Chapter 10 Phase One: Spend Money

After spending two hours with Josephine Astor, I felt like I'd been hit by a double decker bus. No-more like run over, reversed on, and flattened into the pavement. The weight of everything she'd said was pressing down on my chest, squeezing every last drop of energy out of me.

She wanted me to be her pawn. To keep Leo distracted. To sabotage him. The things she had asked me to do... they were unspeakable. Unfathomable. Cruel. But at the same time, wasn't it what he deserved? He had dragged me into this nightmare, humiliated me, treated me like an inconvenience. Maybe it was time he got a taste of his own medicine.

And besides, Josephine held all the cards. She had the power to ruin me, my friends, my father's company-everything I cared about. If I didn't do as she asked, she would make sure my world burned to the ground. And Leo? He'd be fine. He'd be inconvenienced at most, but he wouldn't be destroyed. This was about survival.

So I'd do it. I'd play her game. I'd keep him distracted.

Phase one.

I replayed her words in my head, her voice as smooth as silk but laced with venom.

"Leo has a personal account that his father stocked well before he passed," she had said, setting down her teacup with an eerie calmness. "He despises using it for big purchases. Everything extravagant goes through the company, listed as a business-related expense-tax deductible, of course. If he's forced to spend from his personal account, he'll implode like a submarine under pressure."

I had nodded, unsure of where she was going with this. Then she dropped the bombshell.

"I want you to move in with him. Immediately."

I had nearly choked on my tea. Up until that moment, I had managed to keep my composure, to maintain the illusion that I wasn't fazed by her or her schemes. But that? That had thrown me completely.

"Now, now, before you faint," she had said, amusement flickering across her perfectly poised expression, "you are due to be married in less than eight weeks. Moving in is inevitable. You might as well do it now and start phase one which is where you will take his credit card."

She had reached into her Hermès bag and handed me a sleek gold card. I stared at it like she had just handed me a live grenade.

"This is his credit card," she said simply.

I had frowned. "I thought you told me to take it."

Josephine's smile was razor-sharp. "Yes, once you start using it after moving in, he'll assume he misplaced it as it landed up in your hands. If he suspects that it was given to you, he'll know I have access to his personal account-an account I can see, manipulate, and control at my will. That, my dear, is a secret best kept between us."

And just like that, I had understood. If I took the card, there was no going back. I'd have to move in. There would be no plausible excuse otherwise.

"Once you're in," she had continued, swirling the last remnants of her tea, "that alone will drive him mad. Move things around. Play loud music. Make the space your own. You're a clever girl, Celeste. I trust you'll find ways to keep him sufficiently... distracted."

And now, sitting in my bedroom, staring at the ceiling, the weight of it all sank in. I was really doing this. I was going to move in with Leo Astor.

I sat up and scanned my room. What did I even take? My makeup? My hair products? My clothes?

Then I glanced at the gold card still clutched in my fingers, and a slow smirk spread across my lips.

Why pack when I could just buy everything brand new?

Decision made, I grabbed my phone and dialed Ally. It rang twice before a groggy voice answered.

"Hello?" she mumbled, clearly half-asleep.

"Ally, what are you doing tomorrow?"

There was a pause. "Uh, sleeping? Then heading to the shop to check the new stock. Why?"

"Change of plans. We're going shopping."

She groaned. "Celeste, we shop all the time-"

"This is for the wedding."

Silence. Then a sharp inhale. And finally, a high-pitched squeal so loud I had to hold the phone away from my ear.

"I AM SO THERE!" she practically screamed. "What time are we meeting?"

"I'll pick you up at ten. We're using the Astor limo."

Another squeal. "EEEEEK! Okay, I'll be ready!"

I hung up, exhaling slowly, then flopped back onto my mattress. My heart pounded as my mind raced. Tomorrow, I would be shopping for my dream wedding.

My dream wedding to the wrong man.