Chapter 2 - THE MISTRESS THEY SEATED ABOVE HER.
Blair claimed Owen had only become engaged to Ella because the Ward acquisition would protect the Price family’s reputation.
According to her, the marriage had always been a business arrangement dressed in ivory silk.
Once the papers were signed, Owen planned to end the engagement quietly and return to the woman his mother considered socially suitable.
Vivian did not deny it.
She merely said wealthy families had survived for generations by separating emotion from necessity.
Ella looked around the table.
The same guests who had congratulated her an hour earlier now studied their champagne, pretending not to hear.
Among them were bankers, board members, political donors, and women who chaired charities for disadvantaged girls.
None objected when Vivian called Ella “temporary.”
No one questioned why Blair had been placed directly behind the future bride’s chair.
The humiliation had been planned.
Owen stepped closer and lowered his voice.
“You were useful, Ella. Don’t make this uglier than it has to be.”
Ella’s hurt remained visible, but she refused to give him the collapse he expected.
She asked Mr. Hale to bring her coat.
Instead, the steward placed a sealed black folder beside her phone.
It contained the final acquisition documents.
Owen reached for them, claiming the agreement had already been approved.
Ella opened the folder and showed him the unsigned signature page.
Her father had given her sole authority to close the transaction.
Without her signature, Price Industries would default on its largest loan by Monday morning.
Vivian’s contempt shifted into alarm.
Then Blair leaned toward Ella and whispered, “Cancel it, and your father loses more than money.”
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She slid a photograph across the table.
It showed Daniel Ward entering a private clinic with Owen three nights earlier.
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