The Gala Invitation

"Tomorrow, the Sterlings are hosting a gala night."

Vanessa's voice cut through the silence like a knife. She was still wrapped in Liam's arms, looking at Cora like she was something disgusting stuck to the bottom of her designer shoe.

Cora could not move nor breathe. Her cheek still throbbed from where Liam had hit her. Her heart felt like it had been ripped out and stomped on. But she forced herself to stand straight. To not collapse. Not yet.

"It is going to be the event of the year," Vanessa continued, running her fingers through Liam's hair like she owned him. "All the biggest names in entertainment will be there. Directors, producers, actors." She paused, her smile widening. "And I am going to ask my brothers to make Liam the face of our luxury jewelry brand, Lumière."

Lumière. Even Cora, in her broken state, recognized that name. Lumière