Chapter 1 No.1

The rain in Manhattan did not wash things clean. It only made the grime on the streets slicker, reflecting the neon lights of the city in distorted, broken puddles. From the forty-fifth floor of the Vance Penthouse, the storm was just a silent movie playing against the floor-to-ceiling glass.

Evelyn Sharp stood with her forehead resting against the cold pane. The condensation gathered under her breath, a small fog that appeared and vanished with the rhythm of her lungs. She watched a single droplet trace a path down the glass, merging with others, growing heavier until it fell into the abyss of the city below.

She felt like that droplet. Heavy. Merging with a life that wasn't hers until she was falling, waiting for the impact.

She glanced at the Cartier watch on her left wrist. The leather strap was slightly too loose, a gift from Alexander that he had never bothered to get resized. It was 11:03 PM.

The dinner on the marble table behind her had gone cold hours ago. The roasted lamb, prepared with the exact blend of herbs Alexander preferred, was now just a congealed centerpiece of wasted effort. The candles had burned down to nubs, their wicks drowning in pools of hardened wax.

It was their third wedding anniversary.

Evelyn turned away from the window. Her movement was slow, deliberate, as if moving through water. The silence in the penthouse was oppressive. It was a museum of minimalist luxury-white leather, chrome accents, black marble. There were no photos of them. No clutter. No signs of life.

Her phone buzzed on the kitchen island. The sound was harsh, vibrating against the stone like a warning.

Evelyn walked over. She didn't want to look. Her stomach did that familiar, sickening flip it always did when Alexander was late. It wasn't worry for his safety anymore. It was the dread of the excuse.

She tapped the screen. A notification from a local gossip column, The City Eye, popped up.

Alexander Vance spotted leaving Lenox Hill Hospital with childhood sweetheart Scarlett Sharp. Sources say the ballerina suffered a cardiac episode.

Evelyn swiped to open the photo. The image was grainy, taken from a distance, but the figures were unmistakable. Alexander was tall, his broad shoulders hunched forward in a posture of extreme care. He was holding a woman's hand. Scarlett looked fragile, her head resting on his shoulder, her blonde hair a stark contrast to his dark wool coat.

He looked concerned. He looked present. He looked like a husband.

Just not hers.

Evelyn felt a dull ache in the center of her chest, right behind her sternum. It wasn't a sharp pain anymore. It was an old bruise that someone kept pressing on. She stared at the photo, dissecting it. He was holding Scarlett's hand with both of his. The intimacy of the gesture made Evelyn's throat tight.

The front door lock beeped. The electronic chirp echoed through the silent apartment.

Evelyn placed the phone face down. She smoothed the front of her oversized beige cardigan. She adjusted her glasses, pushing them up the bridge of her nose. This was the armor she wore for him: the dull, unremarkable wife. The woman who blended into the beige walls.

Alexander walked in. He brought the smell of the storm with him-damp wool, ozone, and beneath it all, the sharp, chemical sting of hospital antiseptic.

He looked exhausted. His tie was loosened, the top button of his shirt undone. He didn't look at the dining table. He didn't look at the dead candles. He dropped his keys in the bowl near the door with a loud clatter.

You missed dinner, Evelyn said. Her voice was soft, barely a whisper in the large room.

Alexander paused, one hand on the knot of his tie. He turned his head slightly, acknowledging her presence for the first time. His eyes were the color of steel, and right now, just as cold.

Scarlett had an episode, he said. His voice was rough, clipped. It was an emergency.

Evelyn tightened her grip on the hem of her skirt. Her knuckles turned white. It is always an emergency with her, Alex. Last week it was a migraine. The week before, a panic attack. Tonight, on our anniversary, it is her heart.

Alexander's eyes narrowed. He walked further into the room, bypassing her as if she were a piece of furniture he needed to navigate around.

Don't start, Evelyn, he warned. He sounded bored. You know the deal. She has a condition. I am the only one who can calm her down.

He walked past the dining table without a glance. He didn't see the food. He didn't see the wine that had breathed for three hours until it was vinegar.

Evelyn turned to watch his back. Is that what I am? The deal?

Alexander stopped at the door to his study. He didn't turn around. You are Mrs. Vance. You have the name, the house, the cards. Don't act like a victim. It doesn't suit you.

He opened the door and stepped inside, closing it with a definitive click.

Evelyn stood alone in the hallway. The silence rushed back in, louder than before.

