He Wants An Open Marriage? Done!

The words hit the room like a freight train.

But it hit Roxanne the hardest. In an instant, her mind flashed back to her quiet bedroom weeks ago, the mattress shifting as she got into bed beside Christian, and the harsh blue glow of his phone screen reflecting off his eyes as he stared at another woman’s nudes.

Her breath hitched. Her gaze snapped back to Pamela, taking in the familiar slope of her shoulders. It was her.

Roxanne’s chest heaved as the sickening puzzle pieces finally locked together. Pamela Vance was one of Christian’s many flings.

Richard turned his head slowly, his brow knitting as he took in Roxanne’s pale face. The protective instinct rolling off him was almost palpable. He shifted his piercing gaze to his sister.

"What do you mean by that? What exactly did you have to do with him? Speak plainly, Pamela," he commanded, his deep baritone demanding she spell out the ugly truth.

"Oh, come now, it’s pretty clear, isn’t it?" Nicholas interjected smoothly, leaning back with a smug grin before his sister could find her voice. "It’s perfectly clear what she was doing with him."

"Let her answer, Nicholas," Richard shot back. His tone remained calm, but the raw authority vibrating behind it burned hot enough to make the other man freeze.

Pamela swallowed hard, her eyes darting to Roxanne for a fraction of a second, swimming with deep regret. Then, she looked back at her brother. "I was sleeping with him. We were an item," she whispered.

A wave of sharp, horrified gasps rippled through the row of investors.

"I had absolutely no idea he was married to her!" Pamela added frantically, her voice cracking as she reached toward Roxanne across the table. "I swear it, Richard! He lied to me about everything. And Roxanne, you are nothing like the terrible things he described. I am so, so sorry. Please, forgive me."

Roxanne stared at her. She waited for the familiar fire of anger to ignite, waited to feel the crushing weight of betrayal that another woman had helped Christian tear her life apart. But inside, she felt entirely hollow.

Shocked, yes, but the pain wasn’t there. Christian had already drained her of that. She let out a long, slow sigh and shook her head. "There is no need to apologize to me, Pamela."

Across the table, Margaret’s face twisted into an expression of sheer denial. She shook her head in rapid movements, utterly refusing to digest the stain her daughter had just put on the family crest.

"She is lying," Margaret declared, her voice trembling as she looked around the room for support. "Pamela is lying. She would never stoop so low as to touch a pathetic middle-class creature like that. She is clearly just trying to shield Roxanne. That’s all this is." She glared at her daughter. "Speak the truth this instant!"

Roxanne let out a quiet, humorless scoff, shaking her head at the matriarch’s blinding vanity.

"And why on earth would I invent a humiliation like this, Mother?" Pamela countered, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. "Christian will be walking through those double doors any minute now. You can get the details straight from his mouth."

"Well, as thoroughly disgusting and disappointing as this revelation is, let’s look at the strategic advantage here," Nicholas piped up, a slick, opportunistic glint in his eye. "This gives the board an excellent opportunity to hear from Pamela firsthand. We can see if he’s truly the abusive monster Roxanne and Richard claim he is, or if he’s simply a devastated husband trying to save his marriage while our billionaire President intimidates him."

Roxanne scoffed loudly this time, her restraint finally snapping under the weight of his malice. She leaned forward, her eyes locking onto Nicholas like a sniper rifle.

"If the fact that Christian was sleeping with your own sister isn’t substantial enough proof of his character, Nicholas, then I refuse to waste another breath defending myself to you. You have intentionally chosen to be blind."

Nicholas laughed, a sharp, grating sound that scraped violently against Roxanne’s raw nerves as he leaned back in his leather chair.

"You are entirely free to believe whatever delusional narrative helps you sleep at night," Roxanne added, her hands clenching into tight fists beneath the table as she fought to keep her voice from trembling.

Nicholas shook his head, watching her anger with a sick sense of amusement. He turned to face the rest of the board, spreading his hands wide. "We all know the playbook most women of her station use. They will spin whatever sob story is necessary to extract what they want, whether it’s unearned pity or the undivided attention of a billionaire bachelor like Richard."

A few subtle, corporate heads nodded along the table, and Roxanne felt a wave of pure, physical nausea twist her stomach.

Beside her, Richard’s jaw went completely rigid, a dangerous vein throbbing at his temple. He went to rise, his massive frame shifting, but Roxanne instantly leaned into his space. She laid a gentle, steadying hand on his forearm, giving a subtle shake of her head.

She looked back at Nicholas. "Your entire thought process, Nicholas, and the pathetic words that leave your mouth, are the exact reasons why you are not worth my time," she said, her voice dropping into a whisper dripping with venom.

Nicholas’s chest puffed out, fueled by the silent compliance of the older board members. "Is that so?" he mocked, a cruel sneer playing on his lips. "Because you, just like every single executive sitting around this mahogany, know that I am hitting the nail right on the head."

Richard’s dark eyes went completely black, his brows drawing down into a tight scowl. "Watch your mouth, Nick. This is your final warning."

"Oh, please, spare me the big-brother routine," Nicholas scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. "You can play her knight in shining armor all you want, Richard, but the facts remain. She will never truly belong to you, and you know it. As we speak, she is still legally carrying that loser’s last name."

Every eye in the boardroom was pinned on Nicholas now. He practically bathed in the spotlight, entirely drunk on his own arrogance.

Roxanne’s heart was hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs. The degrading insult made her want to leap across the table and physically rip the smug smile off his face. Beside her, Richard’s fists were clamped so fiercely that the skin over his knuckles looked ready to split.

Nicholas leaned over the table, his eyes glittering with malice as he delivered the final, dirty blow. "Have you actually bothered to think about what happens when you are not around, brother? You’re a brilliant businessman. Stop acting like a blind fool and letting this woman pull the wool over your eyes using nothing but what’s between her thighs."

The room went dead, terrifyingly silent as Roxanne’s face drained of every drop of color. Richard gritted his teeth so hard the sound echoed, the air between the brothers snapping like dry timber.

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