The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband – Episode 53
Natalie entered the Klein boardroom alone. Sebastian waited outside at her request, surrendering both his seat and the protection his presence would provide. The directors assessed her as though the marriage were a risky asset requiring disposal.
The chair asked whether she understood the damage caused by her family’s conduct. Natalie replied that Cassie and Lauren were responsible for their own actions, just as Klein executives were responsible for policies that once denied Stephanie Myers recognition and medical support.
The comparison unsettled them. Several directors had served during that period and preferred to treat it as private history rather than institutional failure.
Natalie described how secrecy protected reputation by transferring consequences to powerless people. Stephanie bore the Klein family’s shame; Natalie was now expected to bear the board’s anxiety about scandal.
“Postponing my wedding will not change what happened,” she said. “It will only prove this company still believes inconvenient women should disappear.”
One director accused her of using marriage to influence corporate policy. Natalie produced her independent employment agreement and financial waiver. She had declined control she never earned and asked only that directors judge leadership through results.
Klein stock had risen since Sebastian’s takeover. Employee-retention numbers improved, fraudulent contracts were terminated, and Stephanie’s foundation attracted respected partners. The marriage had harmed none of those outcomes.
“If you distrust Sebastian’s judgment, vote against him honestly,” Natalie concluded. “Do not use me as a softer target because confronting him is harder.”
Outside, Sebastian watched the time without accessing the room’s security feed. Keeping his promise required accepting that Natalie might be attacked where he could not intervene.
The doors opened after an hour. The board chair invited him inside and withdrew the proposal to delay the wedding. No one apologized, but the retreat was complete.
Sebastian found Natalie near the elevators. “Do I want to know what you said?”
“You’ll receive the minutes.” Her smile revealed satisfaction rather than injury. “No hidden recordings.”
He offered his arm, and she accepted. Walking beside him publicly felt different now because neither stood there as the other’s disguise.
News of the board meeting reached the press through an anonymous director. Headlines portrayed Natalie as either a gold digger demanding influence or a fearless reformer. Both versions flattened her into something easier to sell.
She responded with a written statement focused on the foundation’s mission and declined personal interviews. Refusing spectacle became its own kind of power.
That evening, George called. He had seen the news and wanted to attend the wedding. Natalie had not included him on the initial guest list.
He did not claim paternal rights. He asked for a seat in the back and promised not to walk her down the aisle unless invited.
Natalie remembered the first ceremony, where no family member stood beside either bride or groom. Absence had been part of the humiliation.
She told George he could attend as a guest. Walking her down the aisle belonged to her mother, the person who had remained when he left.
George accepted quietly. After the call, Natalie opened her wedding checklist and added his name. A second message arrived moments later from an unknown number: Cassie wanted to see her before the ceremony and claimed she possessed something that belonged to Stephanie Myers.