Chapter 3
Chapter 3: The Blacklist
Isabella felt the ground spinning beneath her designer heels.
Her diamond tiara felt incredibly heavy. The luxury guests—the very people she had invited to show off her wealth to—were now looking at her with expressions of utter disgust. High society was fickle; they loved power, and Isabella had just insulted the most powerful man in the country.
“This can’t be happening,” Isabella whispered, clutching her gown. “We are the Sinclairs. We have status!”
“Status built on loans and appearances,” Alexander replied smoothly, finally casting a brief, icy glance her way. “Your father’s real estate firm has been begging Laurent International for a bailout for six months. I was scheduled to sign the approval papers tomorrow morning.”
Isabella stopped breathing.
The entire Sinclair family estate depended on that deal.
“Consider it canceled,” Alexander added seamlessly.
A collective gasp exploded across the banquet tables. Isabella’s mother, sitting in the front row, buried her face in her hands and began to weep openly. In less than five minutes, Isabella’s desire to humiliate her sister had completely bankrupted her entire family.
Ryan fell to his knees on the marble floor, completely defeated. “Mr. Laurent… please… don’t blacklist me. No one else in the industry will hire me if you fire me like this.”
“Then I suggest you look for a new industry,” Alexander said.
He turned his back on the altar, completely ignoring the ruined couple. He looked down at Olivia, his cold gray eyes instantly melting into a gaze of profound warmth and tenderness.
“Are you ready to leave, my love?” he asked softly.
Olivia looked at her sister, who was now trembling, ruined, and drowning in her own tears. Then, Olivia looked up at her husband—the man who had swept floors with her in a small apartment, never once mentioning the billions in his bank account, just to ensure her love was real.
May you like
Olivia wiped a stray tear from her cheek and smiled.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Let’s go home.”
