Chapter 7

Gwendolyn didn't sleep. The six figures in her bank account felt like a brand, a heavy weight that didn't belong to her. First thing in the morning, she was at a Chase branch in midtown, her face pale and her eyes shadowed with exhaustion.

She went to a teller and explained the situation. "There's been a mistake. I need to return a wire transfer for one hundred thousand dollars."

The teller typed for a moment, and then her eyes widened. Her entire demeanor changed. "One moment, ma'am." She picked up her phone and whispered into it.

A moment later, the branch manager, a man in a crisp suit with a panicked expression, was escorting Gwendolyn into a private glass-walled office. He offered her coffee, water, a pastry.

"I just want to send the money back," Gwendolyn insisted, perched nervously on the edge of a plush leather chair.

The manager wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Ma'am, I'm afraid that's not possible," he said, his voice strained. "The funds came from a top-tier offshore family trust account. The sender has... blocked all return transactions. It's a one-way transfer."

A male escort with an offshore trust account? The story in her head was getting more and more bizarre. The rich woman who owned him must be unimaginably powerful.

"Can you at least give me a name? A contact number?"

"I'm sorry," the manager said, looking terrified. "That information is sealed. It's above my clearance. It's above everyone's clearance."

Defeated, Gwendolyn left the bank and stood on the chaotic sidewalk, feeling more lost than ever. Her phone rang. It was her landlord.

"Gwendolyn, my dear!" he said, his usually gruff voice oozing with false charm. "Just wanted to let you know, the building was sold last night! To a big real estate corporation. And the new owners, well, they've decided to waive your rent for the next five years as a gesture of goodwill! They're even sending a team over to upgrade your furniture today!"

A cold dread washed over her. This wasn't a gift. This was an invasion.

She hung up and ran back to her apartment. The dingy, familiar hallway was gone. The walls were freshly painted, the lighting was new, and two uniformed security guards stood outside her door.

They saw her and bowed their heads. "Ms. Guerra." One of them opened her apartment door, which now had a high-tech smart lock.

The inside was unrecognizable. Her lumpy IKEA sofa was gone, replaced by a sleek Italian leather sectional. A new rug, a new TV, new everything.

On the new coffee table sat a black velvet box. Next to it was a thick black card.

Her hands trembled as she opened the box. Inside, nestled on a bed of satin, was a Porsche key.

She picked up the card. Elegant, forceful handwriting covered the small space.

Walking is tiring. A toy to get you around. -D

She dropped the key back in the box as if it were on fire. This wasn't a kept man. This was a mob boss. A psycho. She was completely and utterly terrified.

She grabbed her phone, trying to find any trace of the transfer, any clue, but the details had been scrubbed. The transaction now showed no origin point at all.

In the STG boardroom, Damian sat at the head of a long table, listening to a senior VP drone on about quarterly earnings. His assistant leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"Ms. Guerra attempted to return the funds, sir. She also appears... distressed by the apartment renovations."

A flicker of a smile, visible only to his assistant, touched Damian's lips. He held up a hand, silencing the room.

"The Porsche was too much," he murmured, his voice a low rumble. "Change it to an Audi. Something less conspicuous. We don't want to scare her away."

The executives exchanged bewildered glances. The titan of Wall Street was pausing a multi-billion-dollar meeting to discuss the make of a car.

Back in her newly luxurious prison, Gwendolyn took the Porsche key and the bank card tied to her now-bloated account, locked them in a drawer, and pushed the dresser in front of it.

She wouldn't touch his money. She wouldn't drive his car. She would ignore him. She would focus on school, on work, on her life.

She would pretend none of this ever happened.