An Empire of Ash, A Heart of Steel

An Empire of Ash, A Heart of Steel

Rabbit

5.0
Comment(s)
8.2K
View
20
Chapters

To save his date from a spilled drink, he ripped my mother's priceless shawl from my shoulders and used it as a rag. In front of a thousand people, Kurt Salazar showed me my place. But the ultimate humiliation was yet to come. He had me design my own wedding gown-only to use it for his public proposal to another woman. The shock nearly killed me, landing me in the hospital with a literally broken heart. He thought I was just another mess to be cleaned up. He didn't know that from the shards of my heart, a new designer would be born. Now, his name is a curse, his fortune is ash, and he's obsessed with the woman whose soul he tried to steal. He's about to learn that some debts can only be paid in ruin!

Chapter 1 1

I stood by the gilded archway, a shadow in a simple dress, my hands clasped tight. Tonight, I was not Katlynn Torres. I was Kurt Salazar's assistant, a title that tasted like ash in my mouth. My real, painful task for the Starlight Charity Gala was already complete. It was draped over the shoulders of Kurt's date for the evening, a stunning, hand-sewn gown I had poured weeks of my life into. It was another one of his tests, I'd told myself, another way to prove my devotion.

Kurt made his entrance, a prince gliding through the ballroom, but he barely glanced at the woman wearing my creation. His eyes were locked on Seraphina Vance. She was a vision in a gown by some world-famous designer, and when Kurt reached her side, his voice carried across the marble floor.

"Incredible," he said, loud enough for me to hear. "Absolutely breathtaking, Seraphina." He never once mentioned the dress on his own date's back.

Then his eyes found me. He crooked a finger, a silent, imperious summons.

"Katlynn. Champagne."

I nodded, my throat tight, and turned to the bar. My role was clear: I was the help.

Later, a collective gasp rippled through the crowd. A guest had stumbled, sloshing red wine down the front of Seraphina's pristine white dress. She looked horrified.

Before anyone could react, Kurt moved. He strode directly to me, his face a mask of cold fury. Without a word, he ripped the cashmere shawl from my shoulders. It was my mother's, a priceless, irreplaceable piece of her that I always wore.

He didn't hesitate. He used the delicate, hand-embroidered fabric to crudely blot the red stain on Seraphina's gown, smearing the wine, ruining the cashmere beyond repair. He then tossed the crumpled, stained mess back at me.

"It's just a shawl," he hissed, his voice low and sharp. "Don't cause a scene."

My breath hitched. The room swam. Then a figure blocked my view of Kurt. It was my brother, Kaleb. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, his face radiating a cold fury that was far more terrifying than Kurt's hot anger.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Salazar?" Kaleb's voice was dangerously quiet.

Kurt just scoffed. "Relax, Torres. I'll buy her a new one."

Kaleb grabbed my arm, pulling me away from the spectacle. "Kat," he pleaded, his voice trembling with rage. "Please, open your eyes. Look at what he does to you."

Tears streamed down my face, hot and shameful. "He was just stressed," I whispered, defending the very man who had just publicly annihilated a piece of my heart. The lie felt flimsy even to my own ears.

I left the gala alone, clutching the ruined shawl to my chest. As I waited for a taxi, I hid behind a thick marble column, not wanting anyone to see me. That's when I heard his voice again, laced with a cold, dismissive laugh. He was talking to his friend, Rhys Chandler.

"She's perfectly manageable," Kurt said. "I just need her to finish one last project. Once she delivers the wedding gown, she'll have served her purpose. Then, Seraphina is all that matters."

Continue Reading

Other books by Rabbit

More

You'll also like

The $300 Husband Is A Zillionaire

The $300 Husband Is A Zillionaire

Nap Regazzini
5.0

I woke up in a blindingly white hotel penthouse with a throbbing headache and the taste of betrayal in my mouth. The last thing I remembered was my stepsister, Cathie, handing me a flute of champagne at the charity gala with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Now, a tall, dangerously handsome man walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his hips. On the nightstand sat a stack of hundred-dollar bills. My stepmother had finally done it—she drugged me and staged a scandal with a hired escort to destroy my reputation and my future. "Aisha! Is it true you spent the night with a gigolo?" The shouts of a dozen reporters echoed through the heavy oak door as camera flashes exploded through the peephole. My phone lit up with messages showing my bank accounts were already frozen. My father was invoking the 'morality clause' in my mother’s trust fund, and my fiancé had already released a statement dumping me to marry my stepsister instead. I was trapped, penniless, and being hunted by the press for a scandal I hadn't even participated in. My own family had sold me out for a payday, and the man standing in front of me was the only witness who could prove I was innocent—or finish me off for good. I didn't have time to cry. According to the fine print of the trust, I had thirty days to prove my "rehabilitation" through a legal marriage or I would lose everything. I tracked the man down to a coffee shop the next morning, watching him take a thick envelope of cash from a wealthy older woman. I sat across from him and slid a napkin with a $50,000 figure written on it. "I need a husband. Legal, paper-signed, and convincing." He looked at the number, then at me, a slow, crooked smile spreading across his face. I thought I was hiring a desperate gigolo to save my inheritance. I had no idea I was actually proposing to Dominic Fields, the reclusive billionaire shark who was currently planning a hostile takeover of my father’s entire empire.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book