Chapter 3

Conner Roberson gripped the steering wheel of his Rolls-Royce Phantom, his knuckles white as he turned onto the gravel driveway of the Astor estate in the Hamptons.

In the backseat, Eleni was frantically smoothing out the wrinkles in Fallon's floral sundress.

"Smile, Fallon," Eleni instructed, her voice tight with anxiety. "Mrs. Astor is the gatekeeper of New York society. A good impression here is everything."

They stepped out of the car and walked onto the sprawling, manicured lawn. The ocean breeze carried the scent of expensive perfume and sea salt. Mrs. Astor, a woman whose posture was as rigid as her old-money pedigree, was holding court near a massive white tent.

Eleni nudged Fallon forward. This was the Roberson family tradition-presenting a highly curated, impossibly rare gift to the hostess to secure their social standing.

Fallon stepped up, flashing a bright, overly eager smile. She held out a standard brown paper bag.

"Thank you for having us, Mrs. Astor," Fallon chirped. She pulled out a bottle of mass-produced, commercial red wine. The kind sold in every corner bodega in Manhattan.

Mrs. Astor's polite smile froze instantly.

Her pale blue eyes dropped to the cheap label. She stared at it for two agonizingly long seconds.

The lively chatter around them died. A dozen wealthy socialites turned their heads. Their eyes scanned the cheap bottle, their faces twisting into identical expressions of unfiltered disgust and secondhand embarrassment.

Mrs. Astor didn't reach for the bottle. She gestured vaguely to a passing waiter.

"Take that to the kitchen," Mrs. Astor murmured, her tone dripping with ice. She didn't look at Fallon again. She turned her back entirely, greeting a shipping magnate as if the Robersons had ceased to exist.

Eleni felt the social temperature plummet. The elegant mask on her face cracked, heat rushing to her cheeks.

Conner tried to salvage the disaster. He walked up to a Wall Street executive he had known for years. "Richard, about that merger-"

"Ah, Conner," Richard interrupted, taking a large step backward. "I need to go check on my horses. Excuse me."

A few yards away, Alon stood frozen as he overheard two young heirs laughing behind their champagne flutes.

"Did you see that wine?" one whispered loudly. "Are the Robersons filing for bankruptcy?"

Fallon stood in the center of the lawn, completely oblivious to the social execution taking place. She kept trying to hand out compliments to women who actively turned their shoulders to block her out.

Within forty-five minutes, the humiliation became physically unbearable. Conner's face was dark purple with rage. He grabbed Eleni's arm and hissed, "Get to the car. Now."

Miles away, in a hidden, industrial loft in Soho, Harmony adjusted the straps of her heavy-duty gas mask.

She stood over a massive stainless-steel worktable, her gloved hands carefully treating a rare bolt of raw silk with a specialized chemical dye.

Her phone screen lit up on the edge of the table. A group chat of Hamptons socialites was exploding with blurry photos of Fallon holding the cheap wine.

Harmony glanced at the screen through her plastic visor. A cold, hard smile touched her lips. She swiped the notifications away and went back to her fabric.

Hours later, the heavy metal door of the studio was kicked open with a violent crash. Alon had spent the entire afternoon tracking down a dormant commercial lease under a shell corporation, desperate to find her. Conner stormed into the room, his chest heaving. Alon and Eleni followed close behind, their faces pale and furious.

"You did this on purpose!" Conner roared, pointing a thick finger directly at Harmony's face. "You deliberately didn't prepare the Astor gift! You made us the laughingstock of the entire East Coast!"

Harmony calmly set down her tools. She reached up, unbuckled the gas mask, and pulled it off her face. She peeled off her thick rubber gloves, dropping them onto the table. Her eyes were completely devoid of fear.

"You banned me from the social season," Harmony stated, her voice cutting through the chemical smell of the room. "Why would I handle your public relations procurement?"

Eleni stepped forward, her voice shrill and trembling. "You selfish, spiteful girl! You did this because you're jealous of Fallon taking your place!"

Harmony turned her cold gaze to her mother. "Those vintage, out-of-print silk scarves you gave Mrs. Astor for the last three years? I flew to Europe and tracked them down at private auctions. I bought them. Not you."

Conner's face twisted in pure fury. His absolute authority was being openly mocked.

He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out his phone. He dialed a number and put it on speaker.

"This is Conner Roberson," he barked into the phone. "Freeze every trust fund account, every credit line, and every checking account under Harmony Roberson's name. Immediately."

"Yes, Mr. Roberson," the wealth manager's voice replied crisply.

Conner hung up. He looked at Harmony, a cruel, triumphant sneer on his face.

"Unless you get on your knees, apologize to this family, and fix the mess you made," Conner threatened, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper, "you will not see a single cent."

Alon crossed his arms, a smug look of satisfaction settling over his features. He fully expected his sister to break down and beg.

Harmony didn't collapse. She didn't even blink.

She turned her back on them and walked over to the deep industrial sink. She turned on the faucet and began scrubbing the faint traces of dye from her hands with a rough pumice stone.

She dried her hands on a towel. When she turned back around, she looked at Conner as if he were a stranger asking for directions.

A genuine, relaxed smile broke across her face.

"As you wish," Harmony said softly.

She grabbed her leather jacket, walked straight past her stunned family, and pushed open the studio door. The bright, chaotic noise of the New York streets swallowed her as she walked away without looking back.