Chapter 1 - The Golden CageFor the first three years, my marriage to Marcus Thorne felt like a fairy tale written in boardrooms and penthouses.
Then came Isabella Rossi. She was hired as the new Vice President of Acquisitions, but her title was just a cover for her true role in Marcus’s life. Isabella was a predator wrapped in designer silk. The psychological warfare began subtly. At corporate dinners, she would sit just a fraction too close to him. She would laugh at his jokes before the punchline was even delivered. Soon, the torment escalated into private, whispered insults. She would corner me in the powder room to mock my maternity clothes or feign concern for my “pregnancy fatigue” while her eyes promised my destruction.
Marcus was willfully blind. Whenever I brought up her blatant disrespect, he brushed it off. “She’s a shark, Khloe. It’s just her personality. We need her for the Varma merger.” I told myself to endure it. I told myself that once the baby was born, things would change. I didn't know that my endurance was exactly what they were counting on.
