Jacquelyn Spencer POV:
All those late nights. All those "urgent business trips." All his excuses about needing to focus on "new ventures" and "diversified portfolios." It wasn't about the Ellis Corporation. It was about her. He was building her empire, not ours. While I believed he was crafting our future, he was meticulously constructing hers.
A searing pain, sharp and sudden, lanced through my chest. It felt like a physical tearing, separating me from myself. I gasped, a small, choked sound.
Harrison was on his feet in an instant, his chair scraping loudly across the marble floor. "Jacquelyn! What's wrong? Are you alright?" His hands reached for me, concern etched deeply on his face. "Let me call a doctor. Right now."
"Oh, for heaven's sake, Harrison," Britt sneered, her voice cutting through the tension. "She's just being dramatic. She always is."
Before I could even blink, a loud SMACK echoed through the room. Everyone flinched. Britt's head snapped to the side, a crimson mark appearing on her cheek. Harrison stood over her, his eyes blazing with a fury I had never seen directed at anyone but his fiercest business rivals.
"Don't you ever speak to my wife like that again," he snarled, his voice low and lethal, vibrating with barely contained rage. "Or I swear to God, Britt, I will make you regret the day you were born."
Britt, for once, looked genuinely stunned, then a flicker of fear crossed her face. She pushed her chair back, scrambling to her feet, and without another word, she stormed out of the room, the door slamming shut behind her.
The silence that followed was deafening, eventually filled by the hesitant murmurs of Clara and Mia. Harrison, oblivious to everything but me, was already kneeling by my side, his hands gently cupping my face.
"Jacquelyn, my love. Are you okay? Did she hurt you? We're going to the hospital right now."
I shook my head, my body feeling strangely cold, numb. The anger, the pain, the betrayal – it had all coalesced into a chilling void within me. "No," I managed to say, my voice flat. "I just… I need to use the restroom."
He hesitated, still worried, but then nodded. "Alright. But I'm waiting right outside the door."
I nodded, grateful for the temporary reprieve, the chance to be alone for just a moment. As I stepped into the opulent hallway, turning towards the restrooms, a shadow detached itself from the wall. Britt. She was waiting.
Her cheek was still red, but her eyes held no fear, only a malicious glint. "Did you really think that meant anything?" she hissed, her voice barely a whisper, yet it felt like a scream in my ears. "A slap? He's done worse to me. So much worse. He loves me, Jacquelyn. He always has."
She stepped closer, her voice dropping, thick with venom. "He has a son with me. His true heir. My son is the only one who matters to the Ellis family. And when I call, he always comes running. Always." She smiled, a chilling, triumphant smirk. "Look how quickly he jumped to your defense. But watch how quickly he jumps for me."
I said nothing, my face a carefully constructed mask of indifference, though inside, a fresh wave of agony threatened to engulf me. I simply walked past her, entered the restroom, and locked the door.
When I returned to the table, Harrison was already on his phone, his face pale, urgency in every line of his body. He looked up the moment he saw me, his eyes wide, rushing towards me. He pressed a quick, frantic kiss to my forehead.
"My love, something urgent has come up at work," he said, his voice strained. "I have to go. Immediately."
She called. Britt had called. Just as she said she would.
"I'll be back tonight. I promise. We'll talk then. Everything." He squeezed my hand, a look of profound guilt flashing in his eyes.
"No," I whispered, my fingers tightening around his sleeve, desperate. A last, pathetic attempt to hold onto the wreckage of my life. "Please. Stay. Don't go."
His eyes met mine, and for a fleeting second, I saw it: a flicker of genuine remorse, a hesitation. He seemed to weigh the cost of leaving, the potential loss of something he still cherished.
Then, the moment passed. The urgency in his eyes hardened. "I'll be back," he repeated, his voice firm, no longer pleading. "Tonight. I promise."
He pulled his arm free from my grasp and turned, walking away from me, away from our friends, away from his "treasures." Leaving me, once again, for her.
