"I...I’m sorry. She just didn’t look like..."
Queen cut him off with a single raised hand.
"I will save you the disgrace of being fired publicly," she said sweetly. "Submit your resignation letter before the end of the day."
Kincaid looked like he might cry.
"Queen, it’s okay," Chay said softly. "I don’t want anyone fired on my account."
Queen turned to her, studied her for a mont, then sighed dramatically.
"Fine," she muttered. "You’re too nice."
Then she snapped her gaze back to Kincaid. "Get the hell out of my sight."
The man bolted out of the room so fast he nearly tripped.
Queen relaxed instantly, her ice-cold exterior lting away.
She turned to Drake with a smirk. "I haven’t seen you in a bit. Are you sure we still work in the sa building?"
Drake chuckled. "I’ve been on the field a lot, keeping up with all the Nuro businesses."
Queen nodded. "It is overwhelming at first, but you’ll get used to it." Then she turned to Chay. "You okay?"
Chayara smiled. "Of course. I’ll let you know how everything goes at the end of the day."
Queen kissed Chay on the cheek before striding out of the room, leaving behind an air of power and Chanel No. 5.
Drake turned to Chay, shaking his head with a grin. "Well. That was eventful."
Chay laughed, running a hand through her hair. "Welco to my life. People dismiss easily. I am used to it."
"Doesn’t make it right."
"Listen, I know I am not Nuro class beautiful and I don’t carry the confidence they have. I have made peace with my life."
"Chay, you cannot live in the shadows forever. A lot of things will slip through your fingers."
Chay sighed and shrugged. "I know the important things wont." Like you. But she didn’t say that last bit out loud.
*****
The engagent party at the Falco family ho was in full swing, buzzing with elegant guests, expensive wine, and the kind of polite small talk that made Chayara want to gouge her own eyes out with a cocktail fork. The Nuro na carried weight, and Queen, as usual, commanded attention.
Every aunt, uncle, distant cousin, and nosey neighbor had gathered around her like moths to a fla.
"Oh, you are just exquisite!" cooed one of Liam’s older aunts, gripping Queen’s hands.
"So refined. So elegant. So... powerful," sighed another relative, as though Queen were an ancient goddess who could bestow wealth and wisdom with a re glance.
Chayara, on the other hand, stood in the corner with a glass of untouched champagne, watching the spectacle unfold. She was used to this. People tended to forget she was even in the room once Queen arrived.
It wasn’t jealousy. It wasn’t even envy. She loved Queen fiercely, but sotis it was exhausting existing in her orbit.
Drake, ever the only person who rembered she was there, was currently helping Uncle Richard haul crates of imported wine from the car into the house. Chay sent him a small smile in gratitude.
Liam’s family was rich but not Nuro rich. The Falco estate was spacious, grand even, but compared to Queen’s world, it felt a bit... ordinary. The house had a cozy warmth to it, a stark contrast to the icy marble and steel of the Nuro empire. She wondered how Queen would adjust to this.
And then, just as she was debating sneaking out for so fresh air, Queen materialized next to her.
"Chay!" Queen whisper-yelled.
Chayara blinked. "What?"
"My bra unhooked."
Chay raised an eyebrow. "That’s all? You sound like the wedding venue got struck by lightning."
Queen huffed impatiently. "I need you to fix it before soone realizes I’m about to have a wardrobe malfunction in front of half of Liam’s family."
With a sigh, Chayara followed her through the crowd, dodging tipsy uncles and chatty cousins. Every room they passed was occupied. There were people everywhere.
"Ugh! Is there anywhere in this house that isn’t filled with humans?" Queen muttered under her breath.
Finally, Queen spotted a closed door and made a beeline for it. "This will do," she announced, twisting the knob and stepping in only to freeze mid-step.
Chay, a few paces behind, bumped right into her back.
"What? Why did you stop—"
Then she saw it.
Liam. Pants down.
A woman underneath him, tangled in white sheets.
Silence.
Chayara could hear the ticking of a clock sowhere in the room, the distant chatter of the party outside. She felt a strange sense of detachnt, as if she were watching a scene in a movie rather than standing in the middle of it.
Liam’s face drained of color. "Babe... I can explain."
Chayara wanted to laugh. Oh, this is going to be good.
Queen remained eerily quiet, her expression unreadable. She was still standing at the threshold of the room, staring at her fiancé.
