Loading promotion info...
My Husband’s Mistress Thought She Owned My Auction House
Novelix
Completed
Claire Whitmore walks into her family’s auction house with a $15 million consignment—only to be shoved aside by Vanessa Reed, a manager who proudly claims the Managing Director is her fiancé. There is just one problem: Ethan Cole is Claire’s husband. As Vanessa humiliates her, blocks her mother from getting emergency help, and even forces Claire to kneel on livestream, Ethan’s betrayal becomes impossible to ignore. Claire stops protecting him, demands a divorce, and steps into the company he thought he controlled. Now Ethan and Vanessa are about to learn who truly owns Whitmore & Co.
Chapters (3)
第1章
A woman cuts in front of me at my family’s auction house and tells me her fiancé runs the place.
I frown.
Because the Managing Director she is talking about is Ethan Cole.
My husband.
I came to Whitmore & Co. to consign part of my family’s private collection. After waiting nearly half an hour, I am finally next when Vanessa Reed walks up with another woman and steps straight in front of me.
“Excuse me. There’s a line.”
Instead of apologizing, Vanessa looks me over.
“Do you know who I am?”
“My fiancé is the Managing Director here. I’m letting one of my VIP clients go first. What’s wrong with that?”
She lifts her chin.
“VIP clients get priority. If you don’t like it, go somewhere else.”
I immediately call Ethan.
“When did Whitmore & Co. start letting employees push scheduled clients aside for their own VIPs?”
He barely reacts.
“Vanessa has a temper. Don’t make a big deal out of it.”
“Her client is important. Just let her go first.”
“And don’t embarrass Vanessa in front of a client. She handles VIP relationships for me. How is she supposed to work if you undermine her in public?”
Then he hangs up.
Vanessa points back toward the waiting area.
“You heard him. Go wait.”
When I do not move, she gives me a hard shove.
“You’re holding up an actual VIP client.”
I have heard enough.
I turn and head straight for Ethan’s office.
I want to ask my husband one question to his face.
Since when does someone else get to make the rules in my family’s auction house?
-
Vanessa rushes after me and grabs my arm.
“Are you deaf?”
Her fingers dig into my skin.
“I told you to wait. Why are you going into my fiancé’s office?”
I yank my arm free.
“I don’t care what kind of relationship you have with your boss.”
Her face tightens.
“But you’re a Senior VIP Client Relations Manager. You don’t get to push scheduled clients aside because you feel like it.”
I push open the office door.
And stop.
Ethan is not inside.
But someone else clearly spends a lot of time here.
A pair of women’s heels sits beside the couch.
A silk scarf is draped over the armrest.
There is a makeup bag on the side table and an overnight bag tucked near the private bathroom.
This does not look like a woman who dropped by once.
Vanessa folds her arms behind me.
“My fiancé isn’t here, so stop wasting your time.”
A few employees nearby look over.
One whispers,
“Who is she?”
Another says,
“No idea. But if Vanessa decides not to process her consignment, she’s done that before.”
A third lowers her voice.
“Mr. Cole told us Vanessa speaks for him when he’s not here.”
I turn around.
“She’s refused clients before?”
No one answers.
The woman Vanessa brought with her gives me a dismissive look.
“You sound jealous.”
Vanessa smiles.
The woman continues,
“Ethan takes Vanessa on business trips all the time. Everyone knows they’re together. If you want special treatment, find yourself a Managing Director too.”
Vanessa gives her a playful nudge.
“Diane, don’t say that. She might actually try to steal him.”
Diane Parker looks me up and down.
“With what?”
A few people laugh.
Then someone nearby says,
“Didn’t Ethan buy Vanessa a Porsche for her birthday?”
My attention snaps back.
A Porsche?
A few months ago, Ethan put a large charge on one of my credit cards.
When I asked about it, he told me he had secured a major consignment and needed to buy an expensive gift for the client.
I never questioned it.
Vanessa smiles wider.
Diane says,
“He spoils you.”
So that was the client gift.
A birthday present for her.
Vanessa reaches over and knocks my handbag off the counter.
“Stop standing there. Diane has a quarter-million-dollar jewelry consignment. Her time is worth more than yours.”
