but she felt the whispers following her. "That's the one," a woman in a massive silk hat murmured. "The shop girl he picked up. I heard he only married her because of a debt."
"Nicole! You made it!" Victoria's voice cut through the crowd. She looked stunning in a red dress that screamed for attention. She approached Nicole with a wide, predatory smile, looping her arm through Nicole's. "Come. You must sit at the head table with the Duchess and me."
Nicole had no choice but to follow. As they sat, Victoria leaned in close, her voice a poisonous whisper. "I've been doing some research, Nicole. It's funny... the Sterling family has been looking for a specific sapphire for years. One that went missing twelve years ago. And here you are, wearing a stone that looks remarkably similar."
Nicole gripped her water glass. "It was a gift from Alex."
"Was it?" Victoria laughed. "Or was it a bribe to keep your mouth shut about how you really got into this house?"
Victoria stood up, tapping her glass with a silver spoon to get the room's attention.
"Everyone, if I could have your attention," Victoria announced, her eyes gleaming with malice. "We have a very special guest today. Nicole Sterling. She's been through so much lately—the stress of a new marriage, the... complexities of her pregnancy. In fact, I wanted to share a little gift I found of hers. Something she dropped at the gala."
Victoria reached into her bag. Nicole's heart stopped. She thought Victoria was going to pull out the hormone bottle right there in front of the Duchess and the press.
Instead, Victoria pulled out a printed photograph.
"It's a photo of Nicole," Victoria said, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "At a taco stand in East London. With a man who clearly isn't Alex. It seems our new Sterling bride hasn't quite left her old 'district' habits behind."
The photo began to circulate. It wasn't the photo of Alex and Nicole kissing. It was a cropped version—one that showed Nicole laughing and leaning toward the man in the hoodie, but the man's face was obscured. To anyone looking, it appeared Nicole was on a secret date with a lover.
The room erupted in gasps and hushed laughter.
"Is he the father, Nicole?" someone shouted from the back.
Nicole felt the world spinning. Victoria had set the trap perfectly. She had used the moment Nicole felt "real" to destroy her reputation in front of the only people Alex cared about.
Nicole looked toward the study, hoping Alex would emerge to defend her. But the door remained shut. She was alone.
"Well?" Victoria prompted, leaning over the table. "Don't you have anything to say for yourself, dear? Or are you too busy thinking about your next 'craving'?"
Nicole stood up, her legs shaking. She looked at the faces filled with mockery and distain.
"The man in the photo," Nicole began, her voice gaining a sudden, sharp edge, "is my husband. If you had eyes, Victoria, you'd recognize his watch. But I suppose you were too busy looking for a way to ruin a pregnant woman to notice the details."
The room went silent. Victoria's smile flickered.
"Nice try," Victoria hissed, stepping closer. "But Alex doesn't wear hoodies. He doesn't go to East London. And he certainly doesn't touch you like that."
Victoria leaned in even closer, jealousy flicking all around her face and her voice dropping so only Nicole could hear. "The bottle is in the trunk of my car. Meet me in the parking lot in five minutes, or I tell the Duchess about the IVF. Decide now. Your dignity, or your children's future."
Victoria walked away, leaving Nicole standing at the head table, the target of a hundred judging eyes.
Nicole slipped out of the tent, her heart racing. She walked toward the parking area, her eyes searching for Victoria's red sports car. But as she turned the corner behind the hedge, she didn't find Victoria.
She found a man standing by the trunk of a car. He was wearing a Sterling security uniform, but it wasn't one of the guards she recognized.
"You shouldn't have come out here, ma'am," the guard said. His voice was deep, and he had a scar running through his eyebrow. "Victoria is a distraction. But this file... this is the truth about why Alex really push through the marriage process.
He tossed the hormone bottle into the bushes and stepped toward her, holding out the file. The label on the front read: Nicole - Lineage Match 2014.
"Who are you?" Nicole whispered, backing away.
"My name is Marcus," he said, his eyes scanning the area for Alex. "And I'm the only one in this estate who isn't paid.