Chapter 2
BETH
The city stretched out below us as we entered the penthouse.
Lights twinkled like a sea of stars beneath the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of our high-rise apartment, casting a soft glow over the dark wood floors and sleek, modern furniture.
The air inside felt cooler than it should have, the silence unnerving in its stillness.
I slipped my heels off, the clatter of the heels hitting the marble entryway echoing through the large, open space.
Chris set his coat on the back of a chair near the door, the sound barely disturbing the quiet that had settled between us since we’d left the ballroom.
I couldn’t wait any longer. The tension inside me was coiled too tightly, threatening to snap.
I needed answers, needed him to explain himself, even if I already knew what he was going to say.
I crossed the room toward the expansive kitchen island, setting the bronze statue down on the dark granite with a soft thud.
Chris followed, his movements more relaxed than mine, though the air around him still seemed tight.
He leaned against the counter, arms folded across his broad chest, the expensive fabric of his tailored shirt pulling taut against his shoulders.
His tie was loosened slightly, but otherwise he appeared perfectly composed, while a storm raged inside me.
The distant city lights reflected in his steel-gray eyes as they met mine. I didn’t wait for him to speak.
“Why were you standing in the dark with Jessica while I was up on stage?” The question came out sharper than I intended, the edge of my frustration cutting through the quiet room.
Chris didn’t flinch. He ran a hand through his dark hair, tousling the carefully styled strands. “Beth, it wasn’t what you think,” he said, his voice calm but dismissive.
My heart thudded in my chest, anger and confusion warring with one another as I tried to keep my emotions in check. “Then what was it, Chris? Because it certainly looked like something.”
He let out a long, exasperated sigh and turned to face me fully, his posture stiffening as he prepared his defense. “I left the table for two seconds. It’s not like I was doing anything wrong.” He shrugged, as if his absence from such a pivotal moment was trivial.
I felt my pulse quicken, my hands clenching into fists at my sides. “You didn’t just leave the table. You embarrassed me.” My voice quivered slightly, but I refused to let it break. “Everyone noticed. They saw your seat empty. They saw me standing up there, looking for you. You humiliated me.”
Chris scoffed, shaking his head. “Humiliated you? Beth, come on. That’s dramatic, even for you.” He turned away for a moment, pacing slowly across the room. When he faced me again, his expression was tinged with impatience, as though I were being irrational. “It was an unexpected negotiation.”
My mouth went dry as the pieces of the story began to slot into place. “A negotiation?”
“Yes.” Chris’s voice was firm, unapologetic. “I knew Jessica’s family’s venture fund was making a move, and I needed to catch them before they walked into a commitment we couldn’t undo. We’re talking about billions here, Beth. I had to move quickly.”
I stared at him, stunned into silence. He spoke about the money, the stakes, as if it justified everything.
The numbers he dealt with were dizzying, and I knew that was his world, but hearing it now only deepened the chasm between us.
“So that’s what this is about? You needed to close a deal?
” I whispered, feeling the weight of my words hang heavy in the air between us.
“And that’s why you abandoned me? Left me looking like a fool up on stage? ”
His face darkened slightly, his frustration now directed at me. “I didn’t abandon you, Beth. I was taking care of business. It had nothing to do with you or your award. You’re making this personal when it’s just business.”
The sting of his words was sharp, like a slap to the face, leaving the familiar bitter taste of dismissal on my tongue.
He always fell back on that excuse of just business as if that could erase the hurt I was feeling, as if those two words could serve as a magical eraser for emotional wounds.
I crossed my arms tightly against my chest, a protective barrier against his indifference, my heart aching with the familiar sense of being sidelined, of not mattering in his grand schemes, of being just another asset he managed rather than a partner he cherished.
The cool silk of the expensive gown against my skin felt like a mockery now, a costume for the role I played in his world, the decorative wife who stood on stages but couldn’t demand his presence at his own table.
“Well, it felt personal when I was standing up there and everyone saw that empty chair,” I retorted. “You could’ve told me what was going on.”
