Chapter 3 No.3

The drive back from the cemetery was a blur of gray highway and white knuckles. I didn't go back to the party. I didn't go to a hotel. I drove the hearse's rental sedan straight back to the penthouse.

The silence in the car was suffocating. I kept replaying the sound of the dirt hitting the coffins. Thud. Thud. Thud. Finality. It was done. They were at rest. Now, it was my turn to bury something else.

I parked the car in the underground garage, ignoring the confused look of the valet who usually saw me in Julian's passenger seat. I took the elevator up, the numbers climbing steadily: 10, 20, 30. My ears popped. Or maybe that was just the pressure in my skull finally equalizing.

The penthouse was empty. The staff had been sent to the estate for the brunch. It was cold, sterile, a museum of a life I had never really lived.

The lock on the master bedroom door clicked with a finality that echoed in the empty hallway.

I hadn't been inside for more than ten minutes when I heard the front door slam. Julian stood outside, banging his fist against the mahogany. "Jade! Open this door! We need to talk about your behavior! You assaulted my mother!"

I ignored him. I was moving with efficiency now.

I didn't pack clothes. I didn't pack the jewelry Julian had bought me as apologies for missed anniversaries. I took the small duffel bag from under the bed. I packed my laptop. I packed the framed photo of my parents that I kept hidden in a drawer because Seraphina said it was "depressing."

I walked to the closet. Julian's suits took up three walls. My beige cardigans took up a small corner.

I pulled out a document I had prepared six months ago. The paper was crisp, heavy.

Petition for Dissolution of Marriage.

I walked to the door. I could hear Seraphina outside, her voice muffled. "Julian, she's dangerous. Maybe we should call the police."

"She's having a breakdown," Julian said, sounding more inconvenienced than concerned. "Jade! Open up or I'm breaking it down!"

I unlocked the door and swung it open.

Julian stumbled forward, his fist raised to knock again. He caught himself, straightening his tie.

"Finally. Now, you are going to go downstairs, apologize to my mother, and-"

I shoved the papers into his chest.

He reflexively grabbed them. "What is this?"

"Your freedom," I said. "And mine."

He looked down. He read the title. A laugh bubbled up from his throat-a harsh, incredulous sound.

"Divorce? You're divorcing me?" He shook the papers at me. "Jade, look around you. You live in a ten-million-dollar penthouse. You wear silk. You eat food prepared by a chef. Where are you going to go? Back to that community college dorm? You have nothing without me."

"I have myself," I said. "And that's more than I've had in three years."

"This is a negotiation tactic," he sneered. "You want more allowance? You want me to stop seeing Seraphina? Fine. We can discuss boundaries. But don't threaten me with papers you can't afford to file."

"It's not a negotiation, Julian. It's an eviction notice. For you. From my life."

I walked past him.

"Wait," he said, grabbing my arm. "The cemetery fees. The maintenance on that plot you insisted on using today. Who's going to pay for that? You?"

I looked at his hand on my arm. "Let go."

He didn't. "You need me."

"I needed you today," I said, my voice quiet. "I needed you to stand by me while I buried my parents. You chose brunch."

I ripped my arm away.

I walked down the stairs. I didn't take the elevator. I needed the movement.

At the front door, I paused. I pulled out my phone. I opened the smart home app-the one I had coded because the vendor's software was garbage.

Admin Access: Revoke User: Julian Vanderbilt.

Admin Access: Revoke User: Victoria Vanderbilt.

System Status: Lockdown.

I pressed execute.

Upstairs, the lights flickered and died. The electronic blinds slammed shut. The climate control reset to sixty degrees.

I walked out into the rain.

An hour later, Julian sat in his darkened office at Vanderbilt Tech. The power at the house was out, and the security gates refused to open, forcing him to climb the fence in his Italian suit.

"Why is the server down?" he yelled into his phone.

"We don't know, sir," his CTO stammered on the other end. "The core algorithm... it just stopped. It's locked. There's a encryption key we've never seen before."

"Fix it!"

"We can't. The code... it has a signature. It looks like 'Ghost' architecture. That's military grade, sir. We can't crack it."

Julian threw the phone across the room. It shattered against the wall.

He looked at the divorce papers sitting on his desk. He flipped through them angrily, looking for the alimony demand, looking for the greed he knew was there.

He stopped at page four.

Asset Division.

Petitioner (Jade Sterling) waives all rights to spousal support.

Petitioner demands repayment of pre-marital loan: Principal amount $1,500,000.00 plus accrued interest.

Julian froze.

1.5 million.

He remembered the money. Three years ago, when Vanderbilt Tech was just an idea and a rented garage, he had run out of cash. Investors had laughed at him. He was days away from bankruptcy.

Then, the money had appeared. An anonymous transfer. He had assumed it was an angel investor who believed in his genius. He had assumed it was his destiny.

He looked at the attached bank record.

Source: S.J. Holdings Trust / Beneficiary: Jade Sterling.

"S.J. Holdings?" Julian frowned. "She has a trust fund? But she said she was on a scholarship."

He scoffed, tossing the paper aside. "Probably some small inheritance from a distant relative she never mentioned. A lucky windfall she thinks makes her a player."

The door opened. Seraphina walked in, holding a jewelry catalog.

"Julian, darling, the house is freezing and the wifi is down. You need to buy me something to make up for today. Look at this bracelet..."

Julian looked at her. For the first time, her voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

"Not now, Seraphina," he muttered.

"Excuse me?" She pouted. "Don't take your bad mood out on me. It's Jade's fault, isn't it? She's trying to ruin everything."

"Shut up!" Julian roared.

Seraphina recoiled, dropping the catalog.

Julian stared at the document. If Jade pulled that money... if she claimed ownership of the code she had 'helped' him with...

The IPO. The public offering next month. It would be dead in the water.

He grabbed his keys. He had to find her. He had to tell her she couldn't do this. She didn't have the power. She was nobody.

But as he ran to his car, his phone buzzed. A news alert.

Vanderbilt Tech Systems Offline. Stock Pre-Market Dip.

And below it, a photo taken by a paparazzi outside a boxing gym in Hell's Kitchen.

It was Jade. She was wearing a tank top, sweat glistening on her shoulders, wrapping her hands with tape. She looked lethal. She looked nothing like the woman who made his coffee.

And standing next to her, handing her a water bottle, was a man in fatigue pants, his face obscured by a cap, but his posture radiating authority.

Julian stared at the screen. The rain fell on his phone, blurring the image, but he could see Jade's eyes. They weren't looking down anymore.