That evening, she made Dorian’s favorite meal, lit candles on the table, and asked him about his meetings. He smiled, pleased by her devotion, and kissed her cheek before bed. He had no idea she already carried the blueprint of his betrayal.
In the stillness of night, while he slept, she created a folder on her own laptop. She named it Fortress. Inside it, she stored every note, every piece of evidence, and the outlines of a plan that would ensure he never stripped her of what was rightfully hers.
What Dorian never knew was that Elara was wealthy long before their marriage. She had built Montrose Holdings, an art logistics firm that quietly expanded into a European powerhouse, worth nearly half a billion euros. She never bragged about it, never sought magazines or interviews, and allowed others to assume Dorian was the financial pillar of the family. She preferred shadows to spotlights, freedom to applause.
Now those shadows were her shield.