Chapter 4

The diamond on the velvet cushion was obliterated.

It had been a five-carat flawless stone, a heavy, glittering symbol of Brendan's power and my bondage. Now, it was nothing more than a blackened, twisted lump of carbon.

I had taken a blowtorch to it in the garage only an hour ago, watching with grim satisfaction as the structure collapsed under the relentless blue flame.

I stared at the ruin, feeling a cold, settling calm.

My phone vibrated against the marble of the vanity table. Another text from Kiya.

Look what Daddy bought me.

A video was attached. She was in a high-end lingerie shop, pirouetting in a sheer silk robe. She giggled, panning the camera down to her stomach.

He says I glow.

I felt a familiar numbness spreading through my limbs, cooling my blood. It was better than pain. Numbness wasn't just a lack of feeling; it was armor.

Downstairs, the heavy thud of the front door echoed. Brendan was home.

I smoothed my expression and went down to meet him.

He was already in the living room, pouring a generous measure of whiskey. He looked every inch the weary king returning from battle, his tie loosened, his shoulders slumped with performative exhaustion.

"Hey," he said, sliding a glass across the wet bar toward me. "Rough day."

"What happened?" I asked, slipping effortlessly into the role.

"Firewall breach at the warehouse. Had to go down there personally to oversee the patch. You know how incompetent the night crew can be."

He looked me right in the eyes when he said it. He didn't even blink. The lie came as naturally to him as breathing.

"Is it fixed?" I asked.

"Yeah. It's handled."

He took a long sip of his drink, his eyes roaming over the curve of my dress. "You look beautiful, El. You're my sanctuary. You know that? The only clean thing in my life."

The compliment felt like a smear of grease.

"I'm glad," I said.

He glanced at the Rolex on his wrist. "I have to go back out. Just for a few hours. Meeting with the union reps."

"Go handle business," I said softly, stepping closer to fix his collar. "I'll be here."

He kissed me, hard and fast-a claim of ownership-and then he left.

As soon as the red taillights of his car disappeared down the long driveway, the mask dropped.

I walked straight into the library. I tilted the spine of the false book on the shelf, hearing the click of the mechanism, and entered the Safe Room.

This was the brain of the Wiggins operation. Walls of servers hummed in the climate-controlled air, processing the data of a criminal empire.

I sat at the main terminal and logged in, bypassing the standard biometric lock with the admin override I'd installed months ago.

I pulled up the server logs for the warehouse.

No activity.

No breach.

System integrity: 100%.

He hadn't been fixing a firewall. He had been with her. He had simply gotten bored of playing house with me and wanted to go back to his shiny new toy.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the velvet box containing the destroyed ring.

I placed it squarely in the center of his mahogany desk.

He would find it on his birthday. He would open the box expecting to see the pristine symbol of his ownership, and instead, he would find ash.

I turned back to the screen and typed a command into the terminal.

Execute Protocol: Black Ledger.

The system began to copy every file, every bribe, every murder authorization onto an encrypted external drive.

I wasn't just leaving. I was taking his ammunition.

"June Bennett is coming," I whispered to the humming room, watching the progress bar fill.

"And Ellery Rich is burning the house down on her way out."