Diane bumps past me and takes the chair at the desk.
“If you don’t have serious money, move.”
I look at the folder in my hand.
Then I place it on the desk in front of them.
“Two hundred and fifty thousand?”
I tap the valuation packet once.
“The collection I came here to consign is worth fifteen million dollars.”
第2章
For a second, the entire lobby goes silent.
The collection belongs to my family.
My father recently decided to consign a group of jewelry, paintings, and antiques that had been sitting in storage for years. He told me I could keep whatever I wanted, or sell none of it at all.
Instead, I chose to bring the entire fifteen-million-dollar consignment to the New York office.
Ethan had been complaining about his annual numbers for months.
I thought this would help him.
Now I am not so sure I want his office getting credit for any of it.
The silence lasts only a few seconds before someone laughs.
“Fifteen million?”
Another employee snorts. “If she really had a fifteen-million-dollar collection, Mr. Cole would be down here himself.”
Diane looks at me as if I have just told the worst joke she has ever heard.
Vanessa laughs too.
Then a young employee hurries over, looking uneasy.
“Vanessa, we actually do have an eight-figure consignment scheduled today.”
Vanessa’s smile stiffens.
The employee glances at me.
“The client is a Whitmore. Could she be—”
“Are you serious?” Vanessa cuts her off.
She gives me another long look, then scoffs.
“Someone like her?”
“Go check the full appointment details. It’s obviously not her.”
The employee hesitates, then leaves.
I have heard enough.
I reach for my handbag.
I would rather go home and ask Ethan exactly what has been going on behind my back.
But before I can pick it up, Vanessa smacks it off the counter.
My bag hits the floor.
Everything inside spills across the polished marble.
I stare at her.
Vanessa folds her arms. “Leaving now?”
She smiles.
“Funny timing. You heard we were checking the appointment and suddenly you want to run.”
“This is how you treat clients?”
“Clients?” She lets out a short laugh. “You haven’t proven you’re one.”
I crouch to gather my things.
“You know you can be fired for this, right?”
“Fired?”
Vanessa looks almost offended by the idea.
“This is a private, family-owned auction house. Ethan runs this place.”
She points at herself.
“And I’m his fiancée. Who exactly do you think is going to fire me?”
Her finger presses against my shoulder.
“I think your fifteen-million-dollar collection is fake, and now you’re trying to leave before everyone finds out.”
Then she freezes.
Her gaze drops to the floor.
“What is that?”
Before I can stop her, she bends down and picks up a gold key fob.
Her face changes instantly.
“Why do you have this?”
I look at the key fob in her hand.
Years ago, I had two matching pieces made by a private jeweler for Ethan and me. Both were engraved with the same private date.
One for him.
One for me.
Vanessa turns it over in her palm.
Her eyes narrow at the engraving.
“I’ve seen Ethan’s.”
I hold out my hand.
“Give it back.”
“Where did you get this?”
“I paid for it.”
Her face flushes.
“You paid for it?”
She grips the key fob tighter.
“This matches Ethan’s. Same design. Same engraving.”
“That’s because—”
She throws it at my feet.
The gold piece strikes the marble with a sharp crack.
I look down.
One corner has been badly dented.
Vanessa points at me.
“No wonder you’ve been picking a fight with me since you walked in.”
Her voice rises.
“You’re sleeping with my fiancé.”
For a moment, I genuinely do not know what to say.
She steps closer.
“You came into his office, you have a matching gift, and you keep acting like you own the place.”
Her eyes burn with anger.
“You’re his mistress, aren’t you?”
Diane makes a disgusted sound.
Vanessa continues, louder now, making sure everyone in the lobby can hear.
“You sleep with another woman’s man and then come here carrying the things he gave you just to provoke me?”
I bend down and pick up the damaged key fob.
“There are security cameras everywhere.”
I look back at her.
“You just destroyed my property. Keep going, and I’ll call the police.”
“The police?”
Diane gives a sharp laugh.
“If that belongs to Ethan, then Vanessa had every right to take it.”
She points at me.
“If you’re sleeping with someone else’s fiancé, don’t show up at his workplace looking for sympathy.”
I take out my phone.
