CHAPTER 7: THE FIRST TEST

A note appeared on Aria's pillow.

She found it when she came back from showering. The handwriting was sharp. Controlled. Everything Damian was.

"Board meeting today. Noon. You're coming. Be ready."

That was it. No explanation. No apology for the morning. No attempt to soften the blow from earlier.

Marie appeared thirty minutes later with three outfits.

The first was a dress. Too pretty. Too soft. Aria rejected it immediately.

The second was a pantsuit. Light gray. Expensive. Forgettable.

The third was black. Sharp lines. A jacket that fit like armor. Aria chose it without hesitation.

"Good choice," Marie said. "Power suit."

By the time Aria was ready, she looked like someone who belonged in a boardroom. Not like a girl whose boyfriend had cheated on her a week ago. Not like a girl who'd sold ninety days of her life to a stranger for fifty million dollars.

She looked like a woman who knew who she was.

The Wolfe Empire building touched the sky. Glass and steel and money. Lots and lots of money. The lobby alone had cost more than her parents' house. The security guard nodded like he knew her. Like she'd always belonged here.

Damian's office was on the seventy-second floor. Floor-to-ceiling windows showed the entire city. His desk was black marble. His chair looked like it had been designed for someone important. He was sitting behind it, and he looked up when she walked in.

His eyes moved down her body and back up to her face.

"You look good," he said.

"Is this about the board meeting?" she asked. "Or the narrative?"

"Can it be both?"

He stood. Walked around the desk. His hand found her waist like it belonged there. Like they'd been doing this for years instead of days.

"The board is mostly older men," he said. His voice was low. Close to her ear.

"They think marriage is weakness. They think I got distracted. That my judgment is compromised."

"Are they right?"

"No. But I need them to think my judgment is only compromised in ways that benefit the company." He turned her to face him.

"So you're going to be the best wife they've ever seen. Smart. Capable. Beautiful. An asset, not a liability."

"And how do I do that?"

"Listen. Watch. Ask one good question. Make me look like a man who has everything under control. Including his wife."

The boardroom was all dark wood and expensive leather chairs. Eight men sat around a table. They all looked like variations of the same person. Gray suits. Gold watches. Eyes that calculated everything they saw.

They looked up when Aria walked in.

She could feel their evaluation. Their judgment. They were trying to figure out her angle. What was she getting out of this?

Damian's hand on her back was territorial. Possessive. It said: She's mine.

"Gentlemen, my wife. Aria," he said.

She nodded. Didn't smile too big. Didn't try too hard. Just sat down like she'd belonged there her whole life.

"We were just discussing the Chen acquisition," the oldest man said. His name was George. He had the kind of face that had made thousand-dollar decisions over morning coffee.

"Damian, are you sure this is the right move? Some of us think you're overextending."

Aria looked at the documents in front of her. She'd read them that morning. All of them. Everything Damian had on his desk.

"Why would it be overextending?" she asked.

Everyone looked at her.

"The Chen company," she continued.

"Why would buying them stretch the company too thin? Your cash reserves are strong. The valuation increased thirty percent last quarter. The acquisition actually makes sense."

George's eyebrow went up. "You know our financials?"

"Damian briefed me," she said. Then she turned to Damian. "Didn't you? Last night over dinner?"

There was a pause.

Damian's hand on her back moved slightly. She felt him take a breath.

"Yes," he said. Then to George: "My wife has an acquisitions background. She was junior manager at Morrison & Associates before we married. Acquisitions department."

"You quit?" Another board member leaned forward. His name was Frank. He had the kind of face that enjoyed other people's bad luck.

"My husband needed me more," Aria said simply. "I chose him."

She watched it land. These men understood sacrifice. Understood that a woman who'd give up her career for a man was a woman who was invested in his success.

What they didn't know was that Aria hadn't really chosen. She'd been desperate. Broken. Out of options.

But sometimes the best performances were built on things that were true.

"That's very devoted," George said. He almost smiled. Almost.

"It is," Aria agreed.

By the end of the meeting, George had asked her opinion on the Chen deal. By the end of lunch, two other board members were discussing strategy with her like she was one of them.

In the car ride home, Damian's hand found hers.

"You were perfect," he said quietly.

She didn't pull away. "I know."