He Gave Her My Masterpiece. I Came Back from the Dead and Took It All Back.

The night two red lines appeared on the pregnancy test, my husband told me that the next day, he would put another woman's name on the building I had spent five years designing. Adrian Cole still did not know I was pregnant. And for the past five years, no one had known I was his wife. When we started the firm, I was the one who suggested keeping our marriage secret for a while. I didn't want anyone attributing my work to Adrian's influence. We agreed that once the Bay Arts Center was complete, we would reveal both our marriage and my name to the world. Now the project was nearly finished, but my name would not appear on the screen. I hid the pregnancy test in a velvet box and set it beside the model. "Will you tell the reporters tomorrow that I'm the designer?" Adrian had been gathering up my craft knives. His hands went still. "Vivian needs the credit." "And what do I need?" "When this is over, I'll make it up to you." "My name isn't a bonus." He rubbed his brow. "It was the board's decision. Elena, don't make a scene tonight." The following afternoon, I sat in the last row at the launch. Victor Green, head of the Green Group, occupied a seat at the very front, and the host made a point of thanking him for financing the project. The lights dimmed. The building I had spent five years drawing filled the enormous screen. "Chief designer of the Bay Arts Center—Vivian Shaw." The applause drowned out the sound of my breathing. Vivian walked onto the stage in a white suit and slipped her arm naturally through Adrian's. A reporter asked whether they were about to become the perfect team again, just as they had been in college. "We were never truly apart," she said with a smile. Adrian did not deny it. He merely adjusted her microphone, resting one hand protectively at the small of her back. In that moment, I remembered the leaky attic from five years ago. We had no office then, so we spread our plans across the dining table. Adrian had taken my hand and promised that one day, he would introduce me to the entire world—his wife, and the architect who had designed this building. I had believed him for five years. The velvet box was still in my purse. I had planned to give it to him after the launch. I had even wondered whether, when he saw those two red lines, he would pull me into his arms without caring who was watching. Now the corner of the box dug into my palm. Suddenly, I could not bear the thought of our child growing up and hearing me explain why his mother had failed to hold on to even her own name. After the launch, I started recording on my phone before confronting them backstage. "Why her?" "Victor demanded it." Adrian pulled me into the fire stairwell. "Let Vivian take the credit for now. Once this is over, I'll give you everything you're owed." "So you admit the design is mine?" "Of course I know it's yours." He lowered his voice. "Don't make a scene here." The phone in my pocket was still recording. Footsteps sounded beyond the door. Victor stopped in the doorway and gave Adrian a single look. "Only one designer's name is going up on that screen tonight," he said. "Deal with your family problem." After he left, Vivian entered, twirling a silver key between her fingers. I had put the scratch across its head myself when I moved into the old apartment. "The safe house is ready," she told Adrian. "Are you still coming over tonight?" Adrian's expression changed sharply. He reached for me. "Let me explain." I raised a hand to remove the pearl earrings he had given me. I was shaking so badly that the post tore straight through my skin. I placed the bloodstained pearl in his palm and walked away. Only after the fire door swung shut behind me did I stop the recording.