“You’re against me annulling this drunken Vegas marriage?” I turn back. "Explain."
Rachel rises, pacing now, energy coiled tight. "You cannot annul this marriage right now. Not this week. Not while this story is still hot and your board is already questioning your judgment."
"That's ridiculous."
"No, Victor," she says, voice dropping into something colder. "What's ridiculous is thinking you can drunkenly marry a woman in Vegas and then quietly erase it forty-eight hours later without consequences."
"It happens all the time."
"You're not 'all the time.' You're you." She gestures at me like I'm a walking liability. "In case you've forgotten, the press calls you 'the Ice Prince of Food Media.' You don't get to be messy or impulsive or even human."
My jaw nearly works itself into a knot at that last part.
"And now," she continues, relentless, "you've given them a narrative. The ruthless CEO who made one reckless, emotional decision… and immediately discarded the woman involved."
"That's not what happened."
"Isn't it? Because that's exactly how it will look when TMZ runs with it."
I don't respond, and she presses the advantage.
"You can survive scandal," she says. "You can survive Francis. You can even survive a viral wedding video. What you cannot survive is looking cruel."
I resist the urge to grind my teeth.
Rachel walks back to the desk, placing both hands on the surface. "There's another option."
"I'm not interested in options."
"You should be. Because this one fixes your board problem, your Francis problem, and your reputation problem in one move."
I say nothing, and she holds my gaze.
"You stay married."
The silence that follows is immediate.
"No."
"Victor—"
"No. Absolutely not."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't know her," I snap. "I don't know who she is, what she wants, or what she's capable of."
And there it is. The real problem.
Rachel studies me. "You're not worried about optics. You're worried about her."
"I'm worried about risk."
"That doesn't sound like business."
I ignore that.
"She's a stranger," I continue. "For all I know, this entire thing could be?—"
