Chapter 2 No.2

The Sterling mansion in Greenwich was a mausoleum for the living.

Vesper entered through the side door, the one the staff used. The house smelled of lemon polish and old money-a scent that was cold, sterile, and judgmental.

She rushed up the back stairs, her bare feet making no sound on the plush carpet. She needed to scrub the night off her skin. She needed to wash away the scent of the stranger-woodsmoke, rain, and something darker, like expensive scotch.

In the master bathroom, she turned the shower to scalding. She stood under the spray until her skin turned pink, scrubbing until she felt raw.

She stepped out and wiped the steam from the mirror.

There were marks on her neck. Faint, purplish bruises. Hickeys.

"Stupid," she hissed at her reflection. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

She grabbed her heavy concealer and began to dab it on, layering it thick. She was just finishing when the door to the bedroom opened.

Julian walked in.

He looked terrible. His eyes were bloodshot, his skin pale and clammy. He was wearing the same suit he had worn to the gala, now wrinkled and stained.

Vesper flinched. It was a reflex she hated, a conditioned response to three years of emotional erosion.

"Where were you?" Julian snapped. He didn't look at her; he was busy loosening his tie, his movements jerky and agitated. "I looked for you. You embarrassed me, Vesper. Again."

"I wasn't feeling well," Vesper said, her voice steady despite the hammering of her heart. "I took a cab home early. I slept in the guest room so I wouldn't disturb you."

It was a lie she had rehearsed in the taxi.

Julian scoffed. "Always the victim. Always fragile."

He walked past her toward the bathroom. As he passed, Vesper saw it.

A scratch.

It was on the side of his neck, just below his ear. A thin, angry red line. It wasn't a shaving cut. It was curved. It was from a fingernail.

Vesper stared at it. "What happened to your neck?"

Julian froze. He didn't jump; he went unnaturally still. His hand slowly came up to cover the mark. "Nothing. Shaving accident."

"You haven't shaved since yesterday morning," Vesper pointed out, her voice quiet.

Julian spun around. His eyes weren't just angry; they were calculating. "Stop interrogating me! You're paranoid, Vesper. You're suffocating."

He slammed the bathroom door.

Vesper stood there, the silence ringing in her ears. She wasn't paranoid. She was observant.

Julian's phone buzzed on the dresser.

Vesper stared at it. The screen lit up.

Message from S.

Vesper's breath hitched. She took a step closer.

The morning sickness is killing me, baby. I need you to bring those pills.

The world tilted on its axis.

S. Serena Sharp. The pop star Julian managed. The woman the tabloids called a genius, the woman who sang songs Vesper had written in the dark of night.

Morning sickness.

Vesper felt the blood drain from her face. Julian wasn't just cheating. He was starting a family. A family he had always told Vesper he wasn't ready for.

The bathroom door opened. Julian stepped out, a towel around his waist. He saw her near the phone.

He didn't lunge. He wasn't that sloppy. He walked over quickly, his movements tight, and snatched the device from the dresser with a forced casualness that was more terrifying than violence.

"Don't touch my things," he said, his voice low.

"I didn't," Vesper said, raising her hands. "It lit up."

"Get out," Julian said. "I have to go to the office."

"On a Sunday?"

"Business doesn't sleep, Vesper. Unlike you."

He pushed past her.

Vesper waited until she heard the front door slam and the roar of his Porsche fading down the driveway.

She didn't cry. She had cried enough in the first year.

She walked out of the bedroom, down the hall, past the guest suites, to the very end of the east wing. There was a dusty storage room there, filled with old furniture covered in sheets. Julian never came here. It was too dirty, too forgotten.

She squeezed behind a stack of old paintings and pressed a loose board in the paneling.

It clicked open.

Inside was a small, cramped space, barely a closet. But it was hers. A keyboard, a laptop, and a wall covered in framed papers.

They weren't platinum records. Those hung in Serena's mansion. These were the original, hand-written composition sheets. The raw, messy first drafts of the hits that were currently topping the charts. They were unsigned, but the handwriting was hers. The dates were there. It was the only proof she had that she existed.

She sat down and opened her laptop. She didn't open her music software. She opened a secure messaging app.

She typed a message to Harper, her contact in the digital underworld.

I need Julian's call logs. Credit card statements. Everything from the last six months.

Harper's reply was instantaneous.

Trouble in paradise?

Vesper looked at the reflection of her own eyes in the black screen. They looked cold. Hard.

I need leverage, she typed. Start the trace.