Chapter 5 - The Socialite’s Demise
Two days later, the annual St. Jude Children’s Hospital Charity Gala was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was the crown jewel of Manhattan’s autumn social season.
Marcus had made sure that the society pages ran teasers about his attendance alongside Chloe Montgomery. He wanted to project absolute stability, to signal to Wall Street that the rumors of his collapse were exaggerated.
I arrived with Harrison and Julian at eight o’clock.
When our black Maybach pulled up to the red carpet at the base of the Met steps, the paparazzi exploded into action. Flashbulbs lit up the night sky like lightning strikes. Harrison stepped out first, offering a hand to help me out. I wore an emerald satin gown—ironically, the exact shade Chloe had worn two nights earlier, but custom-fitted by Dior, elegant, understated, and majestic. Julian walked beside me, his presence solid, protective, and unmistakably powerful.
As we entered the Great Hall beneath the towering stone arches, the chatter among the city’s high elite hushed once again. Everyone knew who I was now: the heiress to the Cole empire, the brain behind Apex Synergy, and the woman who had stripped Marcus Vance of his illusions in a single evening.
Across the hall, standing near the Egyptian Temple of Dendur exhibit, were Marcus and Chloe.
Marcus was holding a glass of Scotch, laughing far too loudly at something a minor hedge fund manager was saying. But Chloe looked visibly unraveled. Her designer dress looked wrinkled, her makeup was applied too heavily, and her eyes were darting around the room, noticing every cold shoulder and subtle sneer directed her way.
The moment Marcus saw me, his laugh cut off. His expression curdled into bitter, venomous hatred.
He leaned down, whispered something sharply into Chloe’s ear, and pushed her forward.
Chloe, clearly running on desperation and alcohol, clutched her diamond clutch and marched directly across the polished floor toward me, her heels clicking aggressively against the stone.
Guests parted, anticipating the collision. Julian took a half-step in front of me, but I gently touched his forearm, signaling him to stand down.
“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” Chloe hissed as she stopped three feet in front of me, her voice shaking with rage. “You think because you inherited some old man’s money that you’re better than me?”
The surrounding guests gasped at her sheer lack of decorum.
“Chloe,” I said mildly, my voice quiet enough that people had to lean in to hear. “You are making a spectacle of yourself at a children’s charity event. Go home.”
“You ruined Marcus!” Chloe shrieked, tears of fury welling in her eyes. “My father canceled my trust fund yesterday because of the press! The brand deals I had with Chanel and Revolve were dropped this morning! Marcus was supposed to be a billionaire, and now his accounts are frozen! You planned this! You’re just a bitter, vindictive hag who couldn't keep her husband happy!”
With a sudden, violent movement, Chloe raised her glass of red wine, aiming it directly at my face.
Before she could flick her wrist, Julian moved with blinding speed. He caught her wrist in an iron grip mid-air, squeezing just enough to force her fingers open. The glass slipped from her hand and shattered harmlessly against the stone floor, splashing dark red wine across the hem of Chloe’s own gown.
Chloe screamed in shock and pain.
“Assault in the presence of four off-duty police commissioners, Miss Montgomery,” Julian said, his voice deadly quiet, releasing her wrist with obvious revulsion. “A bold legal strategy.”
The Chief of the NYPD transit bureau, who had been speaking with Harrison just ten feet away, immediately stepped forward with two uniformed officers.
“Miss Montgomery,” the Chief said firmly, placing a heavy hand on her shoulder. “You need to come with us.”
“Get your hands off me! Do you know who my father is? Marcus, help me!” Chloe wailed, looking frantically over her shoulder.
Marcus, however, did not move.
True to his character, the second real consequences materialized, Marcus turned his back on the woman he had abandoned me for. He took two steps away, pretending to examine an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, completely abandoning Chloe to her fate.
The look of profound, horrifying betrayal on Chloe’s face as the police led her away in handcuffs was a mirror image of the expression Marcus had given me so many times.
I looked across the room at Marcus’s stiff, retreating back.
May you like
He had sacrificed Chloe without a second thought to save his own skin. But his turn was coming, and unlike Chloe, there would be no bail bondsman who could rescue him from what was waiting in the dark.
***