Her phone buzzed again. Another text. This time from her mother, Eleanor Sharp.

Make sure Alex signs the merger deal tomorrow. Don't be useless. Remember why you are there.

Evelyn stared at the words. Don't be useless.

For three years, she had been useful. She had been the quiet bridge between the Sharp family's failing pharmaceutical empire and the Vance corporate machine. She had been the placeholder spouse so Alexander could secure his board position, which required a stable family image, while he waited for Scarlett to be ready.

She had played the part of the dull, uneducated daughter perfectly. She had hidden her degrees. She had hidden her mind. She had hidden herself.

She looked at her reflection in the darkened window again. The glasses were thick-rimmed, hiding the shape of her eyes. The cardigan swallowed her figure. Her hair was pulled back in a severe, unflattering bun.

Who was this woman?

She wasn't Evelyn Sharp. She wasn't the girl who had graduated from Harvard Medical at sixteen. She wasn't the Oracle who could diagnose rare neuro-degenerative diseases just by looking at a patient's gait.

She was a ghost. And she was tired of haunting her own life.

A sudden clarity washed over her. It started in her fingertips, a tingling sensation of heat, and spread up her arms to her chest. It wasn't anger. It was something far more dangerous. It was indifference.

The debt was paid. The Sharp family had their money. Alexander had his CEO title. Scarlett had Alexander.

Evelyn had nothing but a cold dinner and a fake life.

She turned and walked to the master bedroom. Her steps were silent on the plush carpet. She didn't turn on the lights. She knew the room by heart.

She went to the walk-in closet. Past the rows of designer dresses Alexander's stylist bought for her-beige, cream, pale pink. Colors that faded into the background. She reached to the very back, behind the winter coats, and pulled out a battered, vintage leather suitcase.

It was heavy. It smelled like old paper and freedom.

She opened it on the bed. She didn't pack the clothes hanging in the closet. She didn't pack the shoes.

She walked to the safe in the wall behind a painting. She punched in the code-her birthday, which Alexander had likely forgotten. The door swung open.

She took out a passport. She took out a thin, silver laptop that Alexander didn't know existed. She took out a small velvet pouch containing a jade pendant-the only thing she truly owned, the only link to a night three years ago that Alexander had rewritten in his head to feature Scarlett.

She placed these items in the suitcase.

On the dresser sat a jewelry box. Inside was a diamond necklace, a pair of sapphire earrings, and a tennis bracelet. Anniversary gifts from previous years. Cold stones given by an assistant.

She left them there.

She sat down at the vanity table. She pulled a tablet from her bag. Her fingers flew across the screen. She wasn't writing a letter. She was drafting a legal document.

Divorce Settlement Agreement.

Petitioner: Evelyn Sharp.

Respondent: Alexander Vance.

She typed with the precision of a surgeon. She waived her right to alimony. She waived her claim to the penthouse. She waived her claim to his stocks. She wanted nothing.

She heard Alexander's voice from the study down the hall. The walls were thick, but the vent carried the sound.

Yes, Scarlett, he was saying. His voice was low, gentle-a tone Evelyn had never heard directed at her. I will be there tomorrow morning. Don't cry. I promise.

Evelyn's fingers didn't pause. She hit Print.

The wireless printer in the hallway hummed to life. The sound was mechanical, rhythmic.

Evelyn stood up. She walked to the hallway, retrieved the single sheet of warm paper, and returned to the bedroom.

She placed the document on Alexander's pillow. The white paper against the dark grey silk looked like a flag of surrender. Or a declaration of war.

She looked at her left hand. The diamond ring was heavy. It was a beautiful ring, flawless and cold. It had felt like a shackle for a thousand days.

She gripped the platinum band. She twisted it. It resisted for a moment, sticking to her skin, before sliding over her knuckle.

The air hit the skin where the ring had been. It felt cool. It felt naked.

She placed the ring on top of the paper. It sat perfectly in the center of the text, weighing down the page.

Evelyn zipped up the suitcase. She put on her trench coat. She didn't look back at the room. She didn't look at the bed where she had spent so many nights staring at his back.

She didn't walk to the front door. She knew the game wasn't over yet. Leaving the building would only cause a scene he would spin to his advantage.

Instead, she walked down the hall, past the master bedroom, and opened the door to the Guest Suite.

She stepped inside. The room was cold, sterile, and smelled of unused linen. It was perfect.

She closed the door and locked it. The click of the lock was the loudest sound in the world.