Novels by The platinum Jewelry

Nina didn't sleep.How could she, with a marriage certificate contract sitting on her coffee table and forty-eight hours ticking down like a bomb timer?She sat on her destroyed couch, reading the same pages over and over until the words blurred together. One year, voting rights transferred to Victor Hale. Public appearances as needed, 24/7 security for her family.Nina's phone buzzed, it was her mom.Mom: Sweetie, are you okay? You haven't called back. Your sister said someone was following her from school today. I'm worried.Nina's hands started shaking. Someone was following her her baby sister.She typed and deleted three replies before settling on: Everything's fine. Stay inside tonight, I'll explain soon.Another text, this time an Unknown number.36 hours remaining.Nina threw her phone across the room.She couldn't go to the police. Victor was right about that, even if they believed her story about embezzlement and murder, an investigation would take months. David's people wou

Nina grabbed a broken table leg from the floor, wasn't exactly a weapon but better than nothing, and slowly approached the door."Who is it?" He voice came out steadier than she felt. "Victor Hale." The voice was deep, controlled and completely unfamiliar. "I'm here about Thomas Ashton and the rather unfortunate situation you've found yourself in."Nina's grip tightened on the table leg. "I don't know anyone named Victor Hale.""But I know you, Ms. Grant. And I know what you found in those financial records." A pause. "I also know that the people who killed Thomas are coming for you next. So you can either open this door and let me help you, or you can wait for them to finish the job. Your choice."The words hit like ice water. Killed Thomas. So it wasn't an accident but murder."How do I know you're not one of them?" Nina pressed her back against the wall, still gripping her makeshift weapon."If I wanted you dead, Ms. Grant, you already would be. I'm here because Thomas was my frie

Nina's apartment looked like a crime scene, but at least it was hers again.Well, not hers exactly, she'd checked into a hotel last night rather than deal with collecting her things from the apartment she'd paid for. But this morning, fueled by spite and coffee, she'd hired movers to grab everything while she avoided a second encounter with the happy couple. Now she sat cross-legged on her hotel bed at 2 AM, surrounded by financial documents that made her accountant brain light up.."Holy shit," she whispered.The numbers didn't add up. Actually, they added up perfectly, which was the problem.Hale Corporation' quarterly reports showed consistent growth, healthy profit margins, everything looking squeaky clean on the surface. But Nina had spent six years finding inconsistencies in corporate finances. She knew what cooked books looked like.And these were cooked to perfection.She cross-referenced the operational expenses against the reported revenue. Then she pulled up the bank state

Ashton had saved Nina's life lots of times, once when her father died and left them drowning in debt. Now she was supposed to watch them lower him into the ground like he was just another name in an obituary.St. Patrick's Church was super crowded. Every seat was filled with people in fancy black clothes, wiping away tears with expensive handkerchiefs. They seemed to be acting sad because they felt like they had to be. Nina sat in the front row between her mom and sister Jade, wearing the same black dress she'd worn the day before, before everything fell apart.Before Ryan. Before the world revealed itself as a the cruel joke it actually was.Nina stared at Thomas's casket, it probably worth more than her car, and she felt the tears she thought she'd exhausted drop again.Thomas would've listened to the whole pathetic story about Ryan and the girl, then probably said something wise and kind that would make her feel less stupid for loving the wrong person.But Thomas was gone, and she

Nina's day had been hell, but she was about to walk into something worse.Twenty-one floors in an elevator that moved like it was powered by asthmatic hamsters, clutching a bottle of wine that cost more than Ryan's contribution to rent this month, which was zero, as usual. Fourteen hours of making rich bastards richer, and all she wanted was to surprise her boyfriend with something that didn't involve spreadsheets or his hand.The spare key turned smoothly. Inside, the lights were low, candlelight spilled from the bedroom in warm, golden pools. For one blissfully stupid second, Nina thought maybe he'd actually done something romantic.Then she heard a woman moan, low and disgusting. "God, Ryan, your mouth.... don't stop..."Nina's brain short-circuited. That wasn't the TV, that was live. That was some bitch moaning her boyfriend's name in her god-damn apartment.The wine bottle hit the floor, she didn't even feel it leave her hand. Her feet moved on autopilot, carrying her toward the