The Transactional Marriage That Imploded novel Chapter 98

Bianca quickly handed over the iced milk tea she had just bought. "Consider this morning paid overtime."

Mia instantly looked like she had been handed a lifeline. "Thank you! You are officially the greatest boss on the planet."

Finding Mia's dramatic shift endearing, Bianca laughed. "If I didn't pay overtime to an employee as dedicated as you, I'd be the textbook definition of a ruthless capitalist."

Mia took a long sip of her tea. "With how generously you approve bonuses, if you're a ruthless capitalist, the rest of the corporate world belongs in prison."

They chatted and joked for a few minutes before Bianca spotted Milo walking toward them in a crisp, clean t-shirt.

She handed him the gift box. "Congratulations on the launch. May everything run perfectly today."

Milo took the gimbal with a massive grin. "This is incredibly thoughtful of you. And don't worry, any event run by me is guaranteed to be flawless."

The words had barely left his mouth when his head planner, Chase Sheridan, sprinted over in a total panic. "Mr. Wilder, we have a massive problem. The cosplayer for the Lyrist got into an accident on the way here. She's not going to make it. What do we do?"

The Lyrist was one of the flagship characters of the new game and practically the centerpiece of today's launch. Milo slapped his forehead in frustration before his gaze slowly locked onto Bianca.

"Bianca," he said bluntly. "You're up."

Bianca pointed a finger at her own chest in sheer disbelief. "Me? Absolutely not. I don't know the first thing about cosplay."

Years ago, she had filled in as a cosplay model for Rosalind a few times, and she had despised it. The outfits were always absurdly revealing—plunging necklines and barely-there skirts.

More importantly, her pregnancy was just starting to show. Anyone with an experienced eye would spot the slight bump if she wore anything skin-tight.

She wasn't ready for the world to know she was pregnant. Especially not Mathis.

Chase looked at her with desperate, puppy-dog eyes. "We have backups, but none of them fit the aura of the Lyrist. You have the exact look and energy we need."

Unlike the other performers who had to strike dynamic poses, Bianca's role was static. Her prop was a beautifully crafted Zither.

As she sat behind the instrument, a sudden wave of nostalgia washed over her. When she was seven, her mother had insisted she learn to play the Zither, and she had fallen deeply in love with it.

She had played until she was eight—the year her family was financially ruined. She hadn't touched the instrument since.

Running her fingers over the silk strings, a chaotic mix of grief and longing surged in her chest, and her eyes welled with tears.

Watching from the front row, Milo went into full panic mode. Bianca was the most fiercely logical woman he knew. What could possibly be making her cry?

*Oh God, did she remember her nightmare of a marriage?*

His eyes darted nervously across the audience, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. Sitting completely still a few rows back was Mathis.