Conrad and Victoria’s relationship is one of the most contentious in the Hamptons, but it is also one of the longest lasting. While their friends were getting divorced, Conrad and Victoria’s marriage has endured. This has less to do with true love and more with survival. Without each other, they would have either ended up dead or in prison.

Conrad and Victoria’s history is a tangled web of love, lies, and deceit. Their relationship started when Conrad was with his first wife. Victoria was the mistress who was able to convince Conrad to leave his wife for her. In July of 1986, Victoria lied to Conrad by telling him she was 10 weeks pregnant. Soon after these two had signed a prenuptial agreement and got married.

Fast forward 25 years and this marriage survived 3 affairs (2 for Victoria, 1 for Conrad), a terrorist incident, a lie about the paternity of Charlotte, a divorce, and a remarriage. These two are so selfish that they see this marriage as less a union of love, but as a tool to get what they want. Conrad needs to use this marriage to keep himself out of jail. Victoria needs to keep this marriage to stay out of jail, but more than that she needs this marriage to keep up the appearances she has been clinging onto for the last 2 and a half decades. Victoria’s mother was a gold digger willing to do ANYTHING to get what she wanted (including incriminating her daughter for a murder). Victoria has followed in her footsteps and raised the bar. She has forsaken a lover, ruined a marriage, and exiled a friend to keep her station in life.

Conrad and Victoria’s relationship can be boiled down to this; those rings are the “get out of jail’ cards they need to keep at all costs.