Jilted Girlfriend, I'm the Tycoon's Wife novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: I'm Staying

Lena's POV

The board dinner was in the private room at the yacht club, at a table for nine under a chandelier.

I wore the black dress again, with my grandmother's ring on my right hand and Harrison's sixty-dollar band on my left.

Cynthia sat at the head, in lavender and pearls.

The man with the gray beard sat on her right, and two other board members sat past him, a woman in navy and a man with a pen he never used.

Dylan sat across from me, pale and shaved, with a folder in front of his plate.

He had not looked at me once.

Harrison was on my left. Under the tablecloth, his knee rested against mine, and neither of us moved it.

I had left my statement at the front desk that morning, in a sealed envelope.

Cynthia waited until the plates were cleared.

"I hate to bring this up over dessert," she said. "But I'm afraid something has come to my attention. Dylan, dear."

Dylan opened the folder and slid a printed page to the board chair.

It was a gossip site, and the headline ran across the top in red.

"THE TYCOON'S FAKE WIFE: Contract Marriage Behind the Viral Lie."

Below it was a photograph of a sheet of paper on a diner table, with a coffee ring in the corner.

I could read it from where I sat.

One year. Separate bedrooms. In public we lie as much as we need to.

In the margin, in blue pen, was a small heart.

"That's my sister's heart," I said.

Nobody laughed, but the woman in navy lowered her eyes.

"The board was told that its chairman had married," Cynthia said gently. "If the marriage is a business arrangement, then the chairman misled you. And if the girl at the center of it invented the whole thing in a moment of hysteria, then I think we all deserve to hear it from her. Her statement was due this morning."

← Chapter 15 · All chapters · Chapter 17 →

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