Chapter 6: The Dinner Table Deception

I locked my screen, the text glowing in the dim firelight like a toxic warning sign. 

*Blackwell Capital’s internal corporate acquisition watchlist.*

My throat tightened. I stared at Axel’s broad back as he smoothly hooked a silk tie around his neck, adjusting it in the mirror without a single care in the world. Had every favor he’d ever done for me been calculated? Had our entire third-grade-to-adulthood friendship just been another long-term investment strategy? 

*Stop. Not now,* I told myself, forcing a breath. I couldn't crack. Not when we were standing in the heart of enemy territory. 

"Hazel?" Axel turned, his gray eyes locking onto mine, instantly catching my stiff posture. "You look pale. Vertigo hitting again?"

"No," I lied, slipping the phone into my evening clutch before my fingers could tremble. "Just trying to mentally prepare for the family firing squad downstairs."

"You don't have to face them alone," he said, stepping closer. He reached down, his large, warm hand covering mine, gently tracing the edge of the diamond ring he had bought me. "Remember the protocol. I play the obsessed fiancé. You play the queen who won. We don't break character."

*Are you playing a character with me, too?* The question burned at the back of my throat, but I forced it down. 

The grand dining hall downstairs was a masterpiece of high-society pretension. A massive mahogany table stretched across the room, lit by a crystal chandelier that cast a sharp glare over forty of the city’s wealthiest elite. 

The moment Axel and I stepped into the room, a wave of hushed whispers rippled through the guests. 

"Ah! The guests of honor!" My stepdad, Richard Westbrook, boomed from the head of the table. He stood up, smoothing his tailored suit, his eyes gleaming with greedy dollar signs the moment they landed on Axel. "Axel, my boy! Come, sit. We saved the prime seats for you."

I glanced at the layout. Richard had placed us directly across from Clara and Dominic. 

Clara sat in a stunning, backless cream gown, her manicured fingers wrapped tightly around a crystal wine flute. But it was Dominic who drew my gaze. He looked entirely impeccable—except for the faint shadow of exhaustion under his eyes. When he looked at me, the arrogance wasn't there for a split second. Instead, a flash of genuine, raw regret crossed his face, before his mask quickly slid back into place. 

Axel pulled out my chair with effortless grace, leaning down to whisper against my ear, "Smile, love. Dominic is practically choking on his own tongue."

I forced a radiant smile, settling into the leather seat. "Thank you, darling," I said loudly enough for Clara to hear.

Clara’s perfect smile looked completely rigid. She leaned across the table, her eyes dropping instantly to my left hand. "Hazel, sweetie, that ring is just... so substantial. I’m surprised Axel managed to find something so large on such short notice. Usually, pieces like that require months of verification. Unless, of course, it’s a temporary lease?"

The table went entirely quiet. The passive-aggressive venom in her tone was unmistakable.

Before I could even formulate a retort, Axel leaned back in his chair, a cold, mocking smirk playing on his lips. "A lease, Clara? Blackwell Capital doesn't rent assets. When I see something irreplaceable, I secure it permanently. I would think your fiancé understands how hard it is to hold onto something truly valuable."

Axel’s gray eyes flicked directly to Dominic, the underlying threat clear and lethal. 

Dominic’s jaw clenched so hard a small muscle jumped in his cheek. He took a heavy swallow of his whiskey, his eyes burning into Axel. "Securing an asset is one thing, Blackwell. Keeping it satisfied is another. Some things are too complex for a finance guy to manage."

"Is that right?" Axel murmured, his voice dropping into a dangerous, freezing calm. "Funny. I’ve always found that clarity eliminates complexity."

Clara blinked, looking back and forth between the two men, completely oblivious to the underlying tension. "Well," she laughed nervously, adjusting her diamond necklace. "Dominic is very focused on his family's new business merger right now. Speaking of which, Dominic, didn't you say your new lead consultant was flying in tonight? The one from Tokyo?"

My breath completely froze in my lungs. 

*Tokyo.* The mysterious brunette from the photograph on the jet. The one pinning Dominic against the glass. 

I glanced at Dominic, keeping my voice perfectly level as I reached into my clutch, my fingers finding the cold glass of my phone. "How exciting. Dominic, the lighting in the master suite upstairs is truly remarkable. It catches everything so... clearly. I was actually just reviewing some high-resolution references a private scout sent over to my design studio."

I slid my phone out onto the white tablecloth, the screen face down. "I was thinking about showing the entire table during the dessert toast. To celebrate the... transparency of this marriage."

Dominic’s face turned an immediate, pale shade of ash. His hand shook slightly as he set his whiskey glass down. For a brief second, the venom left his eyes, replaced by pure panic. He stared at me, his mouth parting slightly as if silently begging me to stop. 

A heavy, suffocating silence fell over our section of the table. 

Just as the tension reached a breaking point, the grand double doors of the dining hall swung open. A butler stepped into the room, clearing his throat loudly to catch the family's attention.

"Annuoncing the arrival of the Reed Estate’s business consultant," the butler called out. "Ms. Elena Vance."

I turned my head along with the rest of the guests as a striking, incredibly beautiful brunette in a tailored emerald gown glided into the room. It was the exact woman from the photograph. 

Axel’s fingers tightened imperceptibly around his wineglass. 

"No..." Axel breathed.

I looked at him sharply. It was the first time in the fifteen years I had known him that genuine, unscripted shock crossed his face. The cold, calculated billionaire mask had completely shattered.

Elena stopped right behind Axel's chair, ignoring the rest of the room. A brilliant, knowing smile spread across her lips as she leaned down, her perfume filling the air. 

"Hello, Axel," Elena said softly, stopping beside his chair. Her smile was calm, almost amused.

“It’s been a long time.”

Axel’s face went completely still. 

Then she looked at me.

“So,” she said, studying me with unsettling familiarity. “You’re Hazel.”