Chapter 1 The Perfect Night to Ruin Everything

If the night had gone according to Seraphina Vale's plan, she'd be at home by midnight, curled up in her worn-out pajamas with her laptop on her knees, finalizing next week's corporate fundraiser budget while sipping stale chamomile tea.

Instead, she was standing in the grand ballroom of the Sterling Hotel, a place so disgustingly opulent it made her teeth ache, directing an army of overpaid caterers and skittish interns like a battlefield general in a silk blazer and four-inch heels that pinched her toes mercilessly.

"Chandeliers dimmed to seventy percent, please. We're going for romantic, not dental-surgery bright," Sera barked into her headset, her eyes scanning the sweeping room with practiced precision. "Yes, seventy, Theo. Not seventy-five, not sixty-five. Seventy."

A harried assistant scurried past with a tray of imported roses, nearly taking out a line of champagne flutes. Sera caught the vase just in time, her fingers brushing the icy glass. Drops of water splashed her wrist, sending a shiver up her spine.

"Miss Vale?" a young server called, breathless. "The ice sculpture's melting faster than planned. The swan's beak-"

"If the swan's beak droops, switch it with the backup in the freezer," Sera snapped. "Go. Now."

She blew out a shaky breath as the kid disappeared. Her reflection glimmered back at her from the polished black marble floors: a fierce woman with deep brown skin, stormy grey eyes lined with dark kohl, and a tightly pinned bun that threatened to come undone from the sheer force of her frustration. A tiny mole under her left eye only seemed to emphasize how tired she looked.

"Deep breaths, Sera," she murmured to herself, adjusting the neckline of her sleek crimson dress. She'd chosen the color deliberately - a subtle statement that even if she was the hired help tonight, she'd never blend in with the suits and shallow designer gowns that filled the room like glossy mannequins.

---

The orchestral quartet in the corner shifted to a sweeping waltz, the golden chandeliers flickering like candle flames. All around her, the city's wealthiest elite schmoozed and clinked crystal flutes, oblivious to the fact that the entire illusion of perfection rested on Sera's exhausted shoulders.

She caught sight of the giant LED screen cycling through carefully curated photos of the couple of the hour: Eryx Kane - the untouchable CEO whose stare could freeze the sun - and his breathtakingly beautiful bride-to-be, Clarissa Mendez.

Each picture was more nauseating than the last. Clarissa draped over Eryx's arm, her diamond engagement ring a small asteroid threatening to blind anyone within ten feet. Eryx's expression never changed: a bored, almost contemptuous indifference that made him look like he'd rather be anywhere else.

---

"Do you think he actually loves her?" a soft voice asked beside her.

Sera didn't jump - she'd trained herself to expect interns and assistants to appear like ghosts at her elbow. It was Theo, her overworked, painfully earnest assistant. He clutched a clipboard to his chest, eyes wide as he stared at the screen.

"Love?" Sera scoffed. "In this room? Don't be cute, Theo."

"But they look so-"

"They look rich," Sera corrected. "Rich people don't need love, they buy it. Now stop gawking and check the champagne tower. One drunk socialite toppling those glasses and we'll be trending on scandal blogs for weeks."

Theo scurried away, muttering apologies. Sera smirked, but the bitterness lingered. She adjusted her headset mic and started pacing the edge of the dance floor, her heels clicking like gunshots.

---

Her phone buzzed. She snatched it up, balancing her tablet in her other hand.

"Mom?" she said, pitching her voice low. "Please tell me Maya's studying."

On the other end, her mother's voice was soft, worn from years of worry and illness. "She's trying, baby. She misses you."

Sera's throat tightened. "I'll be home soon. Don't let her stay up for me."

"She wants you to know she's proud," her mother said, voice warm with a smile Sera could feel through the phone. "You're doing something amazing tonight."

Amazing. Right. Selling her soul for a paycheck that would cover her mother's next round of treatments, her sister's college application fees, and maybe - just maybe - keep the lights on for another month.

"I'll call you when it's over," Sera whispered. "Love you."

She ended the call and slid her phone into her clutch before her eyes could well up. She didn't have time for tears tonight. Not when she was about to pull off the biggest event of her struggling career - a party so flawless that the Kane family would owe her favors for years.

---

But then, Clarissa Mendez disappeared.

Sera spotted the glittering blur of Clarissa's silver gown slipping out a side door, her train bunched in her fists. Odd. Clarissa was the kind of bride who'd rather choke on her Swarovski choker than miss a photo op.

Suspicion prickled at the back of Sera's mind. She tried to ignore it, tried to focus on the draped tables, the expensive caviar being spooned onto crackers, the CEO's icy eyes tracking the dance floor from across the room like a bored panther in a glass cage.

