LOGIN“I’m done being a victim!” I shouted, my voice echoing against the walls of my apartment, though there was no one to hear it but me.
I slammed my laptop shut and paced the small living room, the heels of my feet clicking sharply against the hardwood. The numbers had been brutal today—stock charts, investment alerts, subtle news articles—I knew what Emma was doing, even from miles away. She was dismantling Drake’s empire piece by piece. And every trick, every manipulation, every whispered"If the Beverly Hills boutique launch doesn't completely eclipse our Fifth Avenue opening numbers, Sabrina, I am personally going to throw myself off this palm-lined balcony into the Pacific Ocean," Aria declared, tossing her designer sunglasses onto the outdoor glass table of our rented West Coast penthouse.I didn't blink, maintaining an ice-cold executive focus as I reviewed the final VIP reservation manifest for tomorrow night's red-carpet opening. "You aren't throwing yourself anywhere, Aria, because our Los Angeles pre-orders already cleared three million dollars before our shipping containers even cleared the port.""It's literally giving absolute cultural monopoly," Theo chimed in, walking out from the penthouse study with a stack of digital contracts clutched to his chest. "Every stylist in Hollywood has been flooding our LA office with requests. They aren't asking for red-carpet loans anymore... they're wiring full retail payments just to guarantee their clients get first di
"If you don't stop smiling like you just sentenced someone to life in federal prison, Sabrina, the entire press corps outside is going to think you're auditioning for a villain origin movie," Aria whispered, adjusting the sharp collar of my monochrome blazer while sliding a stack of legal transcripts across the glass podium.I didn't lose my composure, maintaining a chilling, razor-sharp executive presence as I surveyed the packed press conference room on the ground floor of our Fifth Avenue flagship boutique. Camera flashes blinded the space in rapid succession, the clicking of shutters sounding like an army of insects closing in on fresh prey. Every major fashion publication, financial wire service, and television network in Manhattan had crammed into the room within two hours of our emergency broadcast invitation."I'm not auditioning for a villain origin movie, Aria... I'm just executing the final stage of a hostile takeover," I murmured back, my voice completely steady as I adjus
"If you don't look at these physical employment contracts right now, Sabrina, I am going to throw up my organic iced matcha all over our pristine marble desk," Nessa stammered, her young face pale, her hands visibly shaking as she slammed two thick, leather-bound folders onto my glass executive table.I slowly set my titanium stylus down, maintaining an unshakeable executive composure that could freeze boiling water. "Breathe, Nessa. You and Chloe are the primary design apprentices for Mendoza Luxe. Nothing in this building touches you unless I clear it first."Chloe stepped forward beside her, her jaw set in an aggressive, protective line as she tossed an open velvet box containing fifty thousand dollars in crisp, sequential hundred-dollar bills right beside the folders. "Emma Brookes' personal PR director met us outside our Brooklyn residential apartment building last night, boss. She offered both of us double our current annual salaries, a guaranteed executive title at Vance & Co.,
"If you don't answer the red-carpet emergency line right now, Sabrina, I am going to pass out directly onto this velvet cutting table," Theo shouted over the deafening cacophony of ringing studio landlines and cascading email alerts.I didn't lose my composure, maintaining a steady, razor-sharp focus as I adjusted the heavy platinum setting on my latest custom brutalist cuff. "Breathe, Theo. Unless the Venice Film Festival burned to the ground, nothing is an emergency.""It's better than Venice, boss!" Aria screamed, practically sliding across the polished floor in her platform leather boots, holding up her iPad like a holy relic. "Look at the live feed from the Los Angeles film premiere right now! Margot Vance just stepped out of her limousine... and she isn't wearing Cartier. She isn't wearing Harry Winston. She is literally draped in our custom 'Unchained' geometric diamond collar!"I raised my eyes, stepping toward the primary monitor wall in my Fifth Avenue executive suite. The s
"Look at these disgusting, lazy knockoffs right now before I go full scorched-earth on their entire Madison Avenue storefront," Aria spat, slamming a heavy velvet display tray directly onto my glass executive desk.I didn't flinch. I slowly set down my cup of black espresso, my eyes locking onto the row of silver and gold chokers resting on the velvet. They were cheap, shameless imitations of Mendoza Luxe’s signature geometric cuts... raw angles smoothed over into weak, flimsy brass, jagged quartz replaced by low-tier resin, and the prices slashed by sixty percent."Vance & Co. launched the line two hours ago," Theo said, stepping into my Fifth Avenue office while tapping furiously on his tablet. "They’re running a massive digital blitz across Manhattan with the tag: 'Elegance Without The Aggression.' They’re explicitly targeting our foot traffic, Sabrina. They dropped their price points to undercut our core line, and their PR team is circulating press releases calling our brutalist d
"Sign the auction title transfers immediately, Drake, or the lower-level manufacturing union in Queens will go on strike by five o'clock today," Marcus Hale warned, tossing a leather-bound folder onto my scarred wooden desk.I didn't answer him. I kept my eyes fixed on the silver key fob resting in my palm... the master key to my custom Koenigsegg, the matte-black hypercar I used to drive through the empty Manhattan streets at three in the morning when the weight of running Peterson Luxe became too heavy to bear. It was the last physical symbol of my personal freedom, the ultimate trophy of my former billionaire status."The federal task force has locked every secondary liquid account, Drake," Marcus pressed, his voice dropping into a desperate, hushed register as he leaned over the desk. "Payroll for the two hundred assembly workers, janitors, and logistics clerks at the Queens warehouse is due in less than three hours. If those paychecks bounce, Jonathan Cross will use the labor def
“Come here, my daughter.”My mother’s voice broke me before her arms even wrapped around me.I didn’t answer. I just stepped into her embrace and collapsed, my forehead pressing into her shoulder as if my body had finally remembered where it was allowed to fall apart. The airport noise blurred...ro
"Tell me you didn’t really erase yourself.”I said it to the dark like it might answer back, like the penthouse might soften and confess this was a nightmare I’d wake up from. My voice sounded wrong...too raw, too open. I hated it. I hated how easily she had stripped me down to this.I stood barefo
“I can’t breathe in this place without you.”“I said leave me alone.”The words came out sharp, aimed at the empty penthouse like it could hear me, like it would listen. My voice echoed off the glass walls and came back weaker, lonelier...mocking me.The city stretched outside, glittering and alive
“Sabrina… where are you?”The office was dark. The only sound was the hum of the air conditioning and my own ragged breathing. I had called her phone. Over and over. No answer. I had messaged. No reply. Emails? Deleted. Social media? Gone. Every trace of her existence I could reach had vanished.Va







