Chapter 1 1

The Pierre Hotel smelled of old money and stale ambition.

Isla smoothed the fabric of her black dress. It was a simple column of silk, stark and funereal against the sea of pastels and sequins filling the ballroom. A waiter stepped into her path, his eyes darting to the seating chart in his hand. He pointed toward a table near the kitchen doors, where the sound of clattering dishes would drown out conversation.

Isla didn't look at him. She walked past him, the silk of her dress brushing his trousers. He froze.

She headed straight for the main table.

Her stepmother, Elena, was already seated, her smile tight enough to snap. Her father, Robert, didn't even look up from his scotch. But it was Brande who held the room. She stood at the podium, adjusting the microphone, her face a mask of practiced humility.

"My sister, Isla, couldn't be here in spirit tonight," Brande said, her voice trembling just enough to sell the lie. "Her condition... it makes social situations difficult. But we love her through her silence."

Applause rippled through the room. Pity. It tasted like copper in Isla's mouth.

Chase Sterling stood at the edge of the stage. He looked golden, the perfect accessory to Brande's martyrdom. Isla saw his fingers brush against Brande's as she stepped back. A secret squeeze. A promise.

Isla sat down at the empty seat opposite her father. He frowned, but before he could speak, her phone buzzed against her thigh.

_Payload Ready. Greenlight from Ghost. Execute on cue._

Isla picked up a flute of champagne. The bubbles hissed. She watched Brande invite Chase to the center of the stage. "We have some wonderful news to share," Brande beamed. The spotlight hit them, blinding and white. They were the sun, and Isla was the shadow they thought they had swallowed.

Isla took a sip. The crystal felt cold against her lip.

She slid her thumb across her phone screen. Execute.

The massive LED wall behind them flickered. Brande's face, blown up to twenty feet of high-definition perfection, distorted. The image tore apart.

Static screeched through the sound system, sharp enough to make people cover their ears. Then, clarity.

A video feed replaced the gala logo. It was grainy but unmistakable. A hotel suite. Brande, naked, straddling Chase.

"God, she's such a mute waste of space," Brande's voice boomed through the ballroom speakers, amplified to a deafening volume. "Do you think she knows you bought this necklace with her trust fund money?"

Chase's laugh on the screen was cruel. "Who cares? She can't scream about it."

The silence in the ballroom was absolute. It was a physical weight, pressing down on every chest.

On stage, Brande's face drained of blood. She looked like a ghost haunting her own funeral. Chase scrambled toward the AV console, tripping over a cable in his panic. He hit the floor hard, a tangle of limbs and tuxedo.

Isla set her glass down. The clink against the table was soft, yet it felt like a gunshot.

"Turn it off!" Robert roared, crushing his glass. Shards bit into his palm, blood mixing with the amber liquid. He looked around wildly, hunting for a scapegoat.

Isla lifted her chin. She locked eyes with him.

She didn't blink. She didn't flinch. She let him see the cold, hard nothingness in her eyes.

Brande was screaming into the microphone now, but Isla had already cut the audio feed from the podium. Her mouth opened and closed, soundless. A pantomime of terror.

The video continued. Chase's voice filled the room again. "Just sign the invoices as 'consulting fees.' Robert is too busy counting his grey hairs to notice."

A gasp swept through the crowd. The board members at table three were already whispering, phones out.

Isla stood up. Her chair scraped against the floor.

She turned her back on the chaos. She walked toward the exit, her heels clicking a steady rhythm.

"Isla!" Chase scrambled up, running toward her. His face was red, veins bulging in his neck. He reached for her arm.

She didn't speed up. She just shifted her weight, a subtle sidestep she'd practiced a thousand times. Chase grabbed air. His momentum carried him forward, crashing into a passing waiter. A tray of red wine cascaded over his white shirt.

He looked up at her from the floor, dripping and pathetic.

Isla paused. She looked down at him like he was gum on the sole of her shoe.

Flashes erupted. The paparazzi had bypassed security. The blinding white lights captured her indifference and his humiliation. Isla was the eye of the storm.

She pushed through the heavy double doors and into the cool night air of Manhattan. The wind whipped her hair across her face. She exhaled, a long, shuddering breath that rattled in her ribs.

Her phone buzzed. _Phase 1 Complete._

Isla deleted the message and formatted the drive.

Sirens wailed in the distance.

A black sedan pulled up. The driver looked at her dress, then at the chaos behind her. Isla handed him a slip of paper with an address.

She slid into the backseat. The door closed, sealing out the noise. She leaned her head back against the leather, closing her eyes. Her heart was hammering against her ribs, a frantic bird trapped in a cage, but her hands were steady.

Inside the hotel, Elena was undoubtedly screaming at a PR rep. Robert was probably having an aneurysm. Brande was ruined.

Isla opened her eyes and watched the city blur past.

This wasn't victory. This was just the opening move.