Chapter 2

Ellie Vance POV

The next morning brought no tears, only a cold, hard resolve.

I didn't cry. I called a lawyer.

"I want a separation," I told the Vance family attorney, my voice steady. "And I want my trust fund decoupled from the Thorne assets. Immediately."

The lawyer sputtered, the sound of china clinking sharply against a saucer on the other end of the line.

"Mrs. Thorne, do you have any idea what you're asking? The alliance between your families... it's the bedrock of..."

"The alliance is intact," I cut in, my tone flat. "My marriage is not."

I hung up before he could argue further.

Needing to be near a love that didn't come with price tags or conditions, I drove to the hospital to visit my grandmother.

But as I sat in the waiting room, trying to distract myself from the cloying scent of antiseptic by scrolling through my phone, I saw it.

A photo on Instagram.

It was posted by one of Izzy's socialite friends. The location tag read The Hamptons. The timestamp was yesterday evening.

And there, in the background of a candid group shot, was the truth.

Marcus and Izzy.

He wasn't handling a "crisis." He was at a polo match.

He was wearing the white linen shirt I had bought him for our honeymoon. He was laughing-a carefree sound I hadn't heard in years.

Izzy was leaning into him, her hand resting casually, yet possessively, against the center of his chest.

I zoomed in. The time on the scoreboard behind them matched the exact moment I had been sitting alone at our anniversary dinner.

My phone buzzed in my hand. A notification from Izzy herself.

She had posted a new photo. It was an artistic shot of her legs draped over a man's lap in the back of a luxury car.

You couldn't see his face, but I saw the watch. The Patek Philippe with the custom engraving I had designed myself.

The caption read: My personal knight. Always comes when I call.

Bile rose in my throat, hot and acidic. It wasn't just betrayal. It was a public execution of my dignity.

I drove back to the manor in a trance.

I packed a box. Not with clothes, but with the lies. The engagement ring. The wedding band. The keys to the Porsche he had gifted me as an apology for a missed birthday.

I handed the envelope to Tom, Marcus's right-hand man. Tom looked down at the floor, his usually stoic face paling with discomfort.

"Mrs. Thorne... Marcus won't like this."

"I don't care what he likes, Tom. Give it to him."

Two hours later, Tom returned. He held the envelope out to me. It was unopened.

"He said to stop throwing tantrums, Ellie," Tom said, his voice quiet, almost apologetic. "He said he's busy and doesn't have time for your games."

Games.

I took the envelope.

I walked to the massive stone fireplace in the main hall. The fire was roaring, consuming expensive oak logs just like this family consumed people.

I took the ring out. The diamond caught the firelight, sparkling with a cruel, cold indifference.

I threw it in.

Tom gasped. "Ellie!"

I watched the metal darken instantly, the soot choking the brilliance out of the stone. It didn't melt-not yet-but it was ruined. It was garbage now. Just like us.

That night, there was a mandatory family gathering. I had to go. In this world, appearance was the only currency that mattered.

I put on a severe black dress. No jewelry. No makeup to conceal the hollow purple shadows under my eyes.

I walked into the drawing room. Marcus was there. He held a crystal glass of whiskey, looking powerful, untouchable.

He glanced at my hand, noted the absence of the ring, and a frown marred his perfect features.

He strode over, gripping my arm hard.

"Where is it?"

"In the fireplace," I said.

His eyes darkened. "You're testing my patience, Ellie."

"And you have long since exhausted mine."

He sneered, leaning down to hiss in my ear. "You think you can embarrass me? You're my wife. You wear my ring."

"I'm your prop," I corrected.

Just then, Izzy walked in.

She wasn't family, but she was "consulting" on the waterfront project again. She wore red. Always red.

Marcus released my arm instantly. The transformation was immediate and sickening. The cold mask melted into something attentive, almost warm.

"Izzy," he said, stepping away from me as if I didn't exist. "Did you get the drink I sent?"

He led her to the sofa. He sat next to her.

At dinner, he peeled her shrimp. He laughed at her jokes. He treated her with a tenderness he hadn't shown me in two years.

I sat there, mechanically cutting my steak, feeling my heart calcify into stone.

Then, he stood up. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet box.

"A token of appreciation," Marcus announced to the room. "For the incredible work Izzy has done on the waterfront project."

He opened it.

It was the sapphire brooch. His grandmother's brooch.

The one I had admired for years, only to be told it was "too precious to wear casually."

He pinned it onto Izzy's red dress.

"It suits you," he said softly. "It requires a woman with fire to truly carry it."

The room went silent. This was a flagrant violation of protocol. That brooch was meant for the wife of the Capo, not the consultant.

I didn't storm out. I didn't scream. I just stopped feeling.

The pain peaked, shattered, and then vanished, leaving behind a hollow, echoing void.

I stood up to leave. Izzy brushed past me on her way to the bar.

She leaned in, her perfume cloying and sweet, like rotting flowers.

"You think you won because you have his name?" she whispered, her voice a toxic purr. "He's my dog, Ellie. He barks when I want, and he bites when I say."

I looked at her. Really looked at her.

"Then keep him on a leash," I said, my voice ice. "Because I'm done cleaning up his shit."

Izzy blinked, surprised by my spine. Then, a sly smirk touched her lips.

She deliberately tripped over her own feet, crashing dramatically into a passing waiter.

"Ow!" she shrieked, grabbing her ankle. She looked up at me with wide, tear-filled eyes. "Ellie! Why did you push me?"

Marcus was there in a second. He didn't ask what happened. He didn't look at the three feet of distance between us.

He turned on me, his eyes blazing with fury.

"Get out," he snarled, his voice a low thunder. "You're drunk and you're making a fool of yourself. Get out of my sight."

I looked at my husband.

He was cradling his mistress, protecting her from a phantom attack, while condemning the woman who had washed the blood from his shirts for years.

"Gladly," I said.

I walked out of the manor. I didn't look back.

My phone buzzed as I got into my car. A text from Izzy.

Don't wait up. He's comforting me tonight.

I deleted the message. Then I deleted Marcus's number. Then Izzy's.

I drove into the dark, embracing the terrifying, beautiful weight of absolute nothingness.