But Sera was nothing if not stubbornly curious.

---

She slipped behind the velvet curtain lining the corridor and padded down the hallway, heels sinking into plush carpet. She paused near a cracked door, hushed voices trickling out like poison.

"... baby, relax," a man's voice drawled. Not Eryx Kane - his voice was lower, rougher. No, this was... someone else.

Sera pressed her ear to the crack.

"You promised you'd tell him," the man murmured, voice dripping with mock affection. "Or do you like playing the billionaire's doll?"

"Ugh, shut up." Clarissa's familiar high whine made Sera's lip curl. "It's just a contract, babe. The old man's will says he has to be engaged by next quarter. He signs the papers, I get my cut. You get me all to yourself. Everyone wins."

Sera nearly dropped her headset.

A contract? A payoff? The entire fairytale romance - the dazzling ring, the six-figure cake, the orchestra playing sentimental nonsense in the next room - was nothing but a staged performance?

---

She stumbled back, nearly knocking over a floral arrangement perched on a pedestal. She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to steady her heartbeat.

She should have walked away. Pretended she'd heard nothing. Collected her paycheck and let the rich keep lying to each other.

But as she peered through the crack in the door, she saw Clarissa's face - that smug, dismissive curl of her lips - and something inside Sera snapped.

How many nights had she pulled all-nighters to make this engagement party perfect? How many favors had she called in, how many bills had she let pile up, just to make a snake like Clarissa look good?

No. Enough.

---

She stormed back into the ballroom, her heels echoing on the marble floor. The orchestra hit a swell, filling the room with the climax of their waltz. Dozens of eyes - bored, entitled, gossip-hungry - turned to her as she mounted the small platform by the cake.

She grabbed the microphone from its stand, ignoring the startled emcee.

"Miss Vale?" Theo hissed from the edge of the dance floor. "What are you-"

"Ladies and gentlemen," Sera said, her voice slicing through the music like a blade. "If I may have your attention."

The musicians faltered, instruments screeching to an awkward halt. The entire room fell silent, the only sound the soft fizz of champagne and the collective intake of breath.

At the back of the room, Eryx Kane's eyes met hers. Cold, curious, and for the first time tonight - awake.

---

Sera's lips curled into a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"I'd like to propose a toast. To truth," she said, raising an empty flute she'd swiped from a passing server. "To the kind of truth that makes billionaires sweat and liars run for cover."

A ripple of confused laughter skittered through the crowd. Clarissa emerged from the hallway, eyes wide, lipstick smudged. Sera savored her shock for exactly three seconds.

"Clarissa, darling," she purred. "Do you want to tell your charming fiancé - or shall I?"

Clarissa lurched forward, her diamond heels clacking on the marble. "Seraphina, shut your-"

"Tell him how you've been promising your real fiancé that you'll dump Eryx as soon as you cash out?" Sera said, voice ringing with the clarity of a church bell. "Tell him how this entire engagement is one big, expensive scam."

A gasp rose from the guests - a wave of scandalous delight and horror all at once. Someone's phone camera flashed. Then another. Then a dozen more.

Clarissa's pale face contorted with rage. "You- you little-!"

Eryx's hand twitched at his side, but his face didn't move. Not a flicker of surprise, not even anger. Just those eyes - cold as ice, locked on Sera like a predator watching wounded prey.

---

Security waded through the sea of silk and sequins. Clarissa shrieked, lunging for Sera's hair, but Theo - bless his terrified heart - stepped between them, clipboard swinging like a shield.

The guests began to scatter, scandal already crackling through their phones and whispers. Clarissa's carefully constructed image crumbled in real time.

And through it all, Eryx Kane watched.

Not with fury. Not with shock.

With that terrifying calm that made Sera's stomach knot.

---

She dropped the microphone. The echo of it hitting the platform rang through the ballroom, a single, perfect note of finality.

Sera slipped behind the stage before security could grab her. Her phone buzzed relentlessly in her clutch - her mother, her sister, Theo, clients already demanding to know what the hell she'd done.

But the only thing she could feel was Eryx's eyes burning into her back as she fled through the staff exit. The cold weight of his calculating silence wrapped around her like a noose.

---

Outside, the city glowed with a thousand neon lights, mocking her with its beauty. She leaned against the alley wall, her lungs burning, her mind screaming.

What the hell had she done?

She'd ruined the party. Ruined her contract. Ruined any chance she'd ever work in this city again. The Kane family was ruthless. She'd made herself the target of a man who could crush her entire existence with a single word.

A shiver ran down her spine.

She could still feel his eyes - Eryx Kane's cold, unblinking stare - like a promise that this wasn't over.

---

In that single moment, Seraphina Vale realized two things:

She'd finally told the truth.

And she'd just destroyed her life.