After My Ex Kissed My Stepsister at the Gala

I stood by the window of my Midtown hotel room. The Manhattan skyline sparkled against the dark night sky. Three years. It had been three long years since I ran away from this city. I didn't come back for a happy reunion. I came back for a war.

I turned away from the glass and walked to the bed. I unzipped my heavy suitcase and unpacked methodically. I pulled out thick legal files. Financial documents. Proof of what my biological father, Ricardo Collins, stole. I stacked them neatly on the desk. He took everything when my mother died. He moved his new wife, Valeria, and her daughter into our home before the dirt on my mother's grave was even settled.

I reached into my bag and pulled out a small gold locket. It was heavy and cold in my palm. My mother, Marley Parker, built her company from the ground up. Ricardo erased her name. I popped the locket open. My mother’s face smiled back at me. Beneath her picture was a tiny folded note in her handwriting. *Build something they can never take.*

I traced the letters with my thumb. My chest tightened with a familiar ache. "I will, Mom," I whispered to the empty room.

Two hours later, I stepped into a high-profile Manhattan charity gala. It was my first public appearance. I wore a backless black silk gown. It fit like a second skin, but it felt like armor. The grand ballroom was loud. It was filled with clinking champagne flutes and the low hum of wealthy people making deals.

I walked into the room with my head held high. I wasn't the scared girl Ricardo pushed out anymore. I scanned the crowd and spotted two of my mother's former board members near the bar. I walked over and offered a polite smile.

"Mr. Vance. Mrs. Gable," I said smoothly.

They turned around. Their eyes widened in shock. "Saoirse? Is that you?" Vance asked, nearly dropping his glass.

"It's me," I replied. "I'm back in the city."

Mrs. Gable frowned, looking nervous. "Your father didn't mention you were attending."

"Ricardo doesn't know everything," I said, keeping my voice perfectly steady. "We should talk about the company's future soon. Real leadership is returning to New York."

I planted the seeds quickly. I watched their faces pale slightly. My fingers drifted up to my collarbone. I touched the cold gold of my locket. Once. Twice. I was doing it. I was taking the first step.

Then, the air in the room shifted.

I turned around, and my breath caught sharply in my throat. Paxton Griffin stood across the ballroom. Three years ago, he was a broke college kid. The boy I loved more than anything in the world. The boy I left without a word to protect him from my toxic family's crossfire.

Now, he was a billionaire tech mogul. He wore a sharp, custom black suit. He looked older, broader, and dangerously handsome. But that wasn't what made