My Husband’s Mistress Livestreamed His Betrayal at the Gala

The champagne tower was a precarious architecture of crystal and ambition, much like my marriage. I stood beside it, wearing a smile that had taken me ten years to perfect—a blend of warmth and impenetrable distance. The "Gilded Night" gala was in full swing, the Hamptons air thick with sea salt and seven-figure donations. I was playing my part: the gracious hostess, the polished accessory to Maximus Bryant’s empire.

Then the air shifted. The crowd parted not out of respect, but out of the awkward curiosity reserved for car crashes.

Sapphire Chavez marched toward me. Her dress was a shade of red that screamed rather than whispered, cut too low for the occasion and too high for dignity. In her clutch, I saw the telltale glow of a phone screen. She was livestreaming.

"Jenna!" Her voice was shrill, cutting through the murmur of a string quartet. "Stop pretending you don't know."

I didn't flinch. I took a slow sip of my drink, letting the silence stretch until her breathing grew ragged. "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Ms...?"

"Sapphire. And don't act like I'm nobody." She stepped closer, invading my personal space with a scent of vanilla and desperation. "Maximus loves me. He tells me everything. You're just the contract wife he keeps around for the shareholders."

The words hit me like a physical blow to the sternum, but my pulse didn't jump in my neck. I’d learned to bury my heart deep where Maximus couldn't bruise it. The room had gone dead silent. A hundred eyes—donors, rivals, friends who were really just spies—bored into me.

I tilted my head, offering her the pitying smile one gives a child throwing a tantrum in a museum. "It sounds like you’ve had a long evening, dear. perhaps you should hydrate."

With a subtle flick of my wrist, two security guards materialized from the shadows. Sapphire sputtered, her phone wobbling in her hand as they escorted her away, but the damage was done. The label stuck to my skin like tar: *Contract Wife*.

***

The silence in the limousine was heavier than the humid night air. Outside, the dark hedgerows of the Hamptons blurred past; inside, the air conditioning hummed, chilling the sweat on my back.

Maximus sat scrolling through his phone, the blue light illuminating the sharp, handsome angles of his face. He didn't look at me. He looked annoyed, like he’d been served the wrong vintage of wine.

"Unbelievable," he muttered, thumbing a text. "She ruined the networking potential of the entire evening. Do you know how much capital was in that room, Jenna?"

I turned slowly, the leather seat creaking beneath my silk gown. "She said you loved her, Maximus. In front of the Board."

He finally looked up, his expression bored. "She's a child, Jenna. A distraction. Don't tell me you're going to be dramatic about this."

"Dramatic?" My voice was a whisper, but it felt like screaming.

"You know how the game is played." He reached