He Wants An Open Marriage? Done!

Roxanne’s heart hammered against her ribs, a suffocating weight tightening in her chest. "What is the problem, Libby? Just tell me."

Libby swallowed hard, her eyes darting nervously toward the door at the end of the hall. "Mr. Vance is waiting for you in his office. He insisted he should be the one to tell you."

A cold dread crept up Roxanne’s spine, chilling the sweat at the nape of her neck. She didn’t waste another second. She marched down the corridor and pushed into the office, the click of the latch sounding like a gunshot in the quiet room.

Richard was pacing the length of the floor, his coat off and his shirt sleeves rolled up. The moment he saw her, he froze. He walked past her without a word, closing the door firmly to lock out the murmurs of the outside world.

"Come in, Roxanne," he said, his voice entirely stripped of its usual vibrant warmth. "Sit down."

Roxanne stayed rooted to the spot, her brow furrowing as she watched him move toward his desk. "What is going on, Richard? Everyone on my floor is acting strange. Even Libby looks completely scared, and she never loses her composure."

Richard stopped. "Where is your phone?"

She blinked, slightly defensive, and held it up. "Right here. Why?"

He crossed the distance between them, took the device from her hand, and placed it face down on the desk. "Please, Roxanne. Just sit down."

Roxanne opened her mouth to demand an explanation, but he shook his head, his expression so grim it silenced her.

With a slow exhale, she finally sank into the leather chair opposite him. "Fine. Now tell me what is happening before my imagination gives me a heart attack."

Richard walked around his desk. His broad shoulders sagged as he let out a sharp breath. Without a word, he tapped his computer trackpad and turned the glowing monitor around to face her.

"This is what’s wrong."

The blood drained from Roxanne’s face, leaving her completely numb. The screen was playing the video of her and Richard kissing, the exact video she thought she had permanently deleted. Her stomach violently twisted.

She looked up at Richard, her voice dropping to a breathless whisper. "Where did you get this? I deleted it. Richard, I swear I deleted it from his device. Is this a backup copy, or what?"

Richard closed his eyes for a brief second, the exhaustion evident in the lines around his mouth. "Christian leaked it to City Media. I threw everything our legal and PR teams had at it to get it pulled down before it could gain traction, but we were too late. It’s on every major tabloid and news site. It’s already gone viral."

The air left Roxanne’s lungs. Her heart battered against her ribs like a trapped bird, and for a terrifying moment, the edges of her vision blurred. She stared back at the monitor, watching the loop play over and over.

"This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening. Where did he even keep a second copy?"

"I wanted to break it to you before you saw it trending online," Richard said softly, leaning against the edge of the desk.

Roxanne shook her head, her skin completely pale. She looked at him, the crushing weight of reality settling into her bones. "This is going to destroy everything, isn’t it?"

Richard didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stepped around the desk and pulled up a chair right next to her, his proximity providing the only warmth in the freezing room. "There’s an emergency board meeting happening at the Vance Villa right now. They’re already discussing damage control and pruning."

"He actually did it," Roxanne murmured, her gaze drifting back to the screen. The sheer malice of Christian’s revenge made her skin crawl. A sudden spark of anger flared through her panic, and her hands clenched into tight fists. "I can’t believe he would burn everything down just to hurt me. I need to call him. I need to put him in his place right now!"

"Keep your calm, Roxanne," Richard said, his tone dropping into a steady rhythm that cut through her spiraling emotions. "He’s waiting for that call. He wants your panic, your anger, your attention. The second you dial his number, he wins. What we need to do right now is leave him rotting in the dark, wondering what our next move is."

Roxanne swallowed the bitter taste of rage in her mouth, forcing her mind to clear. "You’re right. I know you’re right," she whispered. She reached out, grasping Richard’s hand. His skin was warm and solid, a grounding anchor in the middle of the chaos, but her pulse was still racing.

"But Richard, the fallout is going to be catastrophic. If we don’t fix this immediately, the company’s stock is going to plummet by the time the market opens."

Richard remained silent, his jaw tight as he gently squeezed her fingers.

Roxanne pulled her hand away, pressing it against her throbbing forehead. "Margaret warned me this would happen, and now it’s here. This doesn’t just affect me, it completely destroys your credibility as CEO."

She looked at him, her eyes bright with a protective instinct. "I’ll tender my resignation today. I’ll take the entire fall for this. I won’t let you lose the career and the empire you’ve spent your whole life building because of my baggage."

Before she could pull away further, Richard caught both of her hands in his, his grip firm, unyielding, and intensely warm. He leaned in close, forcing her to look directly into his dark eyes.

"Listen to me, Roxanne," he said, his voice ringing with absolute certainty. "I am just as responsible for this. Hell, I should have anticipated that a member of my family would play this dirty. I am absolutely not letting you take the fall for this."

He leaned closer, the steady rise and fall of his chest brushing against her hand. "This is my company, and you are my woman. We are going to weather this storm together. Do you hear me? Together."

Roxanne looked at him, a sudden wave of emotion stinging the backs of her eyes. "This isn’t just a storm, Richard. This is going to be an all-out war."

"Then let it be," Richard said, his expression hardening into pure steel. "When I face the board at the Villa, I’m giving them two choices. They can stand behind me, or they can oppose me and walk out the door."

"No, you can’t do that," Roxanne said, her mind instantly shifting into strategic overdrive. "A forced ultimatum will fracture the board and ruin everything you’ve worked for. I won’t let you get pushed out."

She leaned in, her eyes narrowing as the panic entirely faded, replaced by a cold, calculating focus. "We don’t give them an option to leave. We play this beautifully. We control the narrative until they believe that standing with you is the only profitable choice they have."

Richard stared at her for a beat, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips despite the chaos. He gave her a firm nod. "Then that’s exactly what we do."

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