Chapter 3
The silence in the Grand Ballroom was absolute, a vacuum created by the sudden annihilation of Beau Lewis’s ego. He stood frozen, his hand halfway extended toward me, trembling with a mix of impotent rage and dawning horror. The whispers began to swell, a rising tide of scandal that threatened to drown him right there on the stage.
"Security!" Beau’s voice cracked, high and thin. "Get her off the stage! She’s mentally unstable!"
Two guards stepped forward, uncertain. I didn't flinch. I didn't need to.
From the shadows of the wings, a figure emerged. He moved with the predatory grace of a panther stalking through tall grass, his charcoal suit absorbing the harsh stage lights. The crowd parted instinctively, silenced not by shock this time, but by recognition.
Titus Sullivan.
He ascended the stairs, his leather shoes making no sound. He didn't look at the crowd; his grey eyes were locked on Beau, cold and dismissive, as if viewing a stain on a silk tie.
"I wouldn't recommend touching her," Titus said. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried the effortless authority of old money—the kind that built the libraries these people pretended to read in.
Beau blinked, taking a stumbling step back. "Sullivan? This... this is a private corporate event."
"It was," Titus corrected smoothly. He stopped beside me, turning his back on Beau to face the audience. The heat of his body radiated through the thin fabric of my dress, a solid wall against the chaos. "Now, it is a declaration."
He reached into his breast pocket and produced a velvet box. The room held its collective breath. With deliberate slowness, he opened it. Inside sat a blue diamond—a vivid, electric azure that seemed to pulse with its own light. It was a Wittelsbach-Graff level stone, the kind of gem that didn't just cost millions; it cost history.
Titus took my left hand. His fingers were cool, his grip possessing a terrifying strength beneath the gentle touch. He slid the ring onto my finger, the heavy stone settling over the pale band of skin where Beau’s engagement ring had been just hours before.
"Selene Hall is no longer your concern, Mr. Lewis," Titus announced, his voice ringing off the gilded ceiling. "She is under the protection of the Sullivan family. As my fiancée."
The flashbulbs erupted like a supernova. I looked up at Titus, catching the ghost of a smirk on his lips—a performance for the cameras, or a private joke at the expense of the man we were destroying? I squeezed his hand, sealing the pact. We were wolves in formal wear, and the hunt had begun.
***
The next morning, the sun rose over a different Manhattan. From the floor-to-ceiling windows of my temporary suite at the St. Regis, the city looked sharp, clean, and brutal.
I sat on the velvet sofa, a cup of Earl Grey untouched on the table. On the television screen, the financial news ticker was bleeding red. *LEWIS ENTERPRISES STOCK PLUMMETS 60% IN PRE-MARKET TRADING.* *HALL CAPITAL WITHDRAWAL TRIGGERS LIQUIDITY CRISIS.*
My phone buzzed incessantly on the cushion beside me. *Beau Lewis (47 Missed Calls).* *Beau Lewis (12 Voicemails).*
"Victoria," I said, not looking away from the screen. "Access the feed."
Victoria, sitting at the dining table with her laptop, tapped a few keys. "Penthouse office camera is live. Audio is crisp."
I picked up the tablet she slid across the marble coffee table. I had designed the security protocols for Lewis Enterprises myself, embedding a backdoor admin access that Beau was too technically illiterate to find. Now, it was my window into the asylum.
On the grainy screen, Beau’s office was a wreckage. A Ming vase I had bought him for our third anniversary lay in shards near the door. Beau was pacing, his tie undone, sweat darkening the armpits of his dress shirt. He looked like a man who had been running for hours but hadn't moved an inch.
"They’re calling for a vote of no confidence, Kallie!" Beau screamed, kicking his leather chair. "The board! My own board! They’re saying I committed fraud by not disclosing the Hall capital dependence!"
Kallie was perched on the edge of the desk, scrolling through her phone. Her face was pale, the influencer glow replaced by the stark fear of a parasite realizing the host is dying.
"Stop panicking, Beau. You look pathetic," she snapped, though her hand shook as she lit a cigarette—something strictly forbidden in the office.
"Pathetic? I’m bankrupt!" Beau slammed his hands on the desk, leaning into her face. "Selene pulled the plug. Five hundred million, gone. I can't cover the margin calls."
Kallie exhaled a plume of smoke, her eyes narrowing. "She’s bluffing, you idiot. Look at her. She spent seven years washing your socks and taking bullets for you. You really think she grew a spine overnight?"
"She’s with Sullivan now," Beau groaned, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "Did you see that rock? It’s worth more than our Q3 projections."
"It’s a prop!" Kallie hopped off the desk, grabbing his lapels. "She’s trying to scare you into crawling back. It’s a jealousy play. She wants you to beg."
Beau paused, the desperation in his eyes shifting into something darker—hope fueled by delusion. "You think?"
"I know women like her," Kallie hissed, her voice dripping with poison. "She’s weak. She loves you. She’s probably crying in her room right now, waiting for you to call. You need to corner her. Force her to sign a waiver releasing the funds. Remind her of her place."
"She blocked my number."
"Then go to her," Kallie urged, smoothing his collar with a manic, possessive energy. "I saw the medical alert on her phone yesterday when she was in the office. She has a check-up at Mount Sinai this afternoon for that... scar issue. Catch her there. Alone."
I watched Beau’s face transform. The fear hardened into arrogance. He nodded, straightening his jacket, convincing himself of the lie.
"You're right," he muttered. "She owes me. I made her relevant."
I set the tablet down, the screen turning black. My pulse remained steady, cold and rhythmic.
"He's coming for me," I said softly.
Victoria looked up, concern etching lines around her eyes. "Shall I call security?"
I stood up, walking to the window to look down at the ants scurrying on Fifth Avenue. I touched the blue diamond on my finger, feeling its sharp, unforgiving edges.
"No," I replied. "Let him come. He thinks he’s hunting a rabbit. He has no idea he’s walking into a bear trap."
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