THE DIVORCE GAMBIT From Dumped Wife to CEO's Forever novel Chapter 495

Once someone’s had a taste of power, there’s never any going back.

Katrina was living proof of that.

The moment she pulled her damsel-in-distress act and wrapped Xavier around her little finger, he’d been hers to command—if she told him to jump, he’d never dare sit still. She’d be a fool to give up a method that worked so well.

Before their marriage, she trained him like a dog. Afterward, did Xavier really think he’d ever get the upper hand? Not a chance.

He was hers, now and forever.

And the position of Mrs. Xavier Richards—the wife of the sixth grandson of the Richards family—would always be hers, too.

She couldn’t help it, really. After all, she’d saved his life.

From this day forward, Xavier would never escape her grasp.

The more Katrina thought about it, the more pleased with herself she became.

Xavier was still kneeling on the floor, holding a bouquet of fresh roses. At Katrina’s words, he looked up just a little. “You don’t have to worry. You saved my life, and I owe you everything. I’d never do anything to betray the person who saved me.”

From now on, in Xavier’s heart, Katrina was nothing more than his savior.

Nothing to do with love.

He was already starting to regret it—regret ever muddling his way into agreeing to Katrina’s confession. If only he’d never said yes to her, none of this would be happening now.

But things had come this far. He had no choice.

He couldn’t just stand by and watch his savior die because of him.

Katrina, meanwhile, smirked and took the roses from his hands. “Alright. Since you’re being so sincere, I’ll forgive you—just this once.”

She leaned in, took a deep whiff of the roses, and said, “Xavier, you know me better than anyone. If you ever dare speak the words ‘let’s break up’ again, you’d better be prepared to see me dead!”

It was part warning, part threat.

“I won’t break up with you,” Xavier said, giving in as always.

Katrina nodded in satisfaction. “Good. And I’m going to your grandmother’s birthday party.”

Hannah Richards’s birthday was the biggest social event in Neon Spire. Every prominent family in the city would be there, and Katrina had no intention of missing the perfect opportunity.

She would use that party to announce to everyone: she was Xavier’s girlfriend.

That way, all the social climbers and gold-diggers eyeing the Richardses’ sixth grandson would finally give up.

Xavier’s expression shifted, a hint of discomfort flickering in his eyes. “Katrina, you know my grandmother doesn’t think highly of you. Let me talk to her first, get her used to the idea, and then I’ll introduce you. This time… I don’t think…”

Hannah Richards couldn’t stand Katrina. If Xavier brought her to the party unannounced, the whole event could turn into a disaster.

He needed time to get his grandmother on board—to make sure Katrina would be accepted as his wife.

Even Jeanette was stunned. She’d never thought Xavier could be so easily manipulated.

Anyone who didn’t know the story would think Katrina had blackmail on him, not that she’d simply saved his life.

Pathetic, Jeanette thought. How had she never run into a man this easy to control?

But Katrina wasn’t finished. She added, “And at the party, I want to wear the Celestial Azure couture gown from CL.”

That dress—Celestial Azure—was a custom piece commissioned by all eight of the Richards family aunts, meant for Caitlin, the family’s little princess. It was worth more than most people would make in a lifetime.

Because Hannah’s birthday was also Caitlin’s coming-out party, everyone in Neon Spire knew Celestial Azure was reserved for her.

Wearing it was a symbol of status—another reason Katrina wanted it so badly.

She was going to show everyone just how much the Richardses valued her—put Caitlin firmly in her place, beneath her.

Wearing Caitlin’s dress was just the beginning.

Once she married into the family, Caitlin would be finished.

At this, Xavier stared at Katrina, momentarily speechless. “No. That’s Freya’s dress, and I had nothing to do with it—it was my mother and my aunts who commissioned it. I have no right to give it away.”

Katrina was getting more outrageous by the minute.