My Husband Called Me a Trophy Wife, So I Saved the Mafia Don Instead novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: The Partners' Party

My husband's firm held its partners' party on the top floor of a Midtown hotel, and Luca Fontana walked in through the front doors with two guards.

He had not been invited.

He did not need to be.

The managing partner dropped his glass of champagne, caught it, and was across the ballroom with his hand out before the doors had finished swinging.

"Mr. Fontana. What an honor. Please, sit anywhere."

"I'll stand," Luca said. "I brought a guest."

I walked in beside him in a black dress Teo had bought for me that afternoon, with my hair pinned up and my hand on Luca's arm.

Two hundred people turned.

I watched the faces change one at a time.

Surprise, and a flash of pity, and then the quick whisper behind a hand.

"That's Franklin's wife."

"I heard she's been unwell."

"What is she doing with him?"

Franklin stood at the front of the room under a banner that said CONGRATULATIONS, SENIOR PARTNER, with Whitney at his shoulder and a glass raised halfway to his mouth.

He went the color of the tablecloth.

Whitney saw me and looked down at herself.

At her throat lay a necklace of small sapphires on a gold chain.

I had last seen it in a velvet box on my dresser.

"Audrey," Franklin said, and crossed the floor quickly. "Darling. You came."

"I did."

"You look wonderful." He lowered his voice. "Please, not here."

"Where, then?" I said.

I said it at an ordinary volume, and the room, which was already quiet, went quieter.

"Franklin," the managing partner said. "Is Mrs. Penhurst well?"

← Chapter 8 · All chapters · Chapter 10 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend