Ethan stared at the messages flooding in. Board members demanding an emergency meeting. Investors asking if the photo was real. One of the oldest board members, a conservative billionaire in his seventies, had simply written: “Unacceptable. We need to speak immediately.”
By 9 a.m., Ethan was on damage control mode, but it was already too late. The photo had been screenshotted and was spreading like wildfire through the company’s internal channels. By noon, it had leaked to a few business gossip accounts. By evening, major financial news outlets were running headlines:
“Whitmore Global CEO Caught in Extramarital Affair with Executive Assistant – Photo Surfaces in Board Chat”
---
I landed in New York and checked into a quiet, elegant hotel in Manhattan under my maiden name: Isabella Moreau.
The first call I took was from my attorney, Elena Vargas.
“Everything is proceeding beautifully,” she said. “We’ve frozen the joint accounts. The prenup you made him sign before the marriage — the one he thought was just a formality — is ironclad. We’re filing for divorce on grounds of adultery this afternoon. The board has already called an emergency session for tomorrow morning.”
I smiled as I looked out over the Manhattan skyline.
“Good. Let them feel the pressure.”
---
The next seventy-two hours were brutal for Ethan.
The board demanded his temporary suspension pending an internal investigation. Major clients started pulling contracts. The stock price of Whitmore Global dropped nearly 18% in two days. Vanessa was placed on administrative leave and escorted out of the building by security — the same security team Ethan had once bragged about.
He tried calling me hundreds of times. I never picked up.
On the fourth day, he flew to New York and showed up at my hotel, disheveled and desperate.
