At home, he complained that I spent too much time with the children.
And whenever I asked about company decisions, he reminded me that he was CEO.
I gradually stopped attending public events.
Not because I wanted to disappear.
But because every appearance became another opportunity for Julian to humiliate me.
The newspapers called me financially dependent.
They said I’d married into wealth.
They described me as a former consultant who had abandoned her career.
Julian never corrected them.
Eventually, even our friends began believing the story.
Then Serafine Sardis entered our lives.
She was thirty-one.
Elegant.
Ambitious.
And the company’s communications director.
At first, she was professional.
She organized press events.
Managed interviews.
And helped Julian improve his public image.
Then she began accompanying him on business trips.
Attending private dinners.
And appearing in photographs beside him.
I noticed.
Of course I noticed.
But Julian dismissed my concerns.
“She’s doing her job.”