The woman in the bed who Chay recognized as one of Liam’s so-called "family friends" let out a mortified squeak, yanking the covers up to her chin.
Chayara was livid.
"You absolute piece of shit." The words left her mouth before she could even process them.
Liam had the audacity to step toward Queen as if physical proximity could erase the sheer magnitude of his betrayal.
"Don’t." Chayara moved instantly, positioning herself between them. "Stay. The hell. Away from her."
Queen finally stirred, her voice smooth and controlled. "Chay, could you hook up my bra?"
Chayara blinked. "What?"
Queen turned to her, expression still unreadable. "My bra. Hook it."
Chay hesitated for half a second before reaching under Queen’s dress, fingers fumbling for the clasp. The entire ti, her eyes never left Liam, her glare promising unholy levels of violence if he so much as breathed wrong.
Once the bra was secured, Chay turned back to Queen, her voice softer. "Are you okay?"
Queen straightened her dress, smoothed back her hair, and let out a slow breath. Then she smiled.
"Yeah," Queen finally said. "Let’s go."
She turned on her heel, walking out of the room as though she had just witnessed soone spill a glass of wine rather than her fiancé balls-deep in another woman less than 24 hours before their wedding.
Back at the party, Queen barely lasted five minutes before excusing herself. "I’m feeling unwell," she told her parents and disappeared outside.
Chayara wasn’t about to leave her alone. She searched for Drake, finally spotting him still carrying crates.
"Queen needs us."
Drake wiped sweat off his forehead. "What happened?"
"She caught Liam screwing soone else."
Drake groaned loudly. "Here? Now?!"
Chay nodded.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Without another word, Drake dropped the wine bottle he was holding and bolted outside.
They found Queen pacing, talking to herself in rapid whispers.
"Hey, Queen..." Drake said gently. "Hey, babe... You good?"
"Yeah."
"Is there anything you need?"
"No. I think everything has been taken care of. I am just doing a ntal checklist to see if everything is prepared for tomorrow."
Drake and Chayara exchanged horrified glances.
"Don’t tell the wedding is still happening." Chayara’s voice rose an octave.
"Why wouldn’t it?" Queen asked, blinking as if she didn’t understand the question.
"BECAUSE YOU SAW YOUR FIANCÉ IN THE ACT!"
Queen sighed. "You don’t understand. Abby is off doing her residency. Chay, you have your art. Everyone else is great at sothing. The only thing I’m great at is running Nuro Corp. Take that away, and what do I have? And the one thing I need to take control is to be married, so tell —why shouldn’t the wedding hold tomorrow?"
Drake exhaled. "Queen, Nuro Corp isn’t going anywhere. You could wait ten years and still take over."
"Love isn’t in the cards for , Drake," Queen said, her voice softer now. "People don’t love for . They love what I represent. They love the idea of being with ."
"That’s not true..." Drake whispered.
Chayara stood still, realizing sothing she hadn’t before. This untouchable, powerful woman was lonely.
"I appreciate your concern, but this wedding is happening tomorrow," Queen declared. "Unless you have a replacent groom."
"Marry ."
Chayara’s heart stopped.
Queen’s head snapped up. "What?"
"Marry ," Drake repeated, eyes locked onto hers.
Chayara’s mouth opened, but nothing ca out. No. No, no, no.
Queen stared at Drake, expression unreadable.
"Co on," Drake continued. "You can divorce whenever you want. Just don’t marry that douchebag."
"So... like so kind of professional marriage thing?"
"Yes. Just until your dad hands over the company."
"Guys," Chayara finally found her voice. "You are NOT seriously considering this."
"Chay..."
"NO!" Chay took a step forward. "What’s the difference then? You don’t love each other either! She might as well marry the fool in there!"
"You’re really willing to let her go through with it?" Drake challenged.
No, she wasn’t.
But she wasn’t willing to lose him either.
Her heart ached. She thought of every single ti she could have told him she loved him. Every mont she let pass. Every opportunity she wasted.
And now? It was too late.
Drake turned back to Queen. "It’s the only way."
Chayara watched, helpless, as Queen slowly nodded.
"Okay."
And just like that, it was done.
Chayara couldn’t breathe.
So she turned around, forcing herself to walk away. To hide in her car.
To cry where nobody would see.
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