Chapter 2

I walked out of the ballroom and into the marble lobby.

Behind me, I could hear the confused murmurs. Then Ryan's loud, dismissive laugh.

"She's delusional. Ignore her. She probably thinks because she booked the party room, she owns the place."

More laughter.

My heels clicked on the polished floor.

My phone buzzed. A text from my assistant, Margot.

*"Stock transfer complete. Drake Pharma board meeting moved to Monday. Are we still on schedule?"*

I typed back: *"Ahead of schedule."*

I stepped into the private elevator—the one that required a biometric scan—and pressed the top floor.

The doors closed, and I exhaled.

Five years.

Five years of playing the invisible wife. The quiet nobody. The woman with no family, no connections, no ambition.

Five years of building an empire from the shadows while Ryan thought I was home watching cooking shows.

My phone rang. It was Leo, my CFO.

"Eliana, the Meridian Group quarterly report just posted. We're up fourteen percent. Also, the acquisition of—"

"Not tonight, Leo."

"Right. The divorce thing." A pause. "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine. You sound like you're about to destroy someone."

"Goodnight, Leo."

I hung up.

The elevator opened to the penthouse suite—my penthouse, in my hotel, in one of the thirty-seven properties I owned across the country.

I poured myself a glass of wine and stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Below me, the city glittered. And somewhere forty floors down, my ex-husband was celebrating his freedom with a woman whose father's company I was about to acquire.

My phone buzzed again. This time, a news alert.

*"RYAN COLE'S LAVISH BIRTHDAY BASH: Tech VP Celebrates Divorce with New Girlfriend."*

The article was already trending. Someone had live-streamed the whole thing.

The comments were predictable:

*"Eliana looked pathetic up there."*

*"She just signed everything away? What an idiot."*

*"Ryan upgraded BIG TIME."*

*"Serena is gorgeous. Eliana never stood a chance."*

*"Five years as a housewife and she walks away with nothing? She played herself."*

I sipped my wine.

Let them talk.

I scrolled further. A gossip account had already posted side-by-side photos: Serena in the Valentino gown, glowing, draped over Ryan. Me in my plain black dress, walking out alone.

The caption read: *"Know your satisfying place."*

Twelve thousand likes in twenty minutes.

I set down my phone, finished my wine, and opened my laptop.

On the screen was the complete financial profile of Drake Pharmaceuticals.

Revenue: declining for six consecutive quarters.

Debt: four hundred million.

Pending FDA violations: three.

Largest institutional shareholder: Meridian Capital Holdings.

My company.

I already owned twenty-two percent of Drake Pharma. By Monday, I would own forty-one.

Controlling interest.

Serena's father, Richard Drake, had no idea his biggest investor was the "worthless nobody" his daughter had just humiliated.

I closed the laptop and looked out at the skyline.

Tomorrow, the world would wake up and pity me.

Poor Eliana. Dumped at a birthday party. Signed away everything. Left with nothing.

By next week, they would realize the truth.

I wasn't the one who lost everything tonight.

Ryan was.

He just didn't know it yet.

My phone buzzed one last time.

A text from an unknown number.

*"You signed the papers. Smart. Now stay gone. If you cause any trouble for Ryan, I will bury you. —Vivian"*

I stared at the message for a long moment.

Then I smiled and typed back two words.