Chapter 98

Drake’s POV

She thought the anniversary party would stabilize everything.

It would do the opposite.

The moment she mentioned press, I understood her angle. Public unity shields private fractures. If she could parade twenty-seven years of marriage in front of cameras, any whisper about infidelity, internal conflict, or instability would look ridiculous.

She wasn’t celebrating love.

She was reinforcing dominance.

And perhaps sending a message to Chloe without saying her name.

I walked into my study and shut the door quietly. My reflection stared back at me in the glass cabinet. Twenty-seven years.

Margaret and I had not been partners in a long time. We had been co-strategists. Co-owners. Co-survivors. Love had been replaced by leverage years ago.

And now she wanted a performance.

Fine.

If she wanted a spectacle, she would get one.

But not on her terms alone.

I picked up my phone and dialed my assistan