Harlow POV
I washed my hands at the kitchen sink. The water ran cold over my fingers. My movements were mechanical. I dried them on a linen towel, my face a blank mask.
I walked past the silent dining room and into the sprawling walk-in closet. The emerald silk dress came off. I hung it carefully in its garment bag, zipped it shut, and pushed it to the back of the rack.
A week passed. A week of silence. Axel returned the day after our anniversary. He walked in, loosened his tie, and offered a clipped apology as he passed me in the hall.
"Sorry about the other night. Singapore got complicated."
I nodded, my eyes on the floor.
"Of course."
He didn't seem to notice the change. My politeness was a sheet of ice. My distance was a chasm he didn't bother to look into. I was a ghost in my own home, and he was too busy to see me.
The call came on a Tuesday morning. David Hayes. A reminder about the annual Thornton Corp. charity gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In years past, the thought of the event made my stomach clench. The forced smiles. The feeling of being an accessory. This year, I felt nothing.
The night of the gala, I got ready alone. Axel's study door was shut. I did my own hair and makeup, my hands steady. I chose a dress from the back of my closet. A simple column of black crepe that fell to the floor.
He met me by the elevator, impeccable in his tuxedo, his eyes on his phone.
"You look fine," he said, the words automatic.
The sixty-floor descent was silent. The air in the small space was so thin it was hard to breathe.
We arrived at the Met to an explosion of flashbulbs. Reporters shouted our names.
"Axel! Over here!"
"Mr. Thornton, a comment on the Alexander partnership?"
Axel's hand landed on the small of my back. A proprietary gesture, purely for the cameras. His touch was cold. I smiled. A perfect, empty masterpiece of social survival.
Inside, the Great Hall was a glittering sea of New York's elite. The air buzzed with conversation and the clinking of champagne glasses.
Axel was immediately swallowed by a group of investors. His hand dropped from my back. He walked away without a backward glance, leaving me alone.
I took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. The cold glass was a solid weight in my hand.
I saw the glances from the other society wives. The quick, pitying looks, shielded behind their hands as they whispered.
"…poor thing, he's never with her…"
"…always with Adelle Alexander…"
"…just a business arrangement, you know…"
I kept my chin high. I sipped my champagne, my gaze fixed on a distant, forgotten queen in a tapestry.
Then, a shift in the room's energy. A hush near the grand staircase. Heads turned.
Adelle Alexander had arrived.
She was a vision in crimson, a fiery contrast to my black. The dress demanded attention.
Axel's head turned. His eyes found her. A current sparked between them, so palpable the air seemed to crackle with it.
He excused himself from the investors and moved through the crowd, his path a straight, unwavering line toward Adelle.
I watched, the champagne glass growing colder in my hand. I watched as my husband greeted another woman with a warmth he had never, not once, shown me.
The orchestra began to play a waltz. A man with a microphone announced the new strategic partnership between Thornton Corp. and Alexander Tech.
"And now," the man boomed, "it is my honor to invite our CEO, Mr. Axel Thornton, and the CEO of Alexander Tech, Ms. Adelle Alexander, to the floor for the first dance!"
A professional obligation. A perfect excuse.
He led Adelle to the center of the floor. All eyes were on them.
I stood frozen by a marble column. I watched them glide across the floor. They moved together perfectly. He leaned in and whispered something in her ear. Adelle threw her head back and laughed, a joyful, carefree sound.
The pitying looks intensified. The whispers grew louder.
The dance ended. The applause was deafening. Axel escorted Adelle off the floor, his hand lingering on her back. He did not look for his wife.
I placed my untouched glass on a passing tray. I turned, my back straight, and walked toward the grand exit. The whispers followed me like a shroud. I didn't run.
I walked.
