He Wants An Open Marriage? Done!

"The issue at hand is very complicated, and this is what we were trying to avoid," Margaret said, her voice dropping through the speaker like ice.

Roxanne shot a cold glare toward the screen. Her right fist clenched on the smooth table, her nails digging into her palm as she fought to keep her composure. Not here. She would not lose her temper in front of these people.

"Have you seen the news yet?" the PR director asked, her brows pulled tight as she studied Roxanne. "Have you heard what Cara is saying?"

Roxanne looked at her. Her face stayed completely still, even though her blood boiled beneath her skin.

"Cara is not an ordinary ex," the director added, leaning over her paperwork. "She has the money and the press connections to make this scandal bigger than anything we have faced. We need to take this seriously."

Roxanne stayed silent, her eyes resting on the woman. She knew the director was just doing her job, but the panic in the room was suffocating.

"The least we can do is serve her with legal papers," the head of legal said, his voice firm and clipped. "We demand she pull her statements back immediately, or we sue her for public deceit."

Roxanne turned her gaze to him. She kept her mouth shut, her eyes narrowing as she processed how far their plans had already gone.

Beside her, Richard reached out. His warm hand slid onto her forearm.

"What are you thinking?" Richard asked softly, his dark eyes searching hers.

Roxanne looked at him, letting out a quiet breath. The subtle warmth of his hand anchored her, but her jaw remained tight.

"That is the first thing you should have asked when you found out," she said, her voice dropping low so only he could hear the sting in her words. Then she turned back to the rest of the room. "You all need to understand that this does not only concern the president of Vance Enterprises. This concerns me, too. I am not a distraction in this story. I am directly involved."

"Which is why we need to move fast," the PR director pushed, tapping a pen against her folder. "We need this story dead before it ruins everything else."

"I agree with the director," Margaret cut in from the screen, letting out a dramatic sigh. "Cara really surprised us all with this move. I am still trying to understand why she would do such a thing. She could have just spoken to me."

"Those are lies, Mother," Richard said, his deep voice cutting through the speaker. He caught the hidden message in Margaret’s words instantly, his hand tightening on Roxanne’s arm.

Roxanne felt a spike of heat in her chest as she looked at Margaret’s video feed. She forced herself to sit still, taking a quiet breather to clear her head. She turned her attention back to the PR director.

"Here is what I think," Roxanne said, her tone smooth and level. "You need to shut down every single plan you have right now."

The air in the room went dead silent. Everyone stared at Roxanne with wide eyes.

"You cannot be serious," the PR director said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Do you know what you are asking us to do?" the head of legal added, leaning back in his chair. "This will turn into an absolute mess!"

Richard turned his head toward her, his brows pulled together in confusion as he tried to read her face.

Roxanne shook her head slowly. "This only becomes a scandal if you let it," she explained, her voice steady. "If she is as powerful as you say, we cannot just throw empty threats around. We need to stand down. As crazy as that sounds."

"I am glad you admit it is crazy," Margaret chimed in, her lips curved in a bitter line. "No one should listen to her. We have forty-eight hours before the full board steps in. We must act now, or we all pay the price."

Roxanne did not back down. "I know how this sounds, but we need to do this my way. Cara is doing this because she wants Richard’s attention, and she wants everyone at this table running in circles."

She turned her eyes onto the legal chief. "If you serve her with papers, you show her how scared you are of a scandal. She will use that fear against us." She shifted her gaze to the PR director. "If you make an official statement, you tell her that we are panicking. You give her the upper hand."

Silence settled over the room as the executives absorbed her logic.

Richard leaned forward, his elbows resting on the glass. "What are you suggesting, Roxanne? I hope you are not telling us to fold our arms and watch. She is trying to ruin your name, and you know this affects our—"

He caught himself mid-sentence, cutting his own words off before he revealed their pregnancy to the room.

Roxanne looked at him, letting out a relieved sigh. "I am not asking anyone to sit idle," she said gently. "I am asking you to not respond publicly yet. There is no need for a legal war over something so desperate."

The executives exchanged quiet glances.

"You have worked in PR for years," Roxanne said to the director. "You know better than anyone that scandals survive when companies feed them. Every statement becomes another headline. Every denial becomes another article."

"And how do you plan to handle her?" Margaret asked from the screen, her eyes narrowed tight.

Roxanne met Margaret’s glare through the lens. "I will take away the one thing she is desperate for."

Margaret frowned. "Which is?"

"Control," Roxanne said, gesturing to the room and the flashing screens. "Cara doesn’t want attention. She wants control. She wants Richard reacting to her every move. So we stop reacting. No statements, no lawsuits, no calls. We leave her sitting in the quiet, wondering why no one is running."

She leaned forward. "But underground, legal preserves every post, article, interview. PR monitors every outlet. We prepare a statement without releasing it. Ultimately, we do not fuel Cara’s fire, but we prepare everything necessary to extinguish it."

The PR director stared at Roxanne for a long moment. She rubbed her forehead and muttered under her breath, "Too late for that."

Roxanne’s head snapped toward her, the ambient air in the room suddenly feeling ice-cold. "What did you say?"

Silence answered her, heavy and thick.

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