The Loyal Assistant

Gideon went rigid. He slowly released his tight grip on her shoulders, his knuckles flashing bone-white from the strained tension in his large hands. A dark, unreadable scoff left his lips as he stared down at her defiant posture within the dim cabin.

He slammed his designer shoe down on the gas pedal. "Audrey, you have some nerve."

The heavy car engine roared, presenting a stark contrast to the thick, suffocating silence that settled over them. They did not exchange a single syllable for the remainder of the trip. The rigid tension lingering in the enclosed space made the short drive back to their shared estate feel like a grueling eternity.

The moment they stepped through the heavy front doors, Gideon disappeared straight into the master bathroom. The steady sound of running water soon echoed from the large shower, masking his presence in the sprawling house.

Audrey picked up the sleek leather bag containing their marriage license. She turned toward the grand staircase, her heels clicking against the hardwood floor. She had barely ascended two steps before a persistent trill interrupted the quiet air.

Gideon had left his smartphone sitting face-up on the entry console table.

She paused. A strange pull directed her back toward the table. She stared down at the glowing screen. A single-letter contact flashed brightly in crisp white text: *B*.

Her gut instinct flared up in a rapid heartbeat. She knew with deep certainty it was Lila. Without another second of hesitation, Audrey swiped her thumb across the glass to answer the incoming call.

A sickly-sweet voice filtered through the tiny phone speaker.

"Honey, I miss you. Honey, why aren't you saying anything?"

Audrey almost laughed at the transparent routine. Her voice dripped with cool sarcasm as she responded.

"Ms. Barton, your timing really could not be worse. Gideon is in the shower right now, but hang on. I will get him for you."

Lila gasped, her breath catching harshly on the other end of the line. "Why is it you?"

Audrey paid the panicked question no mind and resumed walking up the curved staircase. The bathroom door flew open in a frantic rush before she even reached the top landing. Gideon burst out into the hallway, water still dripping heavily down his toned chest. He had hastily thrown a plush white bathrobe around his waist, leaving it hanging open. Blind panic widened his dark eyes as he spotted Audrey standing on the top step.

He froze in place, his gaze dropping instantly to the glowing phone in her poised hand. "Audrey..."

Audrey arched an elegant eyebrow. She held the device out toward his damp frame. "Ms. Barton for you."

Guilt flashed across his handsome face. He snatched the phone from her fingers and immediately pivoted toward the master bedroom, attempting a swift retreat.

Audrey leaned back against the polished stair railing with amused detachment. She folded her arms loosely across her chest. "Do you really need to sneak off just to take a call?"

Gideon stiffened. He stopped in his tracks and slowly turned back around to face her. "No, I just did not want to bother you."

"I am not bothered at all. Put it on speaker. I want to hear what Ms. Barton has to say calling this late, cooing 'honey' like that."

Gideon hesitated, clutching the metal frame of the device tight before scrambling for a flimsy excuse. "She must have dialed the wrong number."

He tapped the screen to activate the speakerphone. His tone shifted into something cold, stern, and noticeably distant.

"Lila, watch what you are doing with your phone next time. Do not misdial and stir up trouble."

Gideon frantically tapped the red button, terminating the connection abruptly. He turned his attention back to Audrey, eyeing her warily.

"Audrey, it was just a wrong number. Do not overthink it. She is married now, and there is nothing going on between us."

Audrey did not offer a verbal response. She simply brushed past his damp shoulder, entered the suite, and took a quick shower. The steaming water did nothing to wash away the creeping disgust. She dried off, slipped into her pajamas, and climbed into the large marital bed, pulling the silken sheets high over her shoulders.

Before long, Gideon slipped into the quiet room. He sat on the far edge of the mattress and gently tucked the covers around her waist, checking her breathing. Convinced she was fast asleep, he grabbed his phone.

The harsh glare of the bright screen stung her eyes in the dark room. Audrey kept her breathing steady and feigned deep sleep. Through her squinted lashes, she caught a clear glimpse of his open chat window. He was undeniably using a hidden alternate account.

Lila's contact name was saved simply and disgustingly as "Baby."

Lila sent a new message, the text bubble popping up on the screen.

[Gideon, why did she have your phone? It freaked me out.]

Gideon quickly typed out a reassuring response.

[Be good, baby. Do not call this primary number anymore. If you need me, reach out through Trevor Hughes.]

Audrey shut her eyes tight as a heavy, cold weight anchored deep in her stomach.

Trevor Hughes was one of Gideon's trusted personal assistants. Beneath the thick covers, her manicured nails dug painfully into her own palms as her hands clenched into tight fists. Trevor had originally worked for the Langdon family company alongside her father. He was the son of her late father's loyal right-hand man, and Audrey had grown up treating Trevor like a dependable older brother.

When the Langdon family business hit rock bottom, Trevor lost all hope of maintaining his promising career trajectory with the group. His father had come to Audrey, begging her to find a secure place for his son. She had seized a rare moment when Gideon was desperately trying to win her back and struck a firm deal. She leveraged her own heartache and pride to secure Trevor a lucrative, protected position within the Sterling family empire.

She had trusted Trevor with her life. She never dreamed that all these years, while Trevor played the devoted role of a respectful and loyal subordinate to her face, he had been secretly covering for the cheating couple. He facilitated their hidden affairs and swept away their treacherous tracks behind her back.

