HIS STRIPPER, HIS WIFE novel Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Bianca

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I was walking back from Amanda’s desk with two cups of coffee balanced carefully in my hands when the part time office secretary, came around the corner holding a small stack of cream colored envelopes.

“These just came in for the department heads,” she said, handing one to me before I could even set the cups down properly. “Charity gala. Julian is hosting it. Everyone is invited.”

I balanced my coffee against my hip and turned the envelope over. It was heavy, expensive looking paper,/gold lettering across the front. I opened it right there in the hallway, and my eyes skimmed the words quickly.

Children’s Education Fund Gala. Saturday evening. Black tie. Hosted by Julian.

“A gala,” I said out loud, mostly to myself, folding the card back into the envelope.

“Are you going?” She asked, already moving toward the next desk with the rest of the stack in her arms.

“I don’t know yet.” I said, and I meant it.

Thadn’t seen Adrian in two full days, not since that morning in his office, the files, the board meeting, the way his face had changed so quickly after he checked his phone.

He rushed out right after the meeting ended and I hadn’t seen him since, not even a text beyond a quick line saying he had to travel for something urgent. I didn’t even know if he would be attending this gala or not, and honestly, without him confirming anything, going alone to some fancy event where I would know almost nobody felt like more stress than I wanted to deal with.

I dropped the coffee off at my desk and went straight to Amanda’s, the invitation still in my hand.

“Look at this.” I said, sliding it across her desk.

She picked it up, read it fast, and her whole face lit up like I had just handed her a winning lottery ticket. “We are going.”

“I don’t think so.” I said, already shaking my head. “I haven’t even seen Adrian in two days, Amanda. I don’t know if he’s even attending, and I really don’t feel like standing in a room full of strangers by myself.”

“You won’t be by yourself, you’ll be with me.” she said, like that settled everything. “And even if Adrian isn’t there, so what? You deserve one night out that isn’t spent worrying about work or anything else. When last did you even dress up for something?”

I dress up for work every day.”

“That doesn’t count and you know it.” She rolled her eyes at me. “This is happening, Bianca. I am not backing down on this Fone

I sighed and reached for the invitation, tucking it into my bag, already knowing from her tone that arguing further was a waste of my energy.

That evening. Emma called while I was still at my desk finishing up the last bit of paperwork before heading home.

Amanda already told me about the gala” she said the second I picked up, no greeting, nothing.

“Word travels fast I muttered, leaning back in my chair.

You have to go Einina id, and there was something different in her voice, lighter than it had been in weeks, like the trip really had done something good for her “You’ve been buried in that office for months, Bianca. One night. Just go and enjoy

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yourself for once.”

‘I don’t even know if Adrian is going.” I admitted, rubbing my temple.

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“Even more reason to go and remind him what he’s missing when he sees you.” she said, and I could practically hear the grin in her voice. “And wear that green dress. The one Amanda got you months ago that’s still sitting in your closet with the tag on it.”

“That dress is too much.” I said immediately. “It’s too expensive, too tight, too everything.”

“It’s perfect and you know it. You’re always hiding in those work, you must wear it.”

I didn’t have a good enough argument left in me by the time I hung up the phone, and by Saturday evening, I found myself standing in front of my mirror in that exact green dress, staring at my own reflection like I barely recognized the woman looking back at me.

It fit perfectly, clinging to my body in all the right places, the deep green color making my skin look warm and glowing under the bathroom light. It had a slit up one side that showed more leg than I was used to showing, and the neckline dipped low enough that I kept adjusting it nervously even though it sat exactly where it was designed to sit.

“You look incredible.” Amanda said when she picked me up, her eyes running over me the second I climbed into her car. “I knew that dress would be perfect on you.”

“I feel naked.” I muttered, tugging at the hem as I settled into my seat.

“You look like a woman who knows exactly what she’s doing.” she said, pulling out of my driveway. “Trust me.”

The venue was a hotel ballroom downtown, the kind of place with high ceilings and crystal chandeliers and a red carpet leading up to the entrance where photographers stood snapping pictures of guests as they arrived.

My stomach twisted the moment I saw the crowd already gathered inside, dozens of people in expensive suits and gowns. waiters moving between them with trays of champagne.

“I really think I’m underdressed for this.” I whispered to Amanda as we walked toward the entrance.

“You are the exact opposite of underdressed, Bianca.” she said, hooking her arm through mine. “Now stop fidgeting and walk like you own the place.”

We handed our invitations to the man at the door and stepped inside, and almost immediately I felt eyes shifting toward us. I told myself it was probably nothing, probably just people glancing at anyone new walking through the door, but the feeling didn’t go away as we moved further into the room.

A few heads turned fully, a couple standing near the bar actually stopped their conversation to look. I kept my eyes forward, my hand tightening slightly around my small clutch bag, trying not to let the attention get to me.

Across the room, on a small raised platform near the back, I could see Adrian standing at a podium, mid speech, a /microphone in front of him and a slideshow projected on the wall behind him showing numbers and graphs I couldn’t quite make out from this distance. Julian stood just beside him, hands folded, listening with the polite expression of a good host.

I hadn’t expected to see him so soon, and definitely not mid speech like this, and for a second I considered slipping toward the back of the room, staying out of his line of sight until he was finished.

But then his eyes lifted from his notes, scanning the crowd the way speakers do when they are talking, and they landed on

me

I watched it happen in real time. His mouth was moving, mid sentence, something about funding allocations and community outreach programs, and then the words just stopped completely.

His jaw went still, his eyes locked on me from across that entire room, and for a full three seconds, Adrian, the man who

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never lost his composure in front of a crowd, said absolutely nothing.

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