Chapter 4

The bus dropped Adeline off at the edge of the Hamptons. She walked the rest of the way to the brightly lit, sprawling Martinez estate.

She took a deep breath. Her facial muscles relaxed, her eyes losing their focus. She became the broken, pathetic girl they expected.

The security guard at the gate sneered at her muddy clothes but buzzed the side door open.

Adeline walked into the grand foyer. The living room looked like a luxury boutique had exploded. Half the floor was covered in iconic orange Hermes boxes and red Cartier velvet cases.

Katrina Miller and her daughter, Damaris Frank, sat on the velvet sofa. They were practically vibrating with greed as they cataloged the engagement gifts sent by the Herring family.

Damaris held a custom diamond necklace against her collarbone, giggling. "I'm going to be a billionaire's wife, Mom."

Katrina looked up. Her smile vanished the second she saw Adeline dripping dirty rainwater onto the imported Persian rug.

"Look what the cat dragged in," Katrina spat, her voice dripping with venom. "You look like a homeless beggar. Don't ruin my carpets."

Adeline ignored her. She shuffled forward with heavy, uncoordinated steps. She reached out toward a towering, delicate macaron pyramid sitting on the coffee table.

"Don't touch that!" Damaris shrieked. She slapped Adeline's hand hard. "Those are for high-class people, you retard!"

Adeline let herself fall backward. She crashed into the table. The macaron tower toppled, sending colorful, crushed pastries rolling across the expensive rug.

Adeline sat on the floor and started to wail.

The heavy oak doors of the second-floor study swung open. Ewell Martinez marched down the stairs, his face flushed with anger.

He looked at Adeline sitting in the ruined pastries. There was no fatherly warmth in his eyes, only the deep annoyance of a man looking at a defective product.

"Ewell!" Katrina cried, playing the victim. "She just got here and she's already destroying the Herring family's gifts!"

Ewell pointed a trembling finger at Adeline. "If you ruin this marriage and cost me my company, I will throw you back into the gutter where you belong!"

Adeline stopped crying. She put her thumb in her mouth and stared at him blankly, as if the words meant nothing.

Ewell rubbed his temples in disgust. "Get her out of my sight. Put her in the basement storage room."

Katrina's eyes gleamed with malice. She nodded to the butler.

The butler grabbed Adeline's arm and dragged her toward the narrow stairs leading down to the basement. Damaris laughed loudly behind her, bragging about how all the gifts would soon be hers.

The heavy wooden door slammed shut. The lock clicked.

The basement was damp, smelling of mold and old dust. There was a single, rusted cot in the corner. No windows.

Adeline brushed the butler's invisible touch off her sleeve. The blankness in her eyes vanished, replaced by a chilling clarity.

She scanned the room. No cameras. The ventilation shaft was wide enough for air, but not for a person. Perfect.

She reached into the hidden lining of her jeans and pulled out a modified, encrypted micro-phone.

Her thumbs flew across the tiny screen, bypassing the estate's network and connecting directly to the dark web. She sent a highly encrypted message to her most trusted informant.

I need everything on the man who attacked me in Hell's Kitchen tonight. He's massive, highly trained, and moving in a black Cadillac SUV linked to a private executive security detail. Pull traffic cams, facial recognition, everything. Provide all possible matches immediately.

She slid the phone into a hollow space beneath the cot's metal frame.

Adeline lay down on the hard mattress. She could hear the faint, muffled laughter of Katrina and Damaris upstairs.

A cold, cruel smile touched her lips. She closed her eyes, mapping out exactly how she was going to make Damaris pay tomorrow.