Take It All Away
Part 1 — “Take It All Away”
My brother didn’t answer immediately.
For three seconds, there was nothing but silence.
Then Victor asked quietly,
“Are you absolutely certain?”
I looked at Chloe.
She was still smiling.
She had no idea that the woman standing in front of her wasn’t some embarrassed wife begging for access to her husband’s gala.
I was the woman whose family had quietly kept that company alive.
“Yes,” I said.
“Take it all away.”
Victor exhaled slowly.
“Understood.”
The call ended.
I slipped my phone back into my handbag.
Chloe raised an eyebrow.
“Was that supposed to scare me?”
“No.”
I looked at her calmly.
“It wasn’t for you.”
Her smile disappeared for the first time.
I turned toward the elevator.
Sophia was still holding her paper necklace.
“Mommy?”
I crouched beside her.
“Come here, sweetheart.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Is Daddy upstairs?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“Yes.”
“Can I give him this?”
I looked at the glitter-covered necklace.
Then I looked toward the elevator doors.
“Yes.”
“But we’re not staying long.”
She nodded.
I took her hand.
The elevator doors opened.
And we stepped inside.
Neither of us knew that by the time those doors opened again, Dominic’s entire world would already be collapsing.
Part 2 — The Woman Upstairs
The gala was magnificent.
Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling.
Waiters carried champagne through the ballroom.
Executives laughed beneath enormous floral arrangements.
And at the center of it all stood my husband.
Dominic.
He wore a perfectly tailored black tuxedo.
Beside him stood a beautiful woman in a silver gown.
And between them was a teenage boy.
I stopped walking.
Sophia squeezed my hand.
“Mommy, that’s Daddy.”
“Yes.”
Dominic was smiling.
Not the nervous smile of a man caught in a lie.
A comfortable smile.
A man who believed he was untouchable.
The woman beside him leaned toward him.
She whispered something into his ear.
He laughed.
Then she placed her hand on his chest.
I felt something inside me break.
Not because I was surprised.
Because I suddenly understood.
This wasn’t an affair that had happened yesterday.
This was a life he had been building behind my back.
A life he thought mattered more than ours.
Sophia tugged my hand.
“Can I go say hi?”
I couldn’t let her.
Not yet.
I crouched beside her.
“Wait here with Mommy.”
“But—”
“Please.”
My voice must have sounded different because she immediately nodded.
Then Dominic finally looked toward the entrance.
His face changed.
The color drained from it.
“Vivienne?”
The ballroom fell strangely quiet.
The woman beside him turned.
Her eyes moved from me to Sophia.
Then back to Dominic.
“Who is that?” she asked.
Dominic didn’t answer.
I smiled faintly.
“That’s a good question.”
Part 3 — His Second Family
The woman stepped forward.
“Dominic?”
He grabbed her wrist.
“Not here.”
She pulled away.
“What is happening?”
I looked at her.
“You should ask your husband.”
She stared at Dominic.
“Your husband?”
Dominic finally spoke.
“Vivienne, please.”
That word almost made me laugh.
Please.
After everything.
After years of lying.
After allowing his secretary to humiliate me in front of our daughter.
I looked at the teenage boy.
He appeared confused.
“Dad?”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Go wait with your mother.”
The boy looked at me.
Then at Sophia.
“Who is she?”
Nobody answered.
Sophia stepped forward.
She held up her paper necklace.
“Daddy, I made this for you.”
The room went completely silent.
Dominic stared at her.
His lips parted.
“Sweetheart…”
Sophia smiled.
“I wanted you to wear it.”
The woman beside him looked horrified.
“You have a daughter?”
Dominic looked at her.
Then at me.
Then at Sophia.
I watched her realize everything at once.
“You told me you weren’t married.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
The woman slapped him.
The sound echoed across the ballroom.
“I hate you.”
She grabbed the boy’s hand and walked away.
Dominic stood frozen.
I took Sophia’s hand.
“You don’t have to wear Daddy’s necklace anymore.”
She looked confused.
“Why?”
I forced myself to smile.
“Because we’re going home.”
But before I could turn around, Dominic grabbed my arm.
“Vivienne, wait.”
I looked down at his hand.
“Let go.”
He did.
“You don’t understand.”
I stared at him.
“I understand perfectly.”
Part 4 — The Phone Call
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