Cameron and I started dating in college. Eight years together. With the wedding weeks away, he finally said what he'd been holding back. He wanted his first love, Jade Sullivan, to move in with us. He wanted a wife and a mistress under the same roof. I kept my voice steady through the rage. "So you want Jade to be your mistress?" Cameron shook his head. "She's not the mistress, Vicky. You are." I stared at him, unable to process what I'd just heard. Had he lost his mind? Did he seriously think he could make the only heiress of the Ashford Group the other woman? --- Seeing my silence, Cameron mistook it for hesitation. His voice softened into something coaxing. "Jade's gentle. She doesn't have family money or connections — if she's not my wife, she'll suffer for it." "So your solution is to make me suffer instead?" The fury hammered at my temples, but my voice came out ice-cold. Cameron frowned, visibly annoyed by the pushback. "Vicky, this isn't what I want either. But Jade has no one. I have to look out for her." "You'll both be mine — I'll treat you equally. Jade is sweet. She won't make your life difficult, I promise." When he was pursuing me, he swore I was the only woman he'd ever want. Now, with the wedding right around the corner, he wanted to play house with two of us? So ridiculous. A mistress was just a secret kept in the dark — so what exactly did that make me? I stepped back and looked at him like something I'd scraped off my shoe. "Mr. Holt, I think you should leave. If your heart belongs somewhere else, there's no wedding to plan." Cameron let out a long-suffering sigh, watching me the way you watch a child throwing a tantrum. "Victoria. Both families have sent out invitations. The venue is booked. If you back out now, what does that do to your reputation? Don't say things you don't mean." I was shaking with fury. Jade had been circling him for years, and she'd timed this perfectly — right before the wedding, when she calculated I'd be too trapped to walk away. "So by your logic," I said, "should I actually be grateful? That you didn't just show up on our wedding day and surprise me with her at the church?" Cameron's expression darkened. "It's just a title. You're an Ashford — no one would dare disrespect you. Why does it matter so much?" "Besides, what successful man settles for one woman? I know how big your heart is. Don't act like those bitter, jealous girls. That's beneath you." I closed my eyes. Counted to three. Didn't make it. I slapped him across the face — full force. His cheek went red and swollen instantly. Cameron grabbed his face, staring at me like I'd detonated something. "Victoria! Have you lost your mind!" "Every guest in Chicago knows you're about to marry me. If you walk away from this engagement, no one will touch you — ever." "You hear me? This wedding is happening whether you like it or not." "And if you want any future in this family, you'll go home and tell your parents you voluntarily stepped aside." I studied him for a long moment, expression frozen. So that's why he came today. My parents were away on a business trip to Europe. He'd timed it. He wanted me cornered. Wanted to walk away clean while I took the fall. Then it hit me, and I almost laughed. "What's my full name?" I asked. Cameron blinked. "Victoria Ashford? Have you completely lost it?" I raised my hand. The security team that had been waiting at a distance came jogging over immediately. "When we were dating, I didn't mind you calling me Vicky." The memory of his nerve made something between fury and laughter rise in my chest. "But from this moment on — you address me as Miss Ashford." "Throw him out." Two of my guards hooked him under the arms and started dragging him toward the door. Cameron twisted around, face disbelieving. "You dare? I'm going to be her husband!" I let out a short, contemptuous laugh. "Why wouldn't we dare? If I wanted to, I could line up every eligible man in Chicago from here to the airport. Cameron Holt — who exactly do you think you are?" "Let me show you exactly why I run this city." I looked at my guards and said it again, slower. "Throw him out."
