Remarried After I Secretly Divorced the CEO novel Chapter 168

Autumn replied politely, “Sure, congratulations to you both.‘

The words came easily enough, but something in her chest tightened.

She wasn’t sure why, only that it left her feeling strangely blocked inside.

Keith caught the flicker of disappointment in her eyes.

His brow creased almost imperceptibly before his voice dropped into a cool, cutting tone.

“Vivian, you’ve really gotten addicted to this little one–woman show of yours, haven’t you?”

Vivian’s hand, clutching her purse strap, tightened until her fingertips turned white.

She hadn’t expected Keith to strip away her pretense so bluntly, especially in front of a woman who had nothing to do with them.

At that moment, Keith’s phone rang.

It was Jesse.

He swiped to answer and hit the speakerphone.

Jesse’s voice came through.

“Mr. Sinclair, the trending post online has been dealt with. The White family has also issued a statement clarifying the matter.

“They’ve announced that the whole thing was staged by their side alone, that it had nothing to do with the Sinclair family, and that any talk of an engagement between the two families is pure fabrication.”

Vivian’s face drained of color.

Her knees almost buckled, and she had to grab the chair behind her to stay upright.

She hadn’t expected the slap in the face to come this fast or for the situation to turn on its head.

She’d assumed this would play out just like it had years ago: as long as the Sinclairs didn’t interfere with public opinion, she could use the pressure to push for a marriage and nudge their relationship forward.

Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined Keith would have the White family delete the posts and publicly refute the entire story.

The reversal was so sudden that for a moment, she couldn’t process and believe it was real.

Before she could gather her thoughts, Jesse’s voice came again. “Mr. Sinclair, the White family also asked me to check with you–would you consider helping them, given the history between your families?”

Keith glanced at Vivian, then answered with two clipped words. “Absolutely not.”

“Understood.”

1/2

The call ended.

Vivian finally found her voice, stepping forward to grab his wrist.

“Keith, you can’t do this to me. The White family is in crisis–you can’t just stand by and watch.

“I know you don’t like me, but you can’t treat me this way. After this blows up, what will people in our circle

think of me?

“I’m begging you don’t be so ruthless. Please. I really do know I was wrong.”

She’d thought coming here in person might change his mind.

Instead, she was met with absolute indifference, as if the connection between their families meant nothing to

him at all.

This was it–she’d ruined everything.

Not only had she failed to help the White family, but she’d dragged them into a public relations disaster.

She knew all too well how serious the fallout would be from publicly denying the engagement between the two families.

For years, the Whites had relied on the Sinclairs‘ connections to keep their teetering family business afloat.

Without that support, they would have declared bankruptcy long ago.

Keith shook off Vivian’s hand without hesitation. “The goodwill between the White and Sinclair families ran out years ago.

“Vivian, when you decided to pull the same stunt again, you should have been prepared for this outcome.”

The force of his rejection left her stunned, her eyes brimming red as her mind scrambled for footing.

She’d expected to be exposed eventually, but not this quickly–barely a day after the rumor had been planted, it had been forcibly deleted, and the White family was pressured into issuing a public retraction.

Standing off to the side, Autumn watched the scene unfold, a trace of wryness in her eyes.

So, it had all been orchestrated by the Whites themselves, and apparently, it wasn’t their first time playing this

game.