Chris shook his head again, his expression softening only slightly. “It wasn’t planned, all right? I didn’t have time to explain it to you right then. Jessica just approached me with the information, and I had to act immediately. The timing sucked, but it couldn’t be helped.”
I closed my eyes, trying to block out the image of them standing there, her hand on his arm, their bodies so close together.
It had looked so intimate, so wrong. I opened them again, my gaze locking on his.
“And the way she was touching you? You didn’t think that would look bad?
You didn’t think that would make people talk? ”
His eyes flashed with irritation. “She’s a colleague, Beth.
That’s it. She’s excited about this deal.
Of course she’s going to be animated. We were just discussing the fund.
It wasn’t some secret, behind-the-scenes thing you’re imagining.
” His voice carried the condescending tone of a parent explaining something simple to a child.
I knew that tone all too well, but that didn’t make it any less grating.
“You made me look like an afterthought,” I said quietly, the weight of the words hitting me harder than I expected. “I stood up there, thanking you, thinking you’d be sitting there listening, and instead, you were... I don’t even know what you were doing, but it wasn’t supporting me.”
He took a step forward, reaching for my hand. I flinched, pulling it away before he could touch me. His brow furrowed, but he didn’t push it. “I am supporting you, Beth. You wouldn’t have that foundation, you wouldn’t have had that award tonight if it wasn’t for me. For us.”
It was as if all my worthiness as his wife was tied directly to the fact that I was indebted to him, his charity, his wealth.
But I never asked to be indebted, and the longer it went on, the worse I felt, as if my only purpose was to wear gowns, make nice, and stand in his shadow, accepting awards for his money.
I turned away from him, walking toward the floor-length window that stretched across one side of the living room.
The view was breathtaking, the entire city laid out beneath us, but it only made me feel smaller, more insignificant in a world I had never belonged to, a world that felt so far removed from the values my mother had raised me with in a tiny, tight-knit town.
My voice trembled as I said, “That doesn’t make up for tonight. ”
Chris sighed deeply, running a hand over his face. “You’re overreacting, Beth. I don’t know why you’re letting this bother you so much.”
My head whipped around to face him again, anger flaring up at his words, my patience finally snapping.
“I’m not overreacting, Chris!” I snapped.
“You made me look like a fool. In front of hundreds of people who are supposed to respect us, who we work with, you made me look weak and unimportant. I’m your wife.
I stood up there and gave that speech for you, and you weren’t even there. ”
He crossed his arms, his expression hardening as his defenses went up. “I get it, Beth. I said the timing wasn’t great. But I was handling something far bigger than a charity gala.”
I clenched my fists, my nails digging into the soft flesh of my palms. “Of course,” I said bitterly.
“Business always comes first, doesn’t it?
God forbid you show up for something that’s about me for once.
You had to be off making sure your billions are secure, and I’m just supposed to be okay with being humiliated in the process. ”
Chris’s face darkened at my accusation, his tone sharp as he fired back.
“Don’t do this. Don’t make it sound like I’m neglecting you or something.
You live in this penthouse, you wear those clothes, you run that foundation because of me.
You don’t have to work a day in your life if you don’t want to, and I’ve never once asked you to do anything like this.
I let you run these charities, these events, because you wanted to. ”
The words stung, sharp and pointed. He had a way of twisting things, turning them around so that I felt like I was being unreasonable, ungrateful even, for wanting his attention when he felt I should be content with everything else he gave me.
The material things, the life I lived, all of it supposedly more than enough to make up for his emotional absences.
“It’s not about any of that, and you know it. ”
His voice softened slightly, but his eyes remained hard. “What is it about, then?”
My throat tightened, and I had to force the words out, each one feeling heavy and burdensome. “I want you to want to be there for me. Not because it’s good for your image, but because I’m your wife and I need you to show up, even when it’s not about a billion-dollar deal.”
Chris shook his head, his frustration palpable now. “Beth, that’s not how life works. I have responsibilities. I can’t just drop everything every time you feel like you need me by your side. I love you, but you have to understand that my job comes first sometimes.”