VIVIAN'S POV
The dinner table is a minefield.
Vivian sits beside Kade, surrounded by tech executives and their wives, all of them talking about acquisitions and market trends and things that have nothing to do with her. The conversation flows around her like water around a stone. She stays quiet, sips water, tries to become invisible.
It's working. Nobody's looking at her. Nobody's asking her questions. She can just exist here without having to perform or pretend or explain why she's sitting at this table when she doesn't belong.
Then an investor across the table looks directly at her.
"So Miss Lawson, what do you do?" He smiles like he's being friendly but the condescension drips from his words like poison. "Besides look decorative?"
Every head turns.
The table goes quiet.
Vivian feels Kade go very still beside her. She can sense him waiting to see what she'll do. Will she play along? Will she smile and deflect? Will she become the decorative woman he's describing?