The sickening realization amplified the hollow aching in her chest. Trevor owed his very livelihood to her grace, yet he repaid her by wrapping a comfortable blanket around her husband's deceit.

Audrey struggled to force her lungs to take in air evenly. She opened her eyes just a fraction to watch Gideon send another message into the chat.

[She is asleep now. I am coming over. Make sure to slip into that bunny outfit and wait for me.]

The vile words burned her retinas. The sheer audacity of his scheduling a midnight sexual rendezvous while sitting on the edge of their shared bed felt staggering.

Gideon glanced over his shoulder. He reached out and gently brushed his knuckles against her warm cheek, confirming once more that she was out cold. Satisfied by her lack of movement, he stood up from the luxury mattress. He snatched his dark jacket draped over the reading chair and crept out of the bedroom like a thief.

The sharp click of the front door locking echoed up through the quiet house.

Audrey shot up from the mattress the second the metal latch fell into place. She bolted across the carpeted floor and shoved the bathroom door open. Collapsing to her bare knees on the cold tile, she leaned over the toilet bowl. A wave of harsh nausea twisted her insides. She retched over the porcelain rim again and again until her stomach was empty.

The betrayal from Gideon was expected, but Trevor's sly complicity added a rancid layer of deceit that her brain could barely process. She slumped back, resting her sweaty cheek against the smooth tile floor to steady her racing heart.

The sharp ringing of her cell phone shattered the quiet air.

Audrey hauled herself up from the floor. Her legs felt shaky and weak as she walked back out to the bedside table to grab the device. It was her lawyer, Harvey.

"Mrs. Sterling, we have gone through Gideon's assets. In a standard lawsuit division, you would split them evenly. You would walk away with five properties, two parcels of land, and 1.7 billion dollars in liquid assets."

Audrey tightened her grip on the slim device until her joints ached. Her voice came out rough and raspy in the dark room.

"Even with my initial shares thrown in, that is all I would get?"

"That is right. He has poured most of his funds back into running the company. If you are after a larger share, you would have to nail him on severe crimes. You need to use his missteps as leverage to sue for extra damages."

Her mind flashed straight to the hidden marriage license. Proving bigamy was a massive, undeniable felony. Gideon conned her into investing her inheritance to prop up his failing company, squandering her prime years while maintaining a secret, illegal marriage with Lila. Nailing him for bigamy could force him to fork over the bulk of his massive fortune in justified compensation. Right now, she needed to keep building an airtight case, leaving him no room for defense. She would bleed him dry until he was broke and ruined. Only then would the suffocating knot of vengeance in her chest finally unravel.

Audrey shut her eyes and rubbed her throbbing temples. Another property sprang to the forefront of her thoughts. The thought of that specific riverside villa in Silverleaf Residence twisted her gut.

When her mother was on her deathbed, she heard Gideon and Audrey were patching things up and getting officially married. Believing her daughter had found true happiness, the dying woman splurged on the luxury villa as a grand wedding gift, placing both Audrey and Gideon's names on the permanent deed.

After her mother passed, Audrey could not bear to set foot on the property. The memories tied to the purchase were too raw. It remained the only physical location listed under both of their names. Gideon never touched a single inch of the house or contributed a cent to its upkeep, but legally, he owned half of it.

"That villa in my name at Silverleaf Residence is co-owned with Gideon. Does it count toward the five properties I would get?"

Harvey hesitated on the line. The shuffling of legal papers could be heard through the speaker.

"No, it does not. The title is in both names, so it would stay a shared asset even without a divorce. To claim it fully, you would have to spell it out in the divorce papers for him to sign, or get him to transfer his portion willingly."

Audrey fell silent. She needed to carve up the assets on the down-low, then slam him with the bigamy proof to make him pay through the nose. Tipping him off beforehand by drawing up papers was a no-go. Asking for a voluntary transfer would invite a barrage of suspicious questions she was not ready to dodge.

"What if neither of those options pan out?"

Harvey paused to think the problem through.

"There is one covert workaround. Reach out to family or a trusted friend. Sell the place to them now on paper, then buy it back after the divorce and the transfer is done. It keeps him from ever knowing."

Audrey sat up straight on the edge of the bed. Her eyes sparked with the brilliance of the loophole. Her mind went straight to Sienna Harper, her fiercely loyal best friend. With all the chaotic fallout of discovering Gideon's dual life, she had not found a quiet moment to loop Sienna into the developing nightmare.

She ended the call with Harvey and immediately pulled up Sienna's contact info.

Sienna was a high-level executive in the IT sector. She was fresh off a grueling international business trip and was currently trying to shake off heavy jet lag with a midnight foot bath and a private sauna session in her luxury apartment.

Audrey held the phone to her ear and let the horrific story pour out. She detailed the secret second marriage, the gaslighting, Trevor's vile betrayal, and the infuriating text messages.

Sienna practically overheated with rage. The heat from the sauna seemed to amplify her raging temper as the sordid details fully sank in.

"That scumbag Gideon is a natural-born cheater! One affair was not enough for him? You handed him a generous second shot, and he throws it away in the dirt! Ditch that sleazeball right now. He is toxic and not worth a single tear. Just say the word: how can I help?"