Chapter 1 1

The nightmare always ended the same way. Not with a scream, but with the suffocating silence of a throat that refused to open. A silence she had cultivated, weaponized. A cage she had built for herself, because the bars kept others out just as effectively as they kept her in.

Calleigh Holman woke up gasping, her lungs seizing as if they were still filled with the smoke from a fire that had burned out years ago. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic bird trapped in a cage of bone. The sheets were soaked in cold sweat, clinging to her skin like a second, unwanted layer. She sat up, her fingers digging into the mattress, grounding herself in the physical reality of the Lloyd estate.

The room was dark, save for the sliver of moonlight cutting through the heavy velvet curtains. It was a mausoleum of a bedroom, decorated in shades of cream and gold that Gerri Lloyd insisted were elegant but just felt sterile.

Calleigh's hand shot out, not to wipe the sweat from her forehead, but to the underside of the mahogany nightstand. Her fingers brushed against the cool, smooth plastic of the voice recorder. It was still there. A micro-recorder, a thin, black chip no larger than her pinky nail, held in place by industrial-strength velcro.

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Safe.

For now.

A sharp rap on the door shattered the silence. It wasn't a question; it was a notification.

Mrs. Holman, the butler's voice came through the wood, dry and devoid of warmth. Madame Gerri is waiting in the car. You have five minutes.

Calleigh didn't answer. She never did.

She swung her legs out of bed, her feet hitting the cold hardwood floor. She moved to the vanity mirror, staring at her reflection. The woman looking back was pale, with dark circles under eyes that were too wide, too expressive. She needed to fix that.

She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly, counting to four. When she opened them again, the spark was gone. The intelligence, the calculation, the burning rage-it was all buried under a glaze of dull vacancy. She practiced the slight tremor in her hands, the way her shoulders hunched forward just enough to look defeated.

She was no longer Calleigh the hacker, the asset liquidator known as Ghost on the dark web. She was Calleigh the Liability. The broken, mute wife of Heinrich Lloyd.

She walked to the walk-in closet, bypassing the rows of designer silk and cashmere Heinrich's stylist had purchased. instead, she reached for a beige dress from two seasons ago. It was slightly loose around the waist, the fabric a little rougher than what a Lloyd should wear. It made her look smaller. Weaker.

Perfect.

Downstairs, the black Maybach waited like a hearse in the driveway. The driver held the door open, his face blank. Calleigh slid into the backseat. Immediately, the partition glass slid up with a soft hiss, sealing her off from the front.

Privacy. Or isolation. In her world, they were the same thing.

As the car glided down the long, winding driveway of the Hamptons estate, Calleigh pulled her phone from her purse. To anyone watching, she was just another bored trophy wife scrolling through a game. Her thumb hovered over the Candy Crush icon, but with a specific sequence of taps-two long, one short, one long-the screen flickered.

The colorful candies vanished, replaced by lines of scrolling green code.

She scanned the script she had written the night before. It was a thing of beauty, a subtle algorithm designed to flag micro-transactions within the Lloyd Group's subsidiary accounts. She executed a command, burying the tracker deep within a routine server update.

The car hit a bump, and she instinctively minimized the window, the screen instantly reverting to the bright, cheerful game interface.

They were entering the city now. The skyline of Manhattan rose up like a jagged set of teeth. The car didn't head toward the Lloyd Tower, but toward the Upper East Side. It pulled up to a nondescript limestone building with no signage.

A private clinic. The kind that didn't accept insurance, only wire transfers and secrets.

Joan, Gerri's personal assistant, was waiting by the elevator. She checked her watch as Calleigh approached, her lips pursed in disapproval. She didn't say hello. She just jerked her chin toward the open elevator doors.

Calleigh stepped in, keeping her head down. She clasped her hands in front of her stomach, letting them tremble visibly.

The elevator opened directly into a penthouse conference room. The air smelled of antiseptic and expensive lilies.

