Chapter 2
Julian came down the stairs half dressed in panic and arrogance.
Serena followed behind him, holding her shoes in one hand.
Her lipstick was smeared.
His face was white.
The projector still glowed behind me.
The frozen image of their betrayal filled the room like a second guest no one could ignore.
“Khloe,” Julian snapped. “Turn it off.”
I tilted my head.
“You sound upset.”
He rushed toward the table.
I stepped back and held up my phone.
“One more step and I send it to everyone in your contact list.”
He stopped.
Serena looked at the guests.
Then at Eleanor.
“I thought you said she wouldn’t do anything,” she whispered.
The words landed harder than the video.
I turned slowly toward my mother-in-law.
“You knew?”
Eleanor’s face tightened.
“Don’t twist this.”
I laughed once.
It sounded nothing like me.
“Don’t twist this? Your son was upstairs with another woman in my bedroom.”
Eleanor slammed her glass down.
“You humiliated this family.”
“No,” I said. “Julian did. I just provided the lighting.”
A few relatives looked down to hide their faces.
Julian pointed at me.
“You violated my privacy.”
“Our bedroom,” I said. “Our house. Our camera.”
His jaw clenched.
“You set me up.”
“You walked upstairs.”
Serena wiped at her face.
“This is insane. I’m leaving.”
“No,” I said.
She froze.
“You’re not leaving with my husband’s laptop.”
Her eyes flickered.
Julian’s expression changed.
Too fast.
Too sharp.
I saw it.
So did my brother, Marcus, who had been sitting near the patio door in silence all night.
He stood.
“What laptop?”
Julian barked, “Stay out of this.”
Marcus looked at me.
“Khloe?”
I kept my eyes on Serena’s designer bag.
“The black laptop in her purse. The one Julian told me he lost two weeks ago.”
Serena gripped the bag tighter.
Eleanor stood.
“This dinner is over.”
“No,” I said.
My voice was steady now.
“This marriage is over.”
Julian stepped toward me again.
“You don’t get to decide that.”
I smiled.
“I already did.”
Then the doorbell rang.
Everyone flinched.
Julian looked toward the foyer.
May you like
I looked at him.
“That would be my lawyer.”
