She Didn’t Fix Her Reputation. She Threw It Away. Chapter 07

She Didn’t Fix Her Reputation. She Threw It Away. Chapter 07

Friday night dinner was the same as always: quiet, oppressive, and exquisitely catered.

The soft clink of silverware against bone china was the usual prelude to my mother’s pronouncements.

“Daphne, the PR team has made a decision,” she said, not looking up from her plate. “Next week, you and Beckett will attend the Children’s Health Fund gala together. A united front is the strongest response.”

I nodded, playing the part of the obedient daughter I had always been.

“Yes, Mother.”

I lied.

I didn’t tell her this might be the last time I sat at this table.

I didn’t tell her the Ghost Protocol was already in motion.

To disappear completely, I first had to give everyone the ending they expected.

At the requisite social events that weekend, I was the eye of the storm.

People watched me as if I were a performance piece. Some snickered, some feigned ignorance, some whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

“Here comes the party girl.”

“She seems to have recovered quickly.”

“Beckett certainly knows how to have a good time.”

I kept my face a blank mask, picked up a glass of sparkling water, and moved through the crowd.

Let them talk.

This was the last time they would ever have the chance.

It didn’t take long for Beckett to find me.

He approached with two glasses of champagne and that infuriatingly confident smile, as if my fury was a charming little tantrum he could coax me out of.

“Still mad?” He offered me a glass.

I didn’t take it.

He set it aside and leaned in closer.

“I booked a cabin in Aspen for next week. We’ll go skiing. And I had that Cartier bracelet you wanted delivered.”

In his world, everything had a price.

Including my dignity.

I ignored him.

I pulled my phone from my clutch and began replying to emails from my trust fund manager, authorizing a series of asset transfers.

One by one, I was severing the financial ties that had once been woven into his future.

My silence finally chipped away at his smile.

“Daphne, that’s enough.” His voice hardened. “I already apologized. What more do you want?”

He gestured vaguely around the room. “It’s just some tabloid gossip. What woman in our circle hasn’t dealt with this? Look at that actress who married into the royal family. She was photographed on vacation with her ex, and a week later she was back on the circuit. You’re overreacting.”

He didn’t get it.

Or he just didn’t care.

This was never about gossip.

This was about a betrayal orchestrated by the person who was supposed to be my safe harbor.

At that moment, his phone rang.

Anya’s name flashed on the screen.

He actually answered the video call, right there in front of me.

Anya’s face filled the screen. The moment she saw me, her expression shifted into one of innocent, wide-eyed guilt, her lower lip caught delicately between her teeth.

“Daphne, you’re there too! I am so, so sorry. I never thought the media would take it that far. I was just joking around with Beckett…”

Her voice was so cloyingly sweet it made me nauseous.

“Enough.”

I cut her off.

My voice wasn’t loud, but it was sharp enough to slice through the air.

The chatter around us seemed to quiet.

I didn’t even look at her. I just spoke the single word to the phone in his hand.

Then I put my own phone away.

I was done watching this pathetic performance.

I refused to waste the last hours of my old life on them.

Beckett ended the call immediately.

He looked at me as if I had just committed a grave offense.

“Anya already apologized, Daphne. Don’t hold a grudge.” He frowned. “She just likes to have fun. She’s not a bad person.”

Not a bad person?

I almost laughed out loud.

Anya was a master at pushing boundaries. She played the innocent, but every move was calculated to land on someone else’s most vulnerable point.

And Beckett had fallen for it completely.

“I’m going to the restroom,” I said, standing up.

I needed to get away for a minute.

If I stayed any longer, I was afraid I might detonate this whole fake, glittering affair.