Gerri Lloyd sat at the head of a long, glass table. She was pruning a potted orchid with a pair of silver shears. Snip. Snip. The sound was wet and violent in the quiet room.

Gerri didn't look up immediately. She took her time, cutting away a perfectly healthy-looking leaf.

Three years, Gerri said, her voice smooth and cold as polished marble. She finally raised her eyes, her gaze dropping instantly to Calleigh's midsection. And that womb is still empty.

Calleigh stood by the door, making herself shrink. She didn't move. She didn't make a sound.

Dr. Evans entered from a side door, clutching a thick file folder. He looked tired, or maybe just guilty. He avoided Calleigh's eyes as he placed the file on the table.

Joan dimmed the lights, and a projector hummed to life. A complex genetic chart appeared on the wall.

Mrs. Holman's cortisol levels are chronically elevated, Dr. Evans recited, sounding like he was reading a script. The stress on her system has created a hostile environment for conception. It is medically inadvisable for her to carry a child to term.

Calleigh lowered her head, letting her bangs obscure her face. Behind the curtain of hair, her eyes narrowed. She knew her cortisol was high; living in a shark tank would do that to anyone. But she also knew she had been taking birth control pills hidden inside vitamin capsules for three years.

There was no way she was bringing a child into this family. Not until she burned it down.

The side door opened again. The click of stilettos on the hardwood floor was sharp and rhythmic.

Aria Gomez walked in.

She was wearing a blood-red power suit that fit her like a second skin. Her hair was pulled back in a severe, glossy ponytail. She radiated the kind of aggressive confidence that Calleigh had to work so hard to suppress in herself.

So, I found a better vessel, Gerri said, gesturing to Aria with the shears. Aria. Harvard Law. impeccable genetic history. Physically and mentally robust.

Aria stopped in front of Calleigh. She was taller in her heels, looming over her. She extended a hand, her nails painted a dark, oxblood red.

A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Holman, Aria said. Her smile didn't reach her eyes. It was a predator's baring of teeth. This is strictly for the good of the family.

Calleigh stared at the hand. She took a step back, her breath hitching in a performance of social anxiety.

Aria let out a short, derisive laugh and dropped her hand. She turned her back on Calleigh, looking at Gerri. She's even more pathetic than the reports said.

Joan stepped forward and slapped a document onto the glass table in front of Calleigh.

Surrogacy Consent and Relinquishment of Parental Rights.

Sign it, Gerri commanded. Her voice dropped an octave, losing the veneer of politeness. This is a notification, Calleigh. Not a negotiation.

Calleigh approached the table slowly. She looked down at the paper. Her eyes scanned the legal jargon, her mind processing it at lightning speed. Clause 14.b caught her attention immediately: The biological mother agrees to waive all legal custody and visitation rights immediately upon birth.

They weren't just asking for a surrogate. They were asking her to sign away her marriage, her future, and a child that would legally be hers.

If you refuse, Gerri continued, picking up a piece of lint from her skirt, I will activate the mental instability clause in your prenuptial agreement.

Gerri slid another folder across the table. It was thinner.

Calleigh looked at the cover. Psychiatric Evaluation: Severe Depression and Self-Harm Tendencies.

It was fake. All of it.

St. Mary's Sanitarium has a bed reserved, Gerri said softly. Permanent conservatorship. You'll never have to worry about the outside world again.

Calleigh felt a spike of genuine rage in her chest. It was a hot, searing thing. Her fingers curled into her palms, gripping the fabric of her beige dress so hard her knuckles turned white.

Aria picked up a Montblanc pen from the table and held it out to Calleigh.

Don't make this difficult for Heinrich, Aria purred. Be a good girl.

The pen hung in the air between them. A weapon. A sentence.

Calleigh looked from the pen to Gerri's cold eyes, then to the fake medical report. The silence in the room stretched, heavy and suffocating.