I'd held him and cried, my heart breaking for him. But he was the one drowning in guilt.
"I'm sorry, Athena. I've made you suffer so much. I swear I'll build something. I'll make you the most envied Mrs. Rivera this city has ever seen."
He kept his word. He caught the right wave, founded his company, and in just five years, built assets worth over a hundred million.
But I never became that envied Mrs. Rivera. I'd bowed ninety degrees to pour wine for clients just to land a deal.
To cut costs, I handled inventory, cleaning, loading and unloading—all of it fell on me, the boss's wife.
I didn't own any expensive jewelry. Just that one diamond necklace—bought with his very first profits, a gift to me.
And now it hung around another woman's neck.
The heat drained from my face. Something inside me went cold, degree by degree.
The light refracting off those diamonds stabbed at my eyes.
I looked away and spoke slowly. "No matter how rough it's been, at least I earned it myself. What about you? Being hidden away like a dirty secret—that can't feel good either."
She laughed, utterly unbothered. "Hidden? Please. He takes me to events all the time. Introduces me to everyone. His wife looked like a wreck after all those years of building the business with him. He's embarrassed to be seen with her."
"Don't people tell his wife? Doesn't she demand to go?"
Her smile widened. "Who's going to run to the wife and gossip about that? Every time there's an event, he arranges a shipment. His wife volunteers to unload it."
I pressed my tongue against my teeth until they went numb.
Five years. I'd bent my back for him. Let my youth fade for him. And he was embarrassed by me.
Had he forgotten I was once the campus beauty he couldn't even dream of reaching?
A classmate sighed enviously. "Honestly, aside from the marriage certificate, you're basically the real wife. You've got it figured out—this is the shortcut to the good life."
"Fiona's gorgeous—second only to Athena Barnes, the campus beauty queen. Now that you've got one foot in the door of high society, Athena can't even compare to you anymore."
Fiona preened, her face glowing with smug satisfaction.