Breaking the Trophy WifeChapter 3

Despite their relentless provocations, I didn’t lash out. I held back, time and again. These were, after all, influential figures in the business world, and I didn’t want to cause an ugly scene.

But my restraint was met only with more derision.

“Enough!”

I slammed my hands on the table and stood, my eyes sweeping over every person in the room. “It’s clear this deal is dead. So now, I’m giving all of you a choice.”

My voice was calm, but it cut through the noise. “The smart ones will get out of my sight right now. Anyone who stays becomes my enemy. And I show no mercy to my enemies.”

The room erupted in laughter.

“Did you hear her? The little bitch is giving us a choice! That’s rich.”

“Zoe, you really think you’re somebody, don’t you?”

“Every single person at this table is a millionaire many times over. What are you going to fight us with?”

I turned my head slowly, the fire in my chest burning hotter. “Have any of you ever heard the saying, ‘There are always bigger fish in the sea’?” I warned. “I suggest you choose very carefully. You don’t want to live with the regret.”

Wendy’s face twisted into a sneer. “What was that? You don’t actually think we’re afraid of you, do you?” She jabbed a finger in my direction. “Don’t think you can throw your weight around just because you’re married to Lawrence Vance. You probably don’t even know, but he’s about to divorce you!”

Her words were like a signal. The other businessmen visibly relaxed, their mockery growing louder and more vicious.

I looked at their laughing faces, a profound sense of disappointment washing over me. Was this the best Auden City’s business community had to offer? All this, just because I couldn’t drink.

They could call me a trophy wife, a delicate flower—I didn’t care. But to be unable to command respect from someone in my own company… was this the price of my quiet life?

Because of my unique circumstances, I had spent the last few years at home, avoiding the public eye. On the rare occasions I overheard staff gossiping about me, I would just smile and walk away. I never imagined that my placid demeanor would become the very thing that emboldened them to act so outrageously.

Seeing my silence, Wendy seemed to think I had finally broken. She slid a tray of ten shot glasses filled with whiskey in front of me.

“Here you go, Zoe. Drink all ten of these, and you can leave,” she said, her voice cloying. “We’ll call it even, and you can go back to being a pretty ornament in your gilded cage. But if you refuse… well, you’re not walking out of this room tonight.”

I fought back the urge to scream, my gaze locked on her. “You are truly asking for a death wish. Do you not understand that I am allergic to alcohol?”

Wendy glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, her expression one of pure disdain. “A few shots won’t kill you. I’ve laid out my terms. Drink or don’t. The choice is yours.”

Her words were so absurd I almost laughed. Not even Lawrence’s father would dare speak to me like that. Where on earth did a mere secretary find such nerve?

My curiosity about the power behind her grew.

“Wendy, I see there’s no point in talking to you anymore,” I said, my voice turning hard as steel. “Tell the person pulling your strings to come out. What kind of coward hides in the shadows and sends a puppet to do their dirty work? Or are they too afraid to face me themselves?”

The second I finished speaking, the suite door swung open.

A woman, about my age, walked in with a slow, deliberate grace.

“Miss Clarke,” she said, a cool smile on her face. “It seems the rumors of your stupidity were greatly exaggerated.”