He Wants An Open Marriage? Done!

"Are you actually threatening every person in this room?" Margaret demanded, her voice rising as she turned a desperate, pleading look toward her husband. "Speak some sense into your son, Henry! Do something!"

Before Henry could even utter a word to intervene, Richard locked eyes with his father. The tension between them was palpable. "Father, didn’t you face a wall of opposition at one point early in your career? And didn’t you pull through it because you had Mother standing right by your side?"

"I was single, Richard!" Margaret shot back, her fork clattering sharply against her china plate. "She is a married woman! For Christ’s sake, open your eyes! You are standing in a board meeting admitting to the entire world that you are in love with a married woman!"

Richard leaned back in his leather chair, a slow exhale escaping his lips. "Not for long," he said, his voice terrifyingly calm.

Margaret opened her mouth to launch another volley, but the words died in her throat. She scoffed, a deep, genuine confusion clouding her sharp features. "What on earth is so special about her that you are willing to destroy your entire career for her?"

"I would love to explain it to you, Mother, but you would never understand, no matter how simply I broke it down," Richard replied. "And do you know why? Because you are hell-bent on throwing her out the front door before she has even had a chance to sit down."

Henry looked across at his son, the ghost of a proud smile touching his lips, though he remained entirely silent.

"I completely agree," Pamela interjected, leaning forward on her elbows. Her expression was serious now. "We should be focusing our energy on neutralizing the actual threat, not trying to butcher Roxanne."

Nicholas looked at Richard, a slow, condescending shake of his head following. "I find it utterly baffling that someone as practical as you has turned out to be so sentimental. You seem to have forgotten that being sentimental has never filled a single person’s pocket with money or secured a family legacy."

"Precisely! Tell him, Nicholas!" Margaret cheered.

"We need to be focused on hacking off the dead branch before the rot kills the entire tree," Nicholas added coldly.

Richard’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. The temperature in the room seemed to plummet. "Do you want my seat, Nick?" he asked, the accusation dripping from his words like acid. "Or do you happen to know something about this leak that you aren’t sharing with the rest of us?"

Nicholas shifted uncomfortably, his spine stiffening as his brows pulled into a deep frown. "What exactly are you trying to insinuate, Richard?"

Leaning forward, Richard planted his forearms on the polished mahogany, his piercing gaze locking Nicholas down. "Someone in this family betrayed us," he said, his voice dropping to a low rumble. "Do you happen to know who it is?"

Nicholas let out a sharp, nervous scoff. His fingers trembled slightly as he picked up his napkin, his throat contracting as he swallowed hard. "That is completely preposterous!"

"Do you know something?" Richard pressed, his gaze breaking away from his brother to slowly scan every single face around the table. "Or perhaps someone else in this room knows exactly what happened and wants to speak up right now?"

An agonizing silence enveloped the dining room. Executives exchanged nervous glances, looking around and waiting for someone, anyone, to break under the pressure.

"I need the person responsible for this scandal to speak up. Right now," Richard commanded.

Roxanne leaned forward, her palm pressing flat against the cool wood of the table as she looked across at the family. "I believe I know exactly who gave the footage to Christian."

The entire room froze. You could have heard a pin drop, and Roxanne could have sworn a few of the executives actually leaned closer to catch her next words.

She parted her lips to deliver the name, but Margaret cut her off with a sharp wave of her hand.

"This is nothing but another desperate distraction!" the matriarch spat. "We are not changing the subject, and no one is falling for your pathetic games. We are sitting in this crisis solely because of you, Roxanne. We need you gone."

"Let her speak, Margaret," Henry commanded, his deep voice carrying an undeniable finality that instantly silenced his wife. He leveled a severe look at the table. "I want to know precisely who is behind this sabotage. And I assure you, they will be dealt with ruthlessly."

Roxanne took a slow, grounding breath and nodded. "I looked at Christian’s call log last night, and Pamela’s number was right there. I believe she is the one who handed him the video."

A collective gasp echoed through the room. A chaotic wave of furious murmurs immediately followed.

Several board members frowned in deep disapproval, while a few of the older executives covered their mouths, shaking their heads in utter disbelief.

Pamela’s wide eyes stretched even further, her face draining of color. She swallowed hard as the collective gaze of the entire room shifted to pin her down.

She shook her head frantically. "No, no, I didn’t do it!" she stammered, her voice thin and panicked. "I did not give Christian that footage. I swear to God, Richard, you have to believe me!"

Roxanne shook her head, her expression entirely unyielding. "But you did do it, Pamela. Why don’t you just drop the innocent act already?"

Pamela locked eyes with Roxanne, her shoulders trembling. "I am telling you the absolute truth, I didn’t do it!"

"Then why was your personal number logged on his phone, Pamela?" Richard asked, his voice a whisper that cut through her defense. "Why did you call him?"

Pamela looked around the predatory circle of the table, her breath hitching. She looked toward Margaret, her eyes begging for sanctuary, before turning back to her brother. "I am innocent, Richard. You are looking at the wrong person, I swear it."

"You still haven’t answered the core question, Pamela," Nicholas pointed out smoothly, a cold edge to his voice. "Why on earth were you contacting Christian Westbrook? Did you actually make those calls? What possible business could you have with him?"

Pamela swallowed hard, her lips trembling as she pressed them tight, offering absolutely nothing.

Margaret stared across at her daughter, a look of profound disgust hardening her features as she shook her head. "You actually did this?"

Without even waiting for a response, she turned her shoulder completely away from her daughter to face Henry. "She needs to be exiled permanently, Henry. She needs to be sent far away. All she ever brings to this name is humiliation and shame."

Henry remained frozen, saying nothing, his expression unreadable.

Richard kept his eyes locked on his sister, his voice heavy with profound disappointment. "Why, Pamela?"

"So the one who contributes the absolute least to this empire is the one who gets to ruin everyone else’s hard work?" someone at the table murmured loudly.

"This is turning into a complete circus."

Pamela looked around the ring of accusers, her eyes bright and glittering with a sudden rush of unshed tears. "I didn’t do it! Why won’t a single one of you believe me?" she demanded, her fists clenching so hard on the tabletop that her knuckles turned white.

"Then be transparent with us, Pamela," Henry said, his calm tone slicing through her panic as he looked at her. "Tell us exactly what business you have with Christian."

Pamela’s eyes brimmed over, a single tear breaking free and tracing a slow path down her pale cheek as every judgmental eye in the room demanded the truth.

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