Chapter 4

The yellow taxi pulled up to the curb in front of an old, red-brick apartment building in Brooklyn.

Corinna stepped out into a puddle of dirty water. The icy moisture soaked instantly through her thin shoes. She grabbed her battered suitcase from the trunk and walked up the crumbling concrete steps.

She pushed the key into the rusted lock. It jammed. She gritted her teeth and twisted it violently back and forth until the deadbolt finally gave way with a loud clank.

She pushed the door open. The heavy, sour smell of mildew and stale dust hit her face.

She did not sigh. She did not complain. She dropped her suitcase, rolled up the sleeves of her sweater, and forced the painted-shut windows open to let the freezing air in.

She found a dirty rag under the sink and started scrubbing the grime off the small wooden dining table.

Once the wood was clean, she unzipped her suitcase. She reached past her clothes and pulled out a heavy wooden box wrapped tightly in dark velvet.

She placed it gently on the table.

She unlatched the brass hook and opened the lid. Inside lay a set of professional, high-end jewelry carving tools and three yellowed sketchbooks.

She opened the top sketchbook. Her fingertips lightly traced the graphite lines of elaborate jewelry designs. She had drawn them three years ago, right before she locked herself away in the Warner estate. None of them had ever been produced.

Her phone buzzed loudly against the wood, making her jump.

It was Zane.

She answered it. "Did the wire transfer clear?"

"Yes, but that is not why I am calling," Zane said. His voice was tight, bordering on panic. "My independent brand is in deep trouble. The main piece for our upcoming exhibition just failed during the setting process. It is a disaster."

Corinna's posture straightened immediately. The fog in her brain vanished.

"What is the base metal? How bad is the fracture?" she asked, her tone shifting into pure, clinical professionalism.

She grabbed her coat, locked the apartment door, and walked fast. Zane's underground studio was only three blocks away.

She pushed open the heavy metal door of the studio. The air inside was thick with tension.

Three older craftsmen stood around a brightly lit workbench. They were staring down at a massive, cracked emerald.

Zane looked up. Relief washed over his face when he saw her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to the bench.

"Look at it," Zane said, pointing at the ruined setting.

Corinna picked up a jeweler's loupe and squeezed it into her right eye socket. She leaned over the piece.

It took her exactly four seconds to see the problem.

"The tension structure is wrong," Corinna said, pulling the loupe away. "The prongs are putting uneven pressure on the pavilion of the stone."

One of the senior craftsmen crossed his arms and scoffed. He looked Corinna up and down, taking in her cheap, pilling sweater and messy hair.

"And what does a girl off the street know about high-end tension settings?" the man sneered.

Corinna did not argue. She reached across the table and picked up a sharp engraving tool.

She grabbed a scrap piece of brass from the discard pile. She clamped it into a vise.

Her hands moved with terrifying speed and precision. Metal shavings flew through the air. She carved tiny, intricate grooves into the brass, demonstrating a highly complex, almost extinct micro-setting technique.

In less than two minutes, she unfastened the vise and tossed the brass piece onto the table. It was a flawless, perfectly balanced support structure.

The senior craftsman stared at the brass. His jaw dropped. He looked at Corinna, stuttering. "Where... where did you learn that? That is a closely guarded Parisian atelier technique."

"No comment," Corinna said flatly. She grabbed a pencil and rapidly redrew the structural lines on Zane's blueprint.

Zane watched her hands. His eyes narrowed in sudden realization. He leaned close to her.

"Three years ago, Van Cleef & Arpels lost their anonymous lead designer," Zane whispered. "Was that you?"

Corinna's hand paused for a fraction of a second. She did not look up. She pushed the corrected blueprint toward the craftsmen.

"Follow these lines exactly," she ordered.

The crisis was averted within an hour. Zane handed Corinna a hot cup of coffee.

"Join my studio," Zane said seriously. "Be my full partner."

Corinna looked out the small, dirty window at the brick wall of the alleyway. She shook her head.

"I need to build my own brand," she said. "From the ground up."

Zane stared at her, then broke into a massive grin. "I will give you whatever bench space and tools you need. You should enter the International High Jewelry Design Competition next month."

The mention of the competition made Corinna's stomach flutter. The ambition she had buried for three years flared to life, burning hot in her chest.

She walked over to Zane's laptop. She opened the browser and navigated to the competition's official website.

She typed her real name into the registration form.

Just as her finger hovered over the submit button, a financial news banner popped up on the bottom right corner of the screen.

The headline read: WARNER GROUP ANNOUNCES TITLE SPONSORSHIP FOR INTERNATIONAL JEWELRY COMPETITION. HOLLAND WARNER TO PRESENT AWARDS.

Zane read the headline over her shoulder. He hissed through his teeth.

"Do you want to withdraw?" Zane asked quietly. "You do not have to face him yet."

Corinna stared at Holland's name on the screen. A cold, hard smile touched the corners of her mouth.

She pressed her finger down on the mouse pad. The click was loud in the quiet studio.

Application Submitted.

She turned to look at Zane. Her eyes were blazing with absolute defiance.

"I am not hiding anymore," Corinna said. "I am going to make sure he sees exactly what he threw away."