f Astoria, the air was thick with the s
e crowd. A string quartet played a soft classical piece, per
made, starry-night gown. She was surrounded by a circle o
er champagne flute with an overly sweet smile. "And to h
her left hand just enough to let the light catch the m
tion rippled th
. She soaked in the envy of the room, thrilled by t
ipped through the heavy doors, panting heavily.
hind a marble pillar. He pulled out his phone and sent a v
age. The bodyguards just took the
the side entrance when the audi
leather soles of his shoes screeche
ittle
ey's throat like a vine covered in tho
calculated the timeline. Five years since the divorce. The kid was
ught the pain had gone numb years ago, but the
closer, his voice trembling. "Mr. Hammond... d
od back down from his head. When he opened his
his voice com
shed open the heavy double doors
ter in the room died down. Every pair of e
d walked toward Godfrey with the grace of a proud peaco
rection. His gaze swept the massive room like
ed brightly and reached out
and stepped to the side, co
verything. The whispers started instantly, sprea
ation and venom crossed her eyes, but she qu
static ripped through the ba
had been playing a documentary about the Lee
stage. The string quartet
een audio waveform appeared. The entire roo
It was a cold, steady female voice. A voice
ow's headlines will have the absolut
ropped into the crow
toward Kendal. Her face drained of all
egant posture and sprinted toward the soundboard, desp
chaos, rushed forward. He and another uniformed hotel guard stepped out of the shadows and block
y, a slender figure in a minimalist blac
w. Her eyes tracked through the cro
ful smile cur
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