Chapter 3: The Demand to Kneel

“Apologize?” Natalie looked at Ethan, a chilling smile touching her lips. “Ethan Carter, have you lost your mind?”

“I said, apologize!” Ethan’s voice boomed across the ballroom, silencing the background music. He felt his authority as CEO threatened in front of high-profile investors. “Kneel down, apologize to Chloe, and pay for the damage to her gown!”

Chloe smirked triumphantly behind Ethan’s shoulder, her eyes filled with malicious delight. “That’s right, Natalie. Kneel and apologize properly, and maybe Ethan will still let you live in the servant’s quarters at the estate.”

The crowd chuckled quietly. No one stood up for Natalie. To them, she was an obstacle in Ethan’s glamorous life.

Natalie slowly shook her head. The last lingering thread of affection in her heart snapped cleanly in two.

“Ethan,” Natalie said, her voice dropping into a dangerous, commanding tone that made Ethan instinctively flinch. “You want me to kneel to a mistress?”

“Don’t call her a mistress!” Ethan yelled, trying to mask his sudden unease. “Chloe has brought millions in revenue to Carter Group! What have you brought? Nothing! You are nothing without me!”

“Nothing without you?” Natalie repeated quietly.

She remembered five years ago when Sinclair Consortium’s elders forbade her from revealing her identity until she completed her five-year trial of independence. She had chosen to marry Ethan, believing he was a humble man of integrity. She had used Sinclair’s hidden channels to give Carter Group exclusive access to top-grade textiles, VIP clientele, and interest-free credit lines of over fifty million dollars.

And today was the exact day her five-year trial ended.

“Ethan,” Natalie looked at him with eyes as cold as arctic ice. “You believe Carter Group’s success is all your doing? You think Sinclair Consortium granted you raw materials and contracts because of your talent?”

Ethan laughed arrogantly. “Of course! Sinclair Consortium saw my genius! They recognized that Ethan Carter is the future of luxury fashion! Do you honestly think a prestigious conglomerate like Sinclair would ever care about an uneducated woman like you?”