Thank you.
The words hit Vivienne like a physical slap.
A sharp, twisting pain bloomed in her chest... not just jealousy, but something worse. A crushing wave of humiliation that made her throat tighten and her vision blur at the edges.
'He thinks he's fucking me.'
Her grip on the bottle tightened until her knuckles turned bone white, the glass threatening to shatter in her hands.
'He thinks he's conquering the CEO. He thinks he's claiming Vivienne Vanderbilt, and he's thanking the 'assistant' for facilitating it.'
The realization was a gut punch that knocked the air from her lungs.
Looking at Helena's flushed, ecstatic face... watching her prim, organized cousin transformed into this screaming, shameless creature... Vivienne felt something unexpected.
Profound, bitter disappointment.
In herself.
'I failed,' she thought, the realization settling like lead in her stomach. 'I let the game go too far. I let my own shadow outmaneuver me.'
