Too Late CEO: I Am Taking Everything

Eleonora struck a long match. The flame flared, casting a warm, flickering glow across the darkened Upper East Side penthouse.

She touched the fire to the wick of the Jo Malone Red Roses candle. The heavy, romantic scent began to fill the dining room.

The walnut table was set perfectly for two. Crystal wine glasses caught the candlelight. It was their third wedding anniversary. Her chest felt full, expanding with a warm, steady anticipation.

A sharp buzz vibrated against the solid wood of the table.

The sudden noise shattered the quiet romance of the room. Eleonora glanced down. The screen of her iPhone lit up, displaying an iMessage from an unknown number. It was a video file.

Her stomach gave a strange, hollow flutter. She reached out and tapped the screen.

The chaotic, muffled sound of a crowd spilled from the phone's speakers. The camera angle was shaky, clearly recorded secretly from a VIP seat.

Eleonora frowned. The screen showed the grand, brightly lit stage of a Sotheby's auction.

"Sold for two million dollars," the auctioneer's voice boomed through the phone's tiny speakers.

The camera lens abruptly zoomed in, blurring for a second before focusing sharply on the winning bidder.

Eleonora's breath stopped. Her lungs simply ceased to function.

It was Julian.

His sharp, aristocratic side profile was unmistakable. He was supposed to be in Seattle for a board meeting. But there he was, sitting in a velvet chair, dipping his head to smile warmly at a woman sitting next to him.

The woman was wearing a pristine white dress.

Julian reached out. He took the heavy, glittering blue sapphire necklace from an auction house attendant. He leaned over and carefully draped the two-million-dollar jewels around the white-clad woman's pale neck.

The woman turned her head slightly, revealing a shy, delicate side profile.

Eleonora's fingers began to shake. The tremor started in her wrists and traveled violently down to her fingertips.

The phone slipped from her grip. It hit the edge of her porcelain dinner plate with a loud clatter.

She bit down hard on her lower lip. The metallic taste of blood flooded her mouth, keeping the scream locked in her throat.

She grabbed the phone again, her thumb frantically pinching the screen to zoom in. She needed a flaw. She needed it to be a lookalike.

But the camera caught Julian's left wrist as he fastened the necklace. The Patek Philippe watch gleamed under the auction house lights.

It was the watch she had given him for his thirtieth birthday.

A heavy, suffocating weight crashed down on her chest.

The electronic chime of the front door's fingerprint lock echoed through the hallway.

The sharp sound pierced through her frozen state. Panic spiked in her veins. She slammed the phone face-down on the walnut table.

She stood up so fast her chair scraped loudly against the hardwood floor. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird.

Footsteps approached. Julian walked into the living room.

He was wearing