Chapter 1 The Beginning of the End

I used to believe in fairy tales.

Not the kind with dragons in suits, but the kind where a lonely heiress meets a charming stranger at a charity event, where best friends joke over champagne and swear loyalty forever, where fathers remember birthdays and mothers don't die in car crashes.

I was wrong.

Let me start at the beginning, the real beginning.

I met Liam Blackwood on a rainy Tuesday.

He was standing in my father's office, his sandy-blond hair shinning in the afternoon light, his laugh warm enough to melt the frost Richard Hart kept around his heart. "You must be Elena," he said, turning those steel gray eyes on me. "Your dad talks about you nonstop."

Liar. My father hadn't said a word to me in weeks.

But Liam made it easy to pretend. He would bring me warm coffee every morning, he knew all my favorite bedtime stories by heart, and laughed at my silliest jokes. Then one day he kissed me for the first time under the cherry tree in Hart Gardens, I felt like the heroine of one of those trashy romance novels Serena and I used to read.

"You are my fresh start", he whispered, brushing my cheek with his thumb.

I believed him.

Serena Cole was my college roommate, my confidante, my sister in everything but blood. We met in Philosophy 101, bonding over our mutual hatred of Kant and a shared love of strawberry margaritas. She taught me how to apply winged eyeliner and delete incriminating texts. I taught her how to cheat at poker.

"You are too soft, Ellie," she would say, painting her nails blood red. "The world eats soft girls alive."

I laughed. "Good thing I have you to protect me."

She smiled, but it never reached her eyes.

The changes started small.

Liam began working late. Serena canceled our weekly meals. My father's health failed, migraines, fatigue, a tremor in his hands.

"It's stress," he snapped when I begged him to see a doctor. "Leave it alone, Elena."

Then one night I found Serena's earring in Liam's car.

"It's not what you think," he said, voice steady. "She borrowed my phone charger."

I wanted to believe him. So I did.

The proposal was remarkable.

Liam rented the entire rooftop of Hart Tower, lit a thousand candles, and knelt with a diamond the size of a grape. "Marry me, Elena. Let me spend forever making you happy."

I said yes.

Serena cried at the wedding. So did I.

Six Months Later

My father collapsed at the board meeting.

"Heart attack," the doctors said.

"He would be fine," Liam said, holding me as I sobbed.

Serena muttered, but I didn't hear her.

Not then.

The Final Night

I woke up to voices of two people. Rain lashed the penthouse windows as I followed the sound of voices to the balcony.

"Transfer the shares tomorrow," Liam said.

Serena laughed. "And then?"

"Then we take everything."

I froze.

They turned back and saw me.

Serena's smile was dangerous. "Oops."

Liam sighed. "You were always terrible at surprises, songbird."

I ran and they chased me.

The last thing I felt was Serena's hands on my back.

The last thing I heard was Liam's laugh.

The last thing I saw was the hard ground rushing up to meet me.