Chapter 304:

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Elisa’s spine straightened. “They’re here?”

“Yes. And if you leave, they win the narrative,” Maeve said, her PR instincts kicking in. “Stay. You don’t have to do anything. Just be seen. Your presence is a statement. You’re the legal wife. You have every right to be here.”

Elisa took a deep breath. She looked through the gap in the flowers into the ballroom. She saw them. August, tall and imperious in a dark suit. Allena, glowing in a pale blue dress, her hand resting on his arm. They were surrounded by a gaggle of sycophants, laughing, air-kissing, holding court.

The perfect couple.

“If I stay,” Elisa said slowly, “I’m not hiding in the corner.”

“Of course not,” Maeve agreed. “Just… blend in. Be graceful.”

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Elisa nodded. She took a champagne flute from a passing waiter and walked into the ballroom.

She found a spot near the edge of the crowd. She was a ghost, a shadow. People glanced at her, their eyes sliding past without recognition. She was nobody’s assistant. She was nobody.

She watched August and Allena. They were standing with the guest of honor, an elderly, regal woman who looked like she had stepped out of a Gilded Age portrait. The woman was fawning over Allena, touching her arm, laughing at her jokes.

And then the woman’s gaze drifted. It landed on Elisa.

The woman detached herself from the group and walked over, her movements slow and deliberate. She stopped in front of Elisa, her eyes sharp and assessing.

“Hello,” the woman said, her voice crisp. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Who are you? I know everyone, and I don’t know you.”

Elisa opened her mouth to speak, but Maeve materialized at her side like a fairy godmother.

“Duchess,” Maeve said, her smile bright and professional. “This is my dear friend, Elisa Wilder. She’s helping me out today with some PR coordination.”

The Duchess’s eyes cleared. “Ah, the help. Of course. Very efficient-looking.” And with that, she turned on her heel and walked away, her interest vanishing the instant Elisa was categorized as a worker.

Elisa stood there, the champagne flute cold in her hand. She had been introduced, and she had been dismissed. She was in the room, but she was not of the room. She was an intruder in her own life.

Elisa tried to fade further into the background, but it was impossible. The room was a cage, and the predators were circling.

Allena spotted her first. Elisa saw the moment it happened — a flicker of surprise, followed by a slow, malicious grin. Allena whispered something to August, then tugged on his arm, steering him directly toward Elisa.

They stopped a few feet away. August’s eyes found Elisa. There was no surprise in them, only a cold, hard flash of anger. He looked at her the way one might look at a stain on a favorite carpet.

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