Elena Stone: Beyond the Billionaire's Grasp

me, I felt like I was the only person in t

p rental, but under

lhouette against the dusty

ered of old money and new power, th

g practice with frantic calls about my

dn' t wait for sch

ed playing, he

id, "You h

low, and it wr

pecialist called, his

d all of Leo's outstanding medical debts a

nym

I

n't just

ns apartment to a sunlit place in

n, an Amati, its wood wa

y music d

the grand gestures, with the

rescuer,

to marry him si

anderbilt Sr., the p

cially unsuitable

to cut Ethan off

didn't

hose

Hamptons, smaller than h

gnificant part of his

mily, their cold shoulders,

fo

his love was unsh

t him breathing, became entirely dependent on Ethan' s resou

living a fairy ta

s devotion w

fairy tale began to c

winter

ew months before, a painter with a story abou

her, by her feigned in

about the way he looked at h

nce warm, t

e he' d paraded Sera on his arm, he t

onto the balcony

ging, the wind cu

g only a thi

until you understan

the balc

me, numbing my s

ntly, my teeth chattering so h

ad of security, stood insi

move. He

me freeze, under

truly understood the man I

ed a week a

t g

d me in th

entle, a terrifying contrast

is she,

t know. Why w

despite my efforts

me, like

ere jealous. You said s

aven't seen he

ront of me, his

t belie

d out hi

started

e

spital bed, his face pa

alarm blared

ator. It was

in panic. He st

ou doing?" I screamed,

each, his face a ma

A 'technical fault.'

. "Please, Ethan, don't do

o Sera. Or, better yet, agre

e needs reassurance. You will publicly acknowledge her. You will be

, watchin

t her again. If you do, or if Sera f

then glanced at the phone still p

fore this 'technical fault' be

cho

oice di

d, my only fami

once loved, the man who now held

mpty of anythin

cold, sinking finality,

d now, perhaps, a brok

the new,

was just

hoarse. "I'll do whatever you want.

triumphant curve of his

ideo stopped. Leo'

rt sha

e first time I

oHo, one of those painfully chic

d by a small grou

a "prodigy," a paint

ting hand tremor," how she foug

estured; the tremor was the

ked pr

and gave a small

ediately drawn to her car

era found me alone by

t?" she said, her voice so

ou're Serap

linting. "Ethan is quite taken with you. But he's a man who

y her directnes

on her lips. "He told me he finds my 'authenticity' refr

directly

et anyone like me. He sa

a calm declarat

s new obsession, and there wa

ll despite t

Sera relentles

lo show, every single pain

s. He funded a new "arti

ra was the "unconventional m

her "I don't care about your mone

ge she presented, or

the women who usually t

nius," someone who suppose

ly crafted illusion,

lk to Ethan,

vely, early on. "A game. You're my wife. You're the

to reassure, but hi

d, a subtle warning in his tone. "Just

s a daily to

at events I was forced to attend, thei

s full of an intensity I re

to believe his words

uld tire of h

er than his other

lf too available. She

ith him, but only on her terms, alway

fueled his

der to me, mo

ection with Sera became mo

a knife twist

e, felt invaded

consider Leo, to consider

shed m

overly emoti

for a se

iculous. You're a Vanderb

er that Aspen trip, after

shred of evidence, de

to listen t

omehow driven her away,

a cold, suffoc

eo again,

tor became more frequent, always coincidi

ara. Tell me you told her to leave m

soft, persua

pped in a

t Leo, I

onfession he wanted, ev

g my vision. "I... I told her to stay away

ed, sat

Now, wasn't

alarms miracu

ay. The part that still hope

ear, the psychological tor

egnant.

ld I, when he was so wrapped

a small piece of h

me in the penthouse panic room for hours because I' d questioned him a

harp, re

On the cold marble flo

lp, and the doctor confirmed the misc

void of emotion. "You should have been more careful.

as okay. He didn't m

an inconveni

oblem I ha

Thorne informed Ethan t

lony, "seeking solace and inspi

ated, sketching landscapes, completely unaware

ted. He flew to

me, for the child we'd lost,

ut Sera, his "

their "romantic reunion," ab

s sic

d empty, when Ethan returne

e bedroom, smelli

ara. We're

Ethan. I'm

lt. Sera is being honored at a charity dinner tonight

him I was still recover

gnor

u get ready," he sai

nd Clara, no more talk of misc

alone with my grie

f the penthouse, with a nurse who wa

eported the full extent of my "female troubles" to him

e booming from t

thinking? It would have com

Not "I'm sorry

wanted com

grieving, and he was angr

was immense, a dee

ch, whispering for my lost chil

ame. No

ing his public appearanc

I drifted in and out of consciousne

to lea

f. But because I f

as gone, replaced

y everything I had left, includi

ld was the final, b

ng left to save

nd Leo. I had