I didn’t scream. I didn’t raise my hand, nor did I lower myself to arguing with a woman performing a cheap high-school theatrical move on my own kitchen floor.

The fall of Ethan Vance was swift, brutal, and thoroughly publicized.

Within forty-eight hours of the board meeting, news leaked to the financial press that a high-ranking executive at Vance Global was under federal investigation for grand larceny and corporate embezzlement. The company's PR team worked overtime to isolate the damage to Ethan specifically, preserving the firm's overall integrity while throwing him entirely to the wolves.

Ethan was stripped of his company car, his corporate credit cards were frozen, and he was banned from setting foot on Vance Global property.

I stayed at our primary residence—the grand estate that my father had built and passed down to me. Ethan, lacking access to his primary accounts which had been frozen by court order, was forced to move into a temporary extended-stay hotel downtown.

On Friday evening, as the autumn rain beat heavily against the tall glass windows of my living room, the doorbell rang.

I knew who it was before I even looked at the security monitor.

I opened the door to find Chloe Vance standing on the porch. She was no longer wearing her crisp designer silk blouses or smiling her arrogant, youthful smile. Her hair was damp from the rain, her mascara was slightly smudged, and her eyes were frantic.

"Where is he?" she demanded, attempting to push her way past me into the foyer.

I blocked her path with a single, calm step, crossing my arms over my chest. "If you take one more step into my home, Chloe, I will have the private security detail stationed in the driveway arrest you for criminal trespass."

Chloe stopped, her breathing ragged. "You ruined everything! Do you have any idea what you've done? The federal prosecutors showed up at my apartment this morning! They froze my brother’s business account! They're threatening to seize my parents' house in Ohio!"

"Actions have consequences, Chloe," I said smoothly. "Did you really think that sleeping with a married executive came with a lifetime warranty of free money?"

"He loves me!" Chloe shrieked, her voice cracking with desperation. "He was going to leave you anyway! He hated being in your shadow! He told me you were cold, boring, and obsessed with money! He came to me because I gave him life!"

I couldn't help but smile—a small, pitying smile that made Chloe flinch.

"He didn't come to you because you gave him life, Chloe," I explained patiently, as if talking to a slow child. "He came to you because you were easy to fool. He used corporate funds to buy your loyalty because he couldn't afford to keep a woman like you on his actual merit. And now that the money is gone, what do you actually have?"

Chloe stared at me, her chest heaving, tears finally spilling down her cheeks. "He promised he would protect me... He said nobody would touch me..."

"Ethan can't even protect his own freedom right now," I said. "If I were you, I would spend less time harassing me and more time looking for a very good criminal defense attorney. Because when the prosecutor offers Ethan a plea deal to reduce his prison sentence, who do you think he's going to blame for the missing funds?"

The realization hit her like a physical blow. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She stepped back, looking at me with a mix of terror and sudden clarity.

"He... he wouldn't do that to me," she whispered, though the lack of conviction in her voice was pathetic.

"Try him," I said quietly. "Goodnight, Chloe."

I closed the door, shutting out the rain and the girl who had foolishly believed she was the main character in a grand romantic saga.

Just as I walked back toward my study, my phone rang. I looked down at the screen.

Ethan.

I picked it up and pressed answer.

"Mabel," Ethan’s voice came through the speaker, raspy, exhausted, and slurred. I could hear the faint clinking of ice against glass in the background. He was drinking alone in his hotel room. "Mabel, please... talk to me."

"I'm listening, Ethan," I said calmly, taking a seat at my desk.

"Why didn't you just leave me?" he sobbed into the phone, the arrogant front completely shattered. "If you hated me, if you knew... why didn't you just ask for a divorce? Why did you have to destroy my entire life?"

"Because leaving you would have let you walk away with half of everything my father built, while you continued to live off stolen wealth with your mistress," I replied, my voice dropping to a low, icy whisper. "You didn't just break my heart, Ethan. You tried to humiliate me in my own home. You asked me to pretend I didn't know, so you could keep playing king."

"I was stupid! I was arrogant!" he cried out. "Please, Mabel... call off Julian. Tell the prosecutors it was an internal misunderstanding. I'll sign whatever papers you want! I'll give you everything! Just don't let them put me in prison!"