Chapter 3

The metal door of the rundown Brooklyn apartment rattled under Kelsey's frantic knocking. It was two in the morning.

The door cracked open. Phoebe Chandler peeked out. Her hair was a messy nest. She held a can of pepper spray aimed straight ahead.

Phoebe saw Kelsey's blue lips and the old suitcase. Her eyes went wide.

She grabbed Kelsey's arm and yanked her into the cramped, warm apartment. She slammed the door and threw the deadbolt.

Phoebe rushed to the tiny kitchen. She poured a mug of hot milk and shoved it into Kelsey's freezing hands.

The heat seeped into Kelsey's numb palms. The tension in her spine snapped.

Tears spilled over her lower lashes and tracked down her cold cheeks.

Phoebe wrapped her arms around Kelsey's shaking shoulders.

"Ervin is a heartless bastard," Phoebe spat.

Kelsey sniffled. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her phone. Her thumb shook as she unlocked the screen.

She pulled up a series of leaked paparazzi photos and held the screen up to Phoebe's face.

Sylvia Vance was in the photos. She was wearing a tight dress, resting her hand on a slightly rounded stomach. She was walking out of a premier private maternity hospital in Manhattan.

Phoebe gasped. She snatched the phone and zoomed in on the picture.

"Sylvia even emailed her ultrasound report directly to my private inbox," Kelsey whispered. Her voice cracked.

Phoebe's face turned bright red. She grabbed a throw pillow off the couch and hurled it at the peeling wallpaper.

"I am calling my contacts at the tabloids! I am exposing this entire Valdez family scandal!"

Kelsey reached out and grabbed Phoebe's wrist. She shook her head. Her eyes looked dead.

"I have no right to take the moral high ground against Sylvia."

Phoebe froze. She stared at Kelsey in total confusion.

Kelsey took a deep breath. Her lungs ached.

"Three years ago, I used a pregnancy report to force the Valdez family into a marriage through the media."

"That was an accident!" Phoebe yelled. "And you lost the baby! You were the victim!"

"In Ervin's eyes, I am just a vicious, calculating liar," Kelsey cut her off.

She wrapped her arms around her own ribs. The memory of the media tearing her apart three years ago made her throat close up.

Phoebe sat back down. She grabbed Kelsey's cold hand and squeezed it tight.

Ten minutes passed. The silence settled.

Kelsey wiped her face. The fragile look in her eyes hardened into something sharp.

She pulled Phoebe's old laptop across the coffee table.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard. She typed in a long, complex string of passwords. She opened an encrypted offshore email server.

The inbox loaded.

Dozens of unread emails sat in the queue. They were all from top-tier global jewelry brands.

Phoebe leaned closer to the screen. She slapped both hands over her mouth to muffle her scream.

Every single email subject line started the same way.

"To the esteemed legendary designer, R."

Kelsey clicked on an email from Starlight Jewels. She hit the reply button.

She turned to look at Phoebe. A real smile finally touched her lips.

"It is time to find myself again."