“There’s something else you should know about tonight…”
Isabella’s voice echoed through the breathless ballroom.
She didn’t look at Alex.
She looked past him.
At the blonde woman in the silver sequins.
The woman who had laughed at his joke.
The woman whose hand had been on his chest.
“Chloe,” Isabella said calmly. “Is it done?”
The blonde woman’s panicked expression instantly vanished.
Her posture straightened.
The simpering, flirty smile morphed into a cold, professional line.
She reached into her sequined clutch and pulled out a sleek black phone.
“Signed and filed, Ms. Laurent,” Chloe said.
Her voice wasn’t high-pitched anymore.
It was lethal.
Alex’s jaw dropped.
He stared at his date, his anchor to the elite world.
“Chloe? What… what are you doing?”
Isabella finally turned back to him.
Her eyes locked onto Alex like a sniper’s laser.
“You thought I wore a maid’s outfit just to test your manners?”
Isabella laughed. A terrifying, beautiful sound.
“I wore it as a distraction. To keep your ego busy while my lead acquisition lawyer kept you drinking.”
Chloe stepped away from Alex.
Like he was a disease.
“That aggressive takeover you’ve been bragging about all week?” Isabella tilted her head. “The biometric transfer you just drunkenly authorized Chloe to submit on your phone?”
The blood drained entirely from Alex’s face.
He patted his tuxedo pocket.
Empty.
“You didn’t merge with a holding group, Alex,” Isabella whispered.
The microphone caught every devastating syllable.
“You just signed your entire company over to me. For one dollar.”
The silence in the room was absolute.
Suffocating.
“You offered me fifty grand to dance,” Isabella smirked, perfectly mocking his earlier tone.
“I’d tell you to pay up…”
She handed the microphone back to the host.
“…but you can’t afford it anymore.”
Isabella turned on her heels, the silver fabric catching the light.
“Security,” she called out, not looking back.
“Escort the gentleman out. He’s trespassing.”