Before I can dial, the front doors of the auction house open behind us.
A familiar voice cuts through the lobby.
“What did you just call my daughter?”
I turn.
My mother, Margaret Whitmore, is standing at the entrance.
Her face is pale with disbelief.
She looks straight at Vanessa.
“Who exactly are you calling a mistress?”
第3章
Vanessa points at me the second she sees my mother.
“Who else?”
She raises her voice so the entire lobby can hear.
“Everyone should be careful around this woman. She’s been sleeping with my fiancé.”
My mother stares at her.
“You must have made a mistake. My daughter can’t possibly—”
Vanessa cuts her off and lifts her hand toward my face.
“Why not?”
“She’s been trying to get into Ethan’s office since she got here.”
My mother moves before I can.
“Don’t touch my daughter!”
Vanessa’s hand lands across my mother’s face instead.
The sound cracks through the lobby.
My mother stumbles, one hand flying to her chest. Her breath catches.
“Mom!”
Vanessa takes two quick steps back.
“She jumped in front of me. That has nothing to do with me.”
Then she looks at my mother with open disgust.
“So you’re with her too?”
“Don’t start pretending you’re hurt. If you try to scam this auction house, you’ll never be allowed through these doors again.”
A few people nearby immediately start agreeing with her.
A few people nearby murmur that my mother stepped in on her own.
Someone mutters, “Just take this outside before somebody gets hurt.”
I barely hear them.
My mother’s lips have gone pale.
My stomach drops.
She has a history of heart problems. Stress like this is the last thing she needs.
I catch her before she can fall.
“Mom. Look at me. Can you breathe?”
She tries to answer, but no words come out.
Then I remember the emergency station in the lobby.
I stand and rush toward it.
Vanessa moves in front of me.
“What are you doing?”
“My mother is having a medical emergency. Move.”
I reach for the emergency kit, but Vanessa blocks my hand.
“No.”
For a second, I think I misheard her.
“What?”
“That equipment is for Whitmore clients.”
I stare at her.
“She is having chest pain and can barely breathe.”
“And if you use our equipment and something happens to her, then what?”
I can hardly believe what I am hearing.
“This is emergency equipment. It is here for anyone who needs it.”
Vanessa pushes the kit back against the wall.
“Not today.”
Her mouth curls.
“Ethan runs this place. I decide what happens on this floor.”
Behind me, my mother lets out a low, painful sound.
My hands start shaking.
“Move.”
Vanessa does not.
“Go act somewhere else. You are not turning this place into a scene.”
One of the employees finally speaks up.
“Vanessa, she really doesn’t look well.”
Another says, “We should call 911.”
Vanessa whips around.
“No one does anything unless I say so.”
She points at them.
“She’s faking it. If anyone here wants to ignore me, go ahead. I’ll tell Ethan exactly who refused to follow instructions.”
The employees fall silent.
I pull out my phone and call 911 myself.
Then I open the camera, take several photos of the lobby, the emergency station, and my mother on the floor, and send them to my family group chat.
Vanessa sees me.
“What did you just send?”
She grabs my phone before I can step back and hurls it onto the floor.
The screen cracks.
“You don’t get to post lies about this auction house.”
I stare at the broken phone.
“You’re the one destroying its reputation.”
Her phone rings.
She looks at the screen, and her entire expression softens.
“Ethan.”
She answers in a sweet voice.
“Baby, when are you coming back?”
His voice comes through clearly enough for me to hear.
“Everything okay there? Did your client finish the appointment?”
Vanessa immediately starts complaining.
“I was handling Diane’s consignment, and this crazy woman refused to wait. Then she started attacking me.”
“Ethan, come back. I’m so upset.”
He exhales.
“Don’t waste your energy on random people.”
His tone turns gentle.
“I’ll make it up to you. We can take that island trip you wanted.”
Vanessa smiles.
“And the bag?”
“I’ll get you the bag too.”
Diane nudges her with a grin.
“He really does spoil you.”
Something inside me goes completely cold.
I step toward Vanessa and raise my voice so there is no chance Ethan can miss it.
“Ethan Cole.”
The line goes silent.
“You have ten minutes to get back here.”
