PART 1
“If you don’t kneel down and apologize to Sabrina, I’ll kick you out of my house tonight,” Brendan Alcott said in front of almost 300 guests, with a glass of champagne in his hand and the confidence of a man convinced that everything around him belonged to him.
The private lounge of a luxury hotel on Grand Avenue in San Diego was celebrating his five years as CEO of Pinnacle Enterprises, one of the most powerful real estate developers in the country. Businesspeople, retired officials, foreign partners, and executives toasted him under enormous crystal chandeliers.
I, Sydney McCann, his wife of ten years, stood by a column, wearing a simple black dress that my mother-in-law, Claire, had called secretary attire. For a decade, I had accepted being left out of photographs, hearing that Brendan was the sole provider, and smiling when his relatives hinted that I was lucky to have married him.
I never corrected them because there was a very specific reason for my silence, but that night it was about to disappear forever.
Brendan had entered arm in arm with Sabrina Miller, a 29-year-old consultant wearing a red dress and a diamond necklace whom I knew all too well. Three months earlier I had seen the invoice for 1.8 million dollars paid with money diverted from a corporate campaign.
Sabrina walked towards me, forcing a sly smile as she held her glass tightly.
“Oh, Sydney, what a surprise that you came,” she said with a fake laugh.
Before I could answer, she tilted her glass and poured red wine onto my chest, gasping loudly to attract attention.
“What’s wrong with you?!” she shouted, backing away as if I had pushed her.
Claire came running over immediately, pointing her finger at my face.
“Always ruining everything! My son supports you, gives you a life you don’t deserve, and you still come around making a public scene,” Claire snapped.
“Look carefully who actually has the wine on top of them,” I replied calmly.
Brendan didn’t even want to listen to my side of the story.
“Sabrina is an important guest here tonight,” Brendan barked at me.
“Is she an important guest, or is she your lover?” I asked quietly.
The entire murmur in the bustling room died away instantly as people turned to watch us.
Claire pointed at me with deep contempt, raising her voice further.
“My son is the CEO of this entire empire! You’re just a freeloader who’s been living off him for years, while Sabrina actually knows how to move in high society circles,” she spat.
I looked straight at Brendan, giving him one last chance to do the right thing.
“I’ll ask you this only once, Brendan. Are you really going to let your mother and your lover humiliate me in front of everyone?” I asked.
His jaw tightened, but instead of answering with words, he stepped forward and raised his hand.
The first slap made me lose my balance, stinging my cheek fiercely.
The second slap left the entire room in absolute, suffocating silence.
The third slap was accompanied by a harsh phrase that finished off what was left of our marriage.
“So that you finally learn your place,” Brendan growled.
Sabrina smiled behind him, feeling entirely victorious in that moment.
Claire even applauded loudly, thoroughly enjoying my public humiliation.
I wiped the small cut on my lip with a cloth napkin and took out my phone without shedding a single tear.
“Are you finished? Perfect,” I said, cold as ice.
I dialed a number on speed dial and waited two seconds for the pickup.
“Attorney Andy Ashworth, activate the council’s emergency resolution immediately. From this moment forward, Brendan Alcott is removed from his position as director general, so block his access points, remove the three company vehicles, and reclaim the residence in La Jolla assigned to him,” I instructed clearly.
There was complete silence in the room as I hung up.
Then Claire burst out laughing, clapping her hands together again.
Brendan looked at me as if I were a completely crazy person who had lost her mind.
“Are you going to fire me? You don’t even know how much this company is worth,” he sneered.
I put the phone away into my purse and looked him dead in the eye.
“In 30 minutes, you’ll find out exactly how much I know,” I said softly.
I left the room while they laughed loudly behind my back.
They thought they had just kicked out a humiliated wife who had nowhere to go.
They couldn’t imagine what was about to come through those doors very soon.
