001

JORDYN

The rain drizzled against the window, and my chest tightened instantly.

I hated rain.

It didn’t just remind me of the past—it dragged me back into it. Voices whispering… to run… hide… disappear.

And right now, it felt like I was reliving the past all over again at the sight of the rain outside.

Soft footsteps walked into the office seconds later, sending my shoulders straightening as I braced myself, feigning a small smile before turning around.

A slender figure approached me, her heels clicking against the marble floor. She wore her hair in a slick bun, and her dress glistened in the dimly lit space.

The faint scent of magnolia swept into the air, backed up with the aura of the woman catwalking like a model… and a face I couldn’t see yet but already knew.

Her lips curled into a warm smile as she got closer. Something she wouldn’t normally do if she knew who I was, but I knew her too well.

Vanessa Virelli.

Mafia princess. The pretty, well-known daughter of the mafia don—Damone Virelli. And the wife of… a man I thought wanted me years ago.

“Ms. Jordyn?” She chimed sweetly, stretching her hand for a handshake as she halted in front of me. “It’s okay to call you that, right? You’re not married, are you?”

That was a harmless question, but I took it slightly too seriously. It felt mocking to my ears hearing it come from her. Because she hadn’t only stolen my spot, but she'd also stolen the only dream I had years ago.

My fake smile grew deeper as I accepted the handshake. “Not at all.”

“Still single?” she asked lightly after nodding, like it was an observation rather than a question.

I retrieved my hand. “Absolutely.”

I gestured at an open seat in front of the table, and she muttered “thank you” before sitting and placing her purse on the empty chair beside her.

I took my seat as well and kept my face neutral, not wanting her to see the cracks in my countenance. Vanessa’s aura and confidence were something that always intimidated me.

Flipping through the documents in front of me, I couldn’t help but notice the huge diamond ring sitting pretty on her finger.

A slice of pain tore through my chest, my stomach lurched, and for a split second, I hated myself for scheduling the meeting with her.

Vanessa was always quick to observe, just like she’d done years ago after finding out about the secret affair that ruined my life.

She noticed my eyes staring at her ring and shifted it backward, her lips parting to ask.

“Melissa didn’t tell you?”

Her question jolted me out of whatever chokehold that sight had me in. I shook my head quietly, arching my brows in inquiry.

“What?”

“I’m married,” she said with a smile, admiring the ring as she stared at it. “He’s part of the mafia syndicate too.”

Of course, I knew too well.

“Ohh. How sweet,” I chimed, leaning forward with my lips pouting in feigned adoration. “You must really be enjoying your marriage.”

Vanessa was too unaware to get the hint. “He’s been the best,” she whispered, making my skin crawl with annoyance. “Ty has been… exactly what I needed him to be.”

Ty.

That had been my nickname for him. But she was calling him that now—a reminder that I was nothing but a forgotten memory in their lives.

My breath hitched, and I managed to take a deep breath without raising suspicions. I returned to the flipping of documents, eager to get the meeting done before I lost my composure.

But Vanessa’s voice rang out again, having other plans for me.

“You should meet him sometime,” she continued, leaning against the table. “He tends to drag people into his circle anyway.”

Meeting him?

That was all too much for me at the moment. It had been seven years of not seeing him, and while this was a ploy to get to him through Vanessa, I wasn’t ready to see him just yet.

I wasn’t sure I’d be able to face him with a straight face. I tried to think of something… anything to say, but Vanessa continued speaking.

“If you stay in New Orleans long enough,” she added, “you’ll eventually meet the right people. It tends to happen that way.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m not really into relationships right now.”

“Seriously?” She sounded surprised. “You’re a pretty woman, Jordyn. You should have men lining up to date you.”

Pretty…

That was… the perfect compliment coming from ‘the’ Vanessa Virelli. Something other women who knew her would die to hear.

When I’d received a call that she’d accepted my business proposal, I grew scared that she’d recognized me. But now that she was here, who was I kidding?

Of course, she wouldn’t have the slightest clue. The woman sitting in front of her was Jordyn Mercer, a whole different face than the one she knew years ago, Sienna Manor.

Sienna Manor died the day I left that city, and Jordyn Mercer was what I built after.

“You’re pretty too,” I said with the most sincerity in my heart. “And I’m sure that’s the reason he chose you.”

It wasn’t obvious then, but it is now. I’d like to think that he was afraid to let the world know about us. But seeing it now, Vanessa was too pretty and influential to be left behind rather than I.

She crossed one leg over the other, her eyelashes batting at me. “There was really never a competitor against me in his life,” she murmured. “I was always the one he wanted.”

Her confidence in her words triggered me, but I played it cool. This was a business meeting that could determine if the next phase of my revenge would happen or not.

I only smiled, returning my focus to the document I’d been searching for.

“I just need you to sign here, Mrs. Virelli,” I said, pushing the papers to her with a pen. “If you—‘’

She brushed off my words curtly, interrupting me as I lifted my head up from the documents.

