Chapter 1

The smell of bleach and harbor water clung to Ava Petrova as she walked down the dim hallway of Dominic Russo' s waterfront office, her knuckles still sore from the night' s work.

Ten years, she' d given him ten years, building his empire in Port Sterling brick by bloody brick.

She was Ace, his top enforcer, his strategist, the woman who made problems disappear.

He' d promised her marriage, a shared throne, once he consolidated power.

Tonight, she' d handled another "consolidation," messy but necessary.

She neared his office, the heavy oak door slightly ajar, voices drifting out.

Dominic' s voice, smooth and confident, was a sound she knew better than her own heartbeat.

"She' s done her part, boys, kept the wolves at bay while I built this," Dominic was saying, a dismissive edge to his tone she rarely heard directed at her.

A low murmur from one of his lieutenants, Sal, followed.

"So, the wedding with Chloe Miller is a go then, boss?"

Ava froze, her hand inches from the doorknob. Chloe Miller? The socialite?

Dominic chuckled, a cold, unfamiliar sound.

"Of course, it' s a go, Sal. Port Sterling needs to see a legitimate face, a queen, not... well, not Ava."

His voice dropped, but she heard every word.

"Ava' s got too much blood on her hands, you know? She' s a good tool, a damn effective one, but she' s not wife material, not for the image I' m building."

Her breath hitched. A tool.

"Ten years of her loyalty, her sacrifices... they were for the business. She understood that. Or she should have."

Another voice, younger, probably Marco, piped up, "But boss, Ava... she' s expecting..."

"Expecting what?" Dominic' s voice hardened. "A ring? I gave her a good life, power. She' s my girl, sure, but marriage? To someone who knows where all the bodies are buried, literally? Bad for business, bad for the image. Chloe brings connections, a clean slate."

He continued, his words like shards of glass.

"Ava served her purpose. It' s time for a new chapter, a more refined one. Chloe is that chapter."

The casual dismissal, the clinical assessment of her worth after a decade of unwavering devotion, hit Ava harder than any bullet she' d ever dodged.

The promises, whispered in the dark after nights like this, of 'them against the world,' of a future where they' d finally be safe and together, all lies.

Her world, built on his word, crumbled in that hallway.

The loyalty that had been her core, her defining trait, fractured.

He didn' t just break a promise, he erased her, devalued every risk she' d taken, every command she' d followed, every life she' d impacted or ended for him.

She was just a tool, now blunt, ready to be discarded for a shinier, more socially acceptable model.

The rage was a cold fire starting deep inside, burning away the shock, the hurt.

He thought she was just a tool.

He was about to find out how sharp a tool could be when it decided to cut its own path.