I spent three years playing the "low-maintenance" fiancée to Eliseo Fitzpatrick, a billionaire who believed he'd rescued me from a life of discount clothes and rural poverty. I kept his secrets and balanced his books, treating our engagement like a cold, professional audit. But on my twenty-sixth birthday, the balance sheet finally broke. My best friend dragged me to a surprise party that turned out to be an ambush. I walked into a VIP suite to find Eliseo dazed and disheveled, with models draped over his lap and his shirt stained with wine that looked like a fresh wound. When I tried to leave, Eliseo's guilt turned into a weapon. He pinned me against the door and hissed that without him, I'd be nothing but a country girl in Walmart rags. The next day, his "close friend" Sloane was in our apartment wearing his shirt, laughing that it was only a matter of time before she took my place in his bed. At his grandfather's funeral, his family didn't even hide their contempt. His mother called me a gold-digging nobody, and his brother mocked me in front of the grieving crowd. "So, you're the village girl who tricked my brother?" They thought I was a penniless pawn, a girl they could discard now that the patriarch was dead and the Fitzpatrick fortune was up for grabs. I stood in their library, listening to them argue over the spoils of a man they never loved. I didn't cry, and I didn't scream. I just waited for the lawyer to open the final folder. "Arthur Fitzpatrick appointed a new executor," the lawyer announced, and the room went silent. "It's Flavia Lancaster." I looked at my stunned fiancé and his greedy family, then pulled out my phone to freeze every single one of their bank accounts. "The audit begins now."
Flavia Lancaster sat in the back of a black car speeding through the rain-slicked streets of Tribeca. The reflection staring back from the tinted window was flawless, a mask of porcelain skin and perfectly arched brows she had meticulously constructed. She examined her face not with vanity, but with the cold scrutiny of an auditor searching for a discrepancy in a ledger.
Her phone buzzed against the grained leather of her briefcase. A calendar notification lit up the screen: 26th Birthday. There were no messages from family. The screen remained dark otherwise.
She picked up a tube of lipstick. It was a shade of red so deep it looked like fresh arterial blood. She didn't apply it to look beautiful. She applied it like war paint, a layer of armor against the mission that awaited her.
The car slowed to a stop outside a gleaming residential tower. Before Flavia could gather her things, the door flew open. Harper Vance leaned in, a whirlwind of Gucci silk and manic energy.
"You're finally here, bitch!" Harper screamed.
Harper's eyes darted around the plush interior of the car, dismissing it before landing on Flavia. She wasn't looking for birthday decorations. She was looking for any sign that Flavia didn't belong.
Flavia offered a polite, practiced smile. It didn't reach her eyes.
"I'm not really in a party mood," Flavia said. "Just a quiet night."
Harper laughed, a high-pitched sound that grated on Flavia's nerves.
"Don't be boring. Everyone is already there. It's a surprise party for you! Eliseo is waiting at The Vault."
Flavia paused. Her eyes narrowed slightly, catching the microscopic twitch at the corner of Harper's mouth. It was a tell. A flicker of malice masked as excitement.
Flavia's internal radar pinged. Something was wrong. The math didn't add up. According to her dossier, Eliseo hated surprises, and he hated The Vault even more. This wasn't a party. It was an ambush, likely orchestrated by his fiancée, Azura.
"Then I suppose I shouldn't keep him waiting," Flavia said.
She decided to audit the situation. If Eliseo Fitzpatrick was a compromised asset, she needed to know the extent of the liability.
They took Harper's waiting town car. The car smelled of leather and cloying Dior perfume. Harper spent the entire ride texting, the blue light of her phone reflecting in the window. She was typing furiously, her thumbs moving like pistons.
When they arrived at the club in the Meatpacking District, the bouncer unhooked the velvet rope for Harper immediately. He stopped Flavia, looking her up and down with a sneer.
"She's with me," Harper said, her voice dripping with false benevolence. "It's her birthday. Try to be nice."
It was a subtle humiliation, a reminder of who belonged in this world and who was merely a guest. Flavia walked past the bouncer, her spine stiff.
