His Final Betrayal Was My First Move Chapter 30

His Final Betrayal Was My First Move Chapter 30

The moment the Bentley’s door closed, the chaos was shut out. Inside the hotel lobby, the iPad held high by the manager was like a cold tombstone, engraving an epitaph on Daphne’s social life.

In the face of security footage so clear it showed every calculated flicker of Daphne’s expression, no one dared say another word. Regret spread through the crowd like a plague, but what they regretted was not their blind allegiance, but Julian Mercer’s sentence: “I don’t want to see anyone who was here tonight in any institution funded by the Mercer Family Foundation.”

That sentence carried far more weight than a slap in the face.

The first to get the news was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley. Moments before, he had been angrily accusing Amelia. The next second, his phone buzzed. A brief email from HR informed him that, due to the reputational risk his behavior posed, his employment contract was terminated immediately. He was so angry he wanted to rush over and tear Daphne’s hypocritical face to shreds, but seeing her protected behind Griffin, he stopped. He couldn’t afford to offend either of them.

Next, an alumnus at a top law firm received a call from a partner, his voice cold as ice.

“We just got a notice from Mercer. They’ve withdrawn funding from one of our major M&A cases. You’re fired.”

Panic spread like ripples. Anyone connected to Mercer family businesses paid a painful price for their cheap sense of justice.

After leaving the hotel in disgrace, they exploded in private Facebook groups and on X. This time, all guns were aimed at Daphne. The video of her staged fall was somehow leaked to Page Six, and overnight, it spread across the internet.

Labels like “Boston’s #1 Schemer” and “Ivy League Disgrace” were reposted frantically. Once the wall began to crack, everyone pushed. Soon, people dug up how she had manipulated Amelia and Griffin in college and staged one “rescue” drama after another throughout their marriage. She was no longer a tragic ex-girlfriend; she was a homewrecker who enjoyed playing with people’s lives.

Seeing the trending topics, Daphne was so angry she trashed the penthouse apartment Griffin rented for her. Expensive porcelain and crystal shattered, just like her reputation.

Griffin’s situation was even worse. Julian Mercer’s retaliation was far more lethal than a single sentence. The Mercer Family Foundation formally revoked investment guarantees for several key projects under Whitaker Venture Capital. Once the news broke, Silicon Valley partners who had been on the fence immediately pulled out. Those who had already signed began delaying payments. Long-term partners who had planned to renew went straight to his competitors.

Griffin was overwhelmed, moving into his Financial District office. His phone rang nonstop, but he didn’t dare complain. He knew that offending the Mercer family was a death sentence in Boston’s capital circles.

Daphne couldn’t reach the overwhelmed Griffin, and the panic of being ignored nearly drove her to collapse. Just then, her ex-boyfriend Zack, the musician, somehow heard about her “situation” and began sending her concerned messages on Snapchat.

Wrapped in alcohol, marijuana, and Zack’s cheap sweet talk, Daphne found the long-lost feeling of being the center of attention. Half-resisting, half-yielding, she let herself fall into bed with him.

Afterward, she lay staring at the ceiling and told herself that Griffin was just too busy handling the company crisis. When he was done, he would come back to her and tolerate everything, just like he always had.

Thinking this, she became even more reckless. She took Zack to parties, went shopping on Fifth Avenue, and even brought him back to the apartment Griffin was paying for.

She charged everything to the supplementary American Express Black Card Griffin had given her, the one with no spending limit.

In his office, Griffin, who had been up all night dealing with the fallout, looked at the transaction alerts popping up on his phone. Each one was like a slap in the face. His company was on the verge of bankruptcy, and she was spending money like nothing had happened. A rage mixed with betrayal and humiliation ignited in his chest, threatening to burn him to ash.