"She sacrificed so much for me, and all she wanted was the title of Mrs. Gilbert. You're the one benefiting from all of this—you're about to leap up the social ladder. Why can't you just see the bigger picture?"

"If you could help me take this company public the way Valerie did, I wouldn't mind giving you the Gilbert name either."

I froze.

Valerie—the decorative secretary who couldn't even carry a cup of tea without spilling it—had helped take the company public?

Then what were my five years of blood, sweat, and tears?

I spent my days fixing the flaws in Elwin's development work. My nights were spent drinking with clients, securing investments.

I'd been hospitalized for stomach bleeding more times than I could count. And where was Valerie during all of that? Checking in at nightclubs. Eating street food at night markets.

Then showing up the next morning with heavy smoky eye makeup to hide the dark circles.

Thinking back to all those times I couldn't stand Valerie's garish makeup and told her to pay attention to her appearance—and how Elwin always defended her—it hit me all at once. He'd been cheating on me even then.

I'd just been too buried in work, too busy helping him build his business empire, to notice his heart had already drifted to another woman.

And now, at the very pinnacle of his career, he wanted to demote me from girlfriend to sworn sister—a neat little cover for his betrayal while making himself look loyal and honorable.

Fine. Then I wouldn't hold back either.

I'd taken Starlight Corporation public. I could just as easily bankrupt him.

But this was still the company I'd poured everything into. I didn't want to destroy my enemy at the cost of destroying myself.

"I need to use the restroom. Give me five minutes to think."

Elwin saw me wavering and took it as my last show of resistance. He let me go.

I left the celebration and called Elwin's biggest rival.

"Thirty percent of Starlight's shares. Interested?"

Because of Elwin, Arnold Delgado and I had always been on opposite sides—competitors, even enemies. But that never stopped us from respecting each other's abilities.

As Arnold put it, Starlight's equity was nothing to him.

What he actually wanted was the product patent I was bundling with the share transfer.

It was a surprise I'd secretly prepared for Elwin, meant to celebrate today's IPO.

Too bad. He'd missed his chance.