No Longer in His Shadow

Vera Bennett is the co-founder of Velay, an independent American beauty brand. Seven years ago, she started the company with Grant Cole, and the two married a year later. Vera led product development while also taking part in business operations, while Grant handled fundraising, distribution, and publicity. For the past two years, Vera has worked mainly at the company's Boston R&D center, while Grant remained at the New York headquarters. Because Vera has always avoided the spotlight, Grant became the only public face most people associated with the brand. On their sixth wedding anniversary, Vera arrives in New York early, planning to surprise Grant with the news that she is eight weeks pregnant. Instead, she catches him kissing beauty influencer Blair Reed and learns that their affair has been going on for three years. Blair then sends Vera a sixteen-week pregnancy scan to pressure her into stepping aside, and soon becomes the brand's official spokesperson. Vera preserves the evidence and prepares for divorce, only to discover that Grant has approved a promotional film that rewrites Vera's own founding story and product development work as Blair's achievements. Vera demands that the film be pulled and rushes to the event venue to stop it, but Grant humiliates her and his assistant, Owen, blocks her. The film is shown anyway, and Grant takes the stage to publicly claim credit for the story. Vera retrieves her private startup notebook and turns to the reporters at the event to expose the truth. Blair accuses her of causing a scene over marital problems, while Owen claims Vera's private notebook contains company secrets. Although Grant knows the notebook belongs to Vera, he still orders it confiscated. When Owen tries to rip the bag away from her, Vera falls down the steps and begins bleeding heavily. Only as the emergency responders prepare to take her to the hospital does Grant learn that she was pregnant.