Chapter 1 1

She wasn't Celena Roberts anymore. And she certainly wasn't Mrs. Baird. She wiped a smudge of dust from her skirt. It was time to meet Mr. Sterling.

Just hours earlier, it had all started with the feather duster.

The duster caught the edge of the silver frame on the high shelf. It wasn't a hard knock, just a clumsy brush of movement, but it was enough.

Gravity took over. The frame tipped forward, tumbling through the air in what felt like slow motion before it smashed against the marble floor of the master bedroom.

The sound was a gunshot in the silent penthouse.

Celena Roberts flinched, her heart hammering against her ribs. She dropped the duster and fell to her knees, her hands hovering over the jagged shards of glass. It was their wedding photo. Foster looked dashing in his tuxedo, his smile confident and possessive. She looked young, grateful, and naive.

"Stupid," she whispered to herself, her fingers trembling. "So stupid."

A vase of white hydrangeas had been knocked over in the chaos. Water pooled rapidly across the marble, soaking into the backing of the broken frame.

Panic flared in her chest. Foster hated mess. He hated incompetence even more.

She carefully peeled the wet cardboard backing away to save the photo. Behind the picture, folded into a tight square, was their marriage license. They had never framed it properly, just tucked it there for safekeeping two years ago.

Now, it was soaking wet.

Celena pulled the document out. The water had done its work instantly. The cheap ink of the date and the official seal was bleeding into an illegible blue smear.

Her stomach dropped. Tax season was coming up. Foster's accountant had asked for a certified copy just yesterday. If she couldn't produce this, Foster would look at her with that disappointed sigh that made her feel small enough to fit in a matchbox.

She checked her watch. 2:00 PM. Foster wouldn't be back from the office until six.

She grabbed her purse, ignoring the glass on the floor for a moment. She could fix the mess later. Right now, she needed a replacement document.

The cab ride to the City Clerk's office in lower Manhattan took forty minutes of agonizing stop-and-go traffic. Celena picked at her cuticles until they bled. She rehearsed her apology to Foster in her head, over and over.

I'm sorry, I was cleaning. I'm sorry, I'm clumsy. I'll fix it.

The office was sterile, smelling of floor wax and stale coffee. She waited in line, shifting her weight from foot to foot. When her number was called, she rushed to the window.

"I need a certified copy of a marriage license," Celena said, sliding her ID across the counter. "Foster Baird and Celena Roberts."

The clerk, a woman with tired eyes and chipping nail polish, took the ID without looking up. She began typing.

Celena drummed her fingers on the countertop. Her phone buzzed in her purse-a reminder to pick up Foster's dry cleaning. She silenced it.

The typing stopped. The clerk frowned at the screen.

"Date?" the clerk asked.

"June 14th, two years ago," Celena said.

The typing resumed, louder this time. Then it stopped again.

"Are you sure about the date, honey?"

"Yes. It was a Saturday. We had the ceremony at the Baird estate."

The clerk turned the monitor slightly. "I have no record of a marriage license filed for a Foster Baird and Celena Roberts on that date. Or any date."

The air in the room seemed to vanish. Celena gripped the edge of the counter. "That's impossible. We signed the papers. The officiant took them."

The clerk looked at her with a pity that felt like a slap. "It happens more than you think. Officiant forgets, or maybe... maybe it just never got mailed. But legally? According to the State of New York? You aren't married."

The floor tilted. Celena felt bile rise in her throat.

Not married.

For two years, she had been the dutiful wife. She had endured the cold shoulders from his mother, the snide comments about her background, the endless hours working as his uncompensated "consultant" to fix the Baird Group's PR disasters. She had signed pre-nups. She had signed NDAs.

But she hadn't signed the one thing that mattered.

"Thank you," Celena whispered. Her voice sounded like it was coming from underwater.

She walked out of the building, the city noise crashing over her. Horns, shouting, the rumble of the subway beneath the grate. She stood on the sidewalk, feeling completely untethered.

Her phone rang again. Not Foster. An unknown number.

She answered mechanically. "Hello?"

"Ms. Celena Roberts?" The voice was deep, gravelly, and serious.

"Yes."

"This is Walter Sterling. I am the executor of the Arthur Kensington estate."

Celena blinked, her brain struggling to process the name. Arthur Kensington. The titan of Wall Street. The man whose face was on every financial magazine cover until his death last week.

"I think you have the wrong number," she said.

"I do not," Sterling said. "We have been looking for you since the reading of the will. We were able to retrieve a DNA sample from your sealed medical file at St. Jude's. It's a match, Ms. Roberts. You are his biological daughter."

Celena laughed. It was a dry, cracking sound. "Is this a joke? I'm an orphan from St. Jude's."

"Arthur Kensington was your father. And you are the sole heir to the Kensington trust and assets. We need to meet. immediately."

The irony tasted like copper in her mouth. Five minutes ago, she was a fake wife with nothing. Now, a stranger on the phone was telling her she owned half of Manhattan.

"I... I can't right now," she stammered. "I have to go home."

"Ms. Kensington, please-"

She hung up.

The ride back to the penthouse was a blur. She didn't cry. She couldn't. She felt hollowed out, scraped clean by shock.

She unlocked the front door of the penthouse quietly. It was 4:30 PM. Foster shouldn't be home yet.

But the smell hit her first.

Heavy, floral perfume. Not hers.

Then, the sound. Giggling. Low, throaty laughter coming from the living room.

Celena moved silently across the foyer. She stopped at the edge of the hallway.

Foster was on the beige sofa. His jacket was off, his tie loosened. Straddling his lap was a woman with blonde waves and a backless dress. Ava Douglas. His "art consultant."

Foster's hand was tangled in Ava's hair. He kissed her neck, murmuring something that made Ava shiver.

"When are you going to tell her?" Ava asked, pulling back slightly. Her voice was light, teasing.

Foster groaned, resting his forehead against hers. "Soon. I just need her to finish the quarterly report. She's useful, Ava. Cheap labor."

"She's a bore," Ava pouted. "And she can't even give you an heir."

"I know," Foster said, his voice dripping with contempt. "A barren charity case. As soon as the stock stabilizes, I'll cut her loose. I promise."

Celena stood in the shadows. The broken glass from the picture frame was still in her pocket, sharp edges pressing against her thigh through the fabric.

She didn't scream. She didn't storm in.

A coldness spread from her chest to her fingertips, freezing the tears before they could fall. She watched them for another ten seconds, memorizing the angle of his head, the cruelty of his smile.

Then, she turned around and walked back to the elevator. She pressed the button.