"It's Mrs. Sinclair,” she corrected. “And you still haven’t given your pitch about why I should partner with you.”

I gulped down a painful swallow. This was harder than I thought. I leaned forward slightly, my fingers interlocking on the table as my expression settled into a calm, controlled confidence.

“Because I don’t sell dreams, Mrs. Sinclair, I build inevitabilities.”

My voice was smooth like I’d trained years before attempting this. Not a single crack of emotion betrayed the storm beneath.

“What I’m offering you isn’t just a business partnership.” I continued, watching Vanessa’s face settle into my words. “It’s strategic expansion into markets your family name alone can’t dominate. Influence opens doors, yes… but structure, precision, and timing?” I tilted my head slightly. “That’s what keeps them open.”

Vanessa’s fingers tapped against her chin; her eyes showed that she’d been coerced, but her voice was persistent to know more.

“Why do you think power doesn’t open doors alone?” She asked. “Are you trying to say there might be a shift?”

My lips curled into a faint, knowing smile. Because I’d predicted that she’d ask that question, and I’d prepared the answer.

I responded calmly. “I’ve spent years studying power—who holds it, who loses it, and why. And right now, there’s a shift coming. Quiet, but undeniable. The kind of shift that either makes empires… or erases them.”

“You speak like someone who’s seen it up close,” she said slowly.

Vanessa was fucking intelligent, smart, and always curious about things that intrigued her. But, she was also the easiest person to fool because she doubted her abilities.

And she’d said that like she already had her suspicions kicking in. It didn’t change the fact that she was right; I’d experienced the painful hit of power.

I paused for a second, smiling and shifting the papers that needed her signature closer.

“I’m offering you the chance to be on the winning side of that shift, Mrs. Sinclair.”

She exhaled sharply, darting her eyes between the papers and me. Just a little more convincing, and I knew she’d agree to let me manage her properties and illegal assets.

Then softer, my voice continued, sounding almost personal. “Work with me, and I don’t just grow your portfolio… I make sure no one ever stands in a position to replace you. Not in business. Not anywhere.”

If only she knew what my last words really meant, then she’d realize that I wanted more than the assets and properties she had.

I wanted everything she’d stolen from me. Everything, except the man.

Vanessa sighed, picking up the pen slowly. “My mother-in-law was against this,” she began, her fingers hesitating for a second. “But maybe I’d just have to introduce you both as well.”

Her mother-in-law.

Belinda Rosetta Sinclair.

The matriarch of the Sinclair empire. The monster that had torn apart my life without leaving the tiniest part of me alive.

“Your mother-in-law?” I asked curiously, knowing there might just be an extra target for me. “She’s in New Orleans?”

“Currently in Milan,” she said, her eyes on the paper. “She might return soon. I’m not too sure.”

Milan. I’d been there for the last three years after having my facial surgery.

“So, are we ready to partner, Mrs. Sinclair?”

She nodded, parting her lips to say something, but her phone rang instead, earning her attention as she retrieved it from her purse.

“One minute,” she excused herself, her lips pressed into a smile after staring at the screen. “It’s my husband.”

My stomach tightened into a knot as I averted my face. She whispered into the call, and I pretended not to listen, shifting my attention to nothing in particular on the table. Until she was done talking.

“I’m so sorry for the interruption, Ms. Jordyn,” she apologized, arching her eyebrows. “Do you mind?”

I chuckled softly. “Not at all.”

“Thank you." She stood up, walking towards the door. I watched her with keen eyes, wondering if she was leaving, until she muttered. “My husband is here.”

Her husband? My pulse thudded in my ears. Ty was here? Why? And why wasn’t I given a heads-up?

I found myself stuttering while I forced myself to stand up. “W-what?”

“I know it wasn’t what we discussed,” she said, her fingers already on the doorknob. “But he wanted to see who I was meeting with to confirm if it was a good deal.”

I had no idea what was happening with me, but I was already sweating under the icy blast of the air conditioner.

What if he came in and recognized me? Or ruined my plans? The partnership? Everything that had taken years to build?

I began to panic, and it grew worse with each passing second, making me think desperately about how to handle what was coming.

Vanessa turned the knob open, and immediately, his voice filtered into the room, deeper and huskier than I’d remembered.

“Honey,” he called, his figure hovering at the entrance while they hugged and kissed. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”

My body went still at the sound of this voice. That voice… wrong in a way that made my chest ache.

I shut my eyes temporarily, murmuring words that Melissa had always said to me during my panic attacks.

I was about to meet face-to-face with the man who took my virginity and discarded me like trash…

The man who’d denied my pregnancy, gave his mother leverage to beat me to a pulp and threw me out into the rain late at night…

The only man I’d ever known and loved unconditionally… until he took my heart and stomped on it like it was nothing.

Tyrique Neil Sinclair.