Chapter 4

At six the next evening, I arrived at the Grand Century Hotel's main ballroom.

I was early. I sat alone on a sofa in the corner, my crutches beside me, and watched the room fill.

I paid no attention to the occasional sideways glances and hushed whispers.

Business partners and company executives filed in one after another.

A stir rippled through the entrance, and I looked up instinctively.

Marcus strode in wearing a sharp suit, looking like a man on top of the world.

Jessica was on his arm in a flowing white evening gown, gliding in beside him.

The picture of a perfect couple. They turned heads across the room.

"Welcome, everyone, to this evening's gala! It is our great honor to witness the signing ceremony between Sterling Group and MJ Corp."

MJ Corp. That was the company Marcus had founded.

When he'd named it, he claimed that blending his initial with Jessica's would make the company lucky.

He'd overruled my objections and finalized it.

"It's an incredible honor to be partnering with Sterling Group. When my girlfriend and I first started this company, it was just for fun. We never imagined it would grow into what it is today, much less land a project of this magnitude."

Marcus held Jessica's hand, gazing at her with open adoration.

What he said was true enough. I'd helped him build the company from day one, mostly because I wanted to humor his ambition.

In the early days, the funding gap was enormous. I'd drained my personal savings to keep the company afloat and help him survive the hardest stretch.

In the end, all the credit went to Jessica. My contribution was erased entirely.

"Will both signing representatives please take the stage for the official signing."

Marcus and Gerald stood at the table onstage, pens poised.

"Wait."

Both men froze. Marcus looked startled. He knew that voice.

I stood below the stage and stared up at them, enunciating every word.

"I've reviewed MJ Corp's qualifications. They clearly don't meet the standards for this project. I suspect someone has been pulling strings."

"Renee, what are you doing here?" Marcus blurted out, visibly rattled.

"Young lady, that's a serious accusation." Gerald, on the other hand, kept his composure.

"Talk is cheap. If you're saying the qualifications don't hold up, show us the proof."

"Of course. If everyone would please direct your attention to the screen."

I'd anticipated this. The evidence I'd collected was exactly what I'd given Derek the night before.

Every eye in the room turned to the display.

The screen flickered and switched to the next slide.

One second. Two seconds. Nothing else appeared.

"What's going on? Where's the evidence?"

Someone in the crowd voiced the question already screaming through my head.

With nothing but "Signing Ceremony" still on the screen, the crowd began whispering among themselves.

"Is this some kind of impromptu stunt?"

"She's probably just trying to get attention. There's no shortage of media here tonight."

That comment landed, and half the room seemed to arrive at the same conclusion. The looks they shot me were pure contempt.

"Is this your evidence?" Gerald smirked at me.

I realized something had gone wrong on Derek's end.

Jessica slipped up beside me and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"We spotted you at the venue last night. He works for my uncle. Did you really think your college buddy would risk his career to help you?"

Despair surged through me, not because the evidence had failed to appear, but because someone I trusted had betrayed me. Again.

Again. Another betrayal. A laugh scraped out of my throat.

I forced a smile and fixed my bloodshot eyes on Jessica. "You really do think of everything, don't you, bestie?"

"And what makes you so sure I don't have a backup plan?" Still smiling, I leaned close enough to whisper in her ear.

Uncertainty flickered in her eyes.

"I just checked the guest list. I don't believe the young lady's name appears on it," Gerald called out from the stage.

"You're right, it doesn't. But family members were invited too, weren't they?"

My smile widened.

"So I came as family."

Gerald shot Marcus a look. Marcus wavered for only a moment before stepping forward.

"Renee, you and I may know each other, but you are not my family. You have no right to be at this gala."

"Security, get her out of here."

Two uniformed guards reached for me.

"I dare you to touch her."

A voice, sharp and commanding, cut through the room.

Every head turned toward the entrance, where a tall figure stood framed in the doorway.

Nathan Sterling, CEO of Sterling Group.