Chapter 1 1

"No, thank you. I'm driving tonight."

Helena Hensley's voice was a practiced hum, smooth and devoid of any jagged edges. She raised a hand to decline the crystal flute of champagne offered by a woman whose name she had forgotten three seconds after being introduced. The woman drifted away in a cloud of expensive floral perfume, leaving Helena standing near a pillar in the Cipriani banquet hall.

She smoothed the velvet fabric of her dress. It was navy blue, high-necked, and entirely too warm for the crowded room. Harrison had picked it out. He said it made her look regal. Helena knew it made her look like a backdrop, something expensive and silent to be placed behind the main attraction.

Her eyes scanned the room, not looking for friends, but for a specific silhouette. Harrison had vanished twenty minutes ago to take a "business call."

She spotted Harrison's personal assistant, a young man named Greg, standing near the coat check. He was checking his watch every ten seconds, sweat glistening on his upper lip despite the air conditioning. He looked like a man holding a grenade with the pin pulled.

Helena didn't approach him. Instead, she turned and walked toward the corridor that led to the VIP lounges. The noise of the party-the clinking glass, the low roar of gossip, the string quartet-faded as she stepped onto the thick carpet of the hallway.

The lighting here was dim, designed for discretion. At the end of the hall, the door to the lounge Harrison usually reserved was ajar. A slice of warm, amber light spilled out across the floor.

Helena stopped. She took a breath, expecting the scent of cigars or aged scotch.

Instead, she heard a sound that made her stomach tighten into a hard, cold knot. It was a heavy, rhythmic panting.

Then came a laugh. High-pitched. Sharp. It belonged to Sienna, a socialite who had spent the last three months making passive-aggressive comments about Helena's shoes.

"You promised," Sienna's voice carried through the crack in the door. "The beach house in the Hamptons. You said the deed would be in my name by Christmas."

"I'm working on it, baby," Harrison's voice was thick, breathless. "Just let me get the trust fund voting rights unlocked. Once the old man's estate is settled..."

"And what about the nun? That boring little art piece display stand you keep dragging around?" Sienna giggled.

Helena stood frozen. Her hand hovered over the brass handle. Her heart didn't race. It slammed against her ribs once, hard, a physical blow that knocked the air out of her lungs.

She didn't push the door open. Not yet. She leaned in, her blue eyes narrowing as she looked through the gap.

Harrison was pressed against the mahogany desk, his tuxedo jacket thrown on the floor. Sienna was wrapped around him. It was a scene of chaotic, sweaty desperation.

"Helena?" Harrison groaned. "She's an asset. Mom says she polls well with the shareholders. She's... safe. Low maintenance."

Helena felt a strange clicking sensation in her brain. The shock evaporated, replaced instantly by a cold, clinical clarity. It was the same feeling she got when a complex set of books refused to balance-panic was useless. Only cold, methodical tracing mattered.

She mentally pulled up a spreadsheet.

Investment: Two years of social climbing, tolerating his mother, suppressing her true career.

Return: A cheating fiancé, a "safe" reputation, and a promise of stability that was currently being unzipped by a woman wearing too much bronzer.

Net Present Value: Negative.

Status: Bad debt. Write it off.

Helena reached into her clutch and pulled out her phone. She didn't tremble. Her fingers were steady as she swiped to the camera. She aimed the lens through the crack in the door.

She tapped the shutter.

A blinding white flash illuminated the dark hallway and the room beyond.

Helena cursed internally. She never took photos; she had forgotten the automatic flash was on.

Inside the room, the motion stopped instantly.

"What the hell?" Harrison yelped. There was the sound of glass shattering-a champagne bottle knocked off the desk.

Helena didn't run. She shoved the door open. The heavy wood swung back, hitting the wall with a dull thud.

Harrison was scrambling, trying to pull up his trousers, his face a mask of pure, unadulterated panic. Sienna didn't even try to cover herself. She just pulled a strap up her shoulder and smirked, her eyes challenging Helena to make a scene.

"Helena!" Harrison stumbled forward, his hands raised. "Babe, wait. This isn't... it's just stress relief. You know how much pressure I'm under with the merger."

Helena took a step back as he reached for her. The smell of him-sweat, sex, and expensive cologne-made bile rise in her throat.

"Don't touch me," she said. Her voice wasn't loud. It was flat. Dead.

She looked down at her left hand. The emerald engagement ring sat heavy on her finger. It was a family heirloom, worth more than her entire graduate school tuition.

She gripped the stone. It felt cold against her skin. With a sharp tug, she slid it off.

Harrison froze, his eyes widening. "Helena, stop. You're overreacting. Think about the gala next week."

Helena tossed the ring. It arced through the air, catching the light, before landing with a wet plop into a half-full glass of stale champagne on the side table.

"Consider our arrangement concluded, Mr. Vincent."

Harrison stood there, his mouth hanging open. He had expected tears. He had expected screaming. He had not expected such a cold, formal dismissal.

Helena turned on her heel. She walked out of the room, the velvet of her dress swishing softly around her legs. She passed Greg in the hallway. The assistant looked at her pale face, then at the open door, and paled.

"He's busy," Helena said as she walked past him.

She pushed through the heavy double doors of Cipriani and stepped out into the biting New York autumn air. The wind whipped her hair across her face, stinging her eyes.

She didn't cry. She raised her hand and hailed a yellow cab.

"Where to, lady?" the driver asked as she slid into the cracked leather seat.

"Blue Note," she said, staring out the window at the blurred city lights. "West 3rd Street."