The bass inside the club was a physical force, vibrating in Flavia's chest cavity. The air was thick with sweat and expensive cologne. Harper grabbed her wrist, her grip tight and clammy, and pulled her toward the stairs.
The VIP section on the second floor was a different world. The noise was dampened, replaced by the clinking of crystal and the murmur of exclusive conversations. The hallway smelled of heavy floral perfume, cloying and suffocating.
Harper stopped in front of a heavy oak door marked King's Suite.
"Go on," Harper said, stepping back. "He's waiting for you."
Flavia reached for the handle. The metal was ice cold against her palm. A chill ran down her spine, a primal warning system flaring to life.
She pushed the door open.
The room was dimly lit, bathed in a sleazy red glow. There was no cake. There were no balloons.
The first thing Flavia saw were the champagne bottles scattered on the floor like spent shell casings.
Then she saw the sofa.
Eliseo sat in the center. His tie was loose, his top two buttons undone. His head was lolled back against the velvet cushions, his eyes half-closed and glassy.
Two women were draped over him. They were models, their limbs long and bare, their dresses little more than scraps of fabric. One of them had her hand resting casually, possessively, on Eliseo's thigh.
Eliseo looked dazed. His movements were sluggish, his reaction time delayed. But to Flavia, the visual was absolute. It was a data point.
The laughter in the room died instantly. The silence that followed was heavy, sucking the oxygen out of the air.
Harper stepped up behind Flavia and let out a gasp that was theatrical in its perfection.
"Oh my god, Eliseo. How could you? On her birthday!"
Eliseo's head snapped up. His eyes tried to focus, shifting from confusion to shock as he registered Flavia standing in the doorway. He tried to shove the woman off his lap.
The model, startled by his sudden movement, jerked her hand. Red wine sloshed out of her glass, splashing across the front of Eliseo's white dress shirt. It looked like a gunshot wound.
Flavia didn't scream. She didn't cry. She stood completely still, her breathing shallow and controlled. She felt like she was watching a low-budget film, observing the scene from a great distance.
Eliseo opened his mouth. His jaw worked, but no sound came out. He looked like a fish gasping for air.
Flavia's gaze swept the room. She cataloged the empty bottles of high-proof tequila. The lace bra draped over the armrest. The smear of lipstick on Eliseo's collar. Evidence. Itemized and filed.
She turned around. Her heels clicked a sharp, rhythmic staccato on the hardwood floor as she walked away.
Harper reached out, her fingers brushing Flavia's arm. "Flavia, wait, I'm so sorry-"
Flavia sidestepped the touch. She looked at Harper, her eyes devoid of warmth.
"The show is over, Harper. Go collect your payment from Azura."
Flavia walked out of the club and into the biting cold of the New York autumn night. She didn't hail a cab immediately. She took a deep breath, letting the freezing air burn her lungs.
She pulled out her phone. She didn't call a friend. She dialed a number saved as 'Asset Management.'
It was her data analyst.
"Initiate Plan B," Flavia said into the receiver. "Focus on Harper Vance and her circle. I want every transaction, every message. Burn their digital footprint to the ground."
Chapter 1 1
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Chapter 2 2
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Chapter 3 3
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Chapter 4 4
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Chapter 5 5
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Chapter 6 6
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Chapter 7 7
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Chapter 8 8
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Chapter 9 9
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Chapter 10 10
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Chapter 11 11
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Chapter 12 12
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Chapter 13 13
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Chapter 14 14
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Chapter 15 15
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Chapter 16 16
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Chapter 17 17
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Chapter 18 18
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Chapter 19 19
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Chapter 20 20
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Chapter 21 21
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Chapter 22 22
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Chapter 23 23
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Chapter 24 24
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Chapter 25 25
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Chapter 26 26
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Chapter 27 27
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Chapter 28 28
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Chapter 29 29
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Chapter 30 30
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Chapter 31 31
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Chapter 32 32
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Chapter 33 33
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Chapter 34 34
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Chapter 35 35
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Chapter 36 36
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Chapter 37 37
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Chapter 38 38
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Chapter 39 39
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Chapter 40 40
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