Cameron stormed back to his family home and walked straight into his mother, Eleanor, who'd heard the news and come rushing in. Eleanor took one look at his expression and opened her mouth, but Cameron cut her off, barely containing his anger. "This is all your fault. You're the one who pushed me to bring Jade in. Now look what happened — I went over there and got humiliated." Eleanor listened to the whole story, her opinion of me souring by the minute. She made a private note to put me in my place once I was officially her daughter-in-law. For now, she kept her voice gentle. "Vicky's just spoiled. Nothing like sweet Jade. Everyone in Chicago knows she has a temper. She should be grateful to marry into this family." "She's young. She doesn't know better. Give it a few days." "I'll personally send her an invitation to come over and have a proper conversation about why having Jade here benefits her." "Once she understands, she'll come back and apologize on her own." The moment I kicked Cameron out, I had my assistant put through an international call to my parents, who were still in Europe scouting projects. Then I got in the car and drove up to my grandfather's estate on the hill to vent. I assumed that would be the end of it — the Holts and I, done for good. Then, a few days later, I received an invitation to their cocktail party. My secretary and assistant both begged me not to go. I refused. "I didn't do anything wrong. Why should I hide?" I'd barely stepped out of the car at the Holt estate when a woman in a white dress materialized in front of me — soft features, practiced fragility. Jade Sullivan. She tilted her head, brows delicately furrowed, voice honeyed and barbed at once. "Miss Ashford, everyone here tonight is someone important in Chicago. Did you really come dressed like that?" "Even if you're upset with me, you shouldn't embarrass Cameron and the Holts in front of their guests." I gave her one cold look and kept walking. In this city, I wear what I want. No one tells me otherwise — not unless they share my last name. I pulled out my phone and dialed. "Mr. Walsh? Tonight's Holt cocktail party — they're using the ballroom at one of our Ashford properties, correct?" "Clear the venue. Now. Bill any damages to my account." Jade went white. Cameron came rushing out from inside, catching the tail end of the call. He looked at Jade, eyes soft with pity as she trembled on the verge of tears, then turned on me. "Victoria! Jade came out here to welcome you, and this is how you treat her?" I looked at the crowd already forming around us. "Welcome me?" I said, voice carrying cleanly. "In what capacity, exactly? As the future lady of the Holt house? Because from the outside, it looks like she's already moved in." The murmurs started instantly. "Isn't that the woman who's always at Mr. Holt's side? When did she become official?" "Even a girlfriend doesn't get to receive guests on the family's behalf. The etiquette here is..." "His actual fiancée is standing right there. And she's already playing hostess?" Cameron's face shifted. He stepped toward me and reached for my hand. I moved away. "Enough," he said under his breath. "Do you have to push this far? Do you want to ruin Jade's reputation?" Eleanor materialized from inside, swooping in with her damage-control smile. "Goodness, can't this be settled inside? Why are we making a scene at the front door?" She turned and gave Jade a performative scolding. "And you — Vicky can wear whatever she likes. Who asked for your opinion?" Jade's eyes flickered with something raw, but her face smoothed back into gracious contrition. She dipped her head toward me. "I overstepped, Miss Ashford. Please don't hold it against Cameron." The display made Cameron's heart ache with sympathy for Jade and harden further against me. He was already deciding: after the wedding, he'd make me feel it. Eleanor tried to reframe the entire confrontation as a lovers' quarrel, nothing more. A few guests began to play along, murmuring for peace. "Miss Ashford, let's call it even — do me a favor, let it go." Someone else lifted their chin in quiet judgment. "A little grace goes a long way, Miss Ashford. No need to be so unforgiving."
I laughed and let my gaze move slowly across the crowd before settling on Eleanor and Cameron. "Perfect. I'd like everyone here to be my witnesses." "Mrs. Holt. Cameron. Last week, you came to my home and asked me to step down as his wife." "You wanted a three-way arrangement — and you wanted me to be the one at the bottom. Did that happen or not?" I didn't come to any cocktail party. I came here to burn it down. Eleanor's face drained. She shot a vicious glance at Jade, suddenly understanding someone had been running their mouth. "That's absolutely not true," she rushed out. "The Ashford-Holt union is a partnership between two great families. There was never any—" I watched Cameron and Jade's eyes slide to the floor, and smiled without warmth. "Oh? So even the Holts know how outrageous this is?" "I was starting to think you'd decided the Ashford name was something you could step on." All three of them went pale. Cameron's voice lost its edge. "Vicky, you misunderstood. The Holts never intended—" "Didn't they?" I raised an eyebrow. "So the request for me to become the other woman — that came from nowhere?" "It was a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding—" Eleanor began to insist. I pressed forward. "And Jade receiving guests at the door as though she owns this house — that was a misunderstanding too?" Silence. Cameron grabbed my wrist, grip tight enough to hurt. "Victoria, you've made your point. After the wedding you'll be a Holt — if this family looks bad, you look bad. Know when to stop." Jade's eyes glistened on cue, her expression the very portrait of wounded endurance. I felt nothing. I had known from the start that Cameron carried a torch for someone else. For years, I'd felt sorry for Jade's situation — every holiday, I sent her designer bags, high-end perfume, the kind of gifts that required real thought. Even when Cameron gave her more of his time and tenderness than he ever gave me, I never said a word. I told myself he felt sorry for her. Turns out, they'd been at it behind my back for years. And I'd been playing the fool. Then Eleanor did what she always did when losing: she cried. "This is all my fault. Blame me." She pressed a hand to her heart. "Jade has been on her own since she was a girl — no parents, no safety net." "She's getting older, and I couldn't bear to see her with no future." "So I asked Cameron to bring it up with you. A place in this home, after you were married. That was all I wanted for her." She turned and gave Cameron a theatrical glare, blaming him for the framing, then continued. "I assumed Vicky was generous enough that she wouldn't refuse." "I let Jade begin learning how things run here, so she could be useful to you, so no one in this house would look down on her." "I wanted to give a good girl some dignity, not cause her suffering." "If Vicky isn't comfortable with it, we drop it entirely. I only worry for Jade. She may spend her whole life alone." The crowd shifted. Sympathetic eyes drifted toward Jade. The looks aimed at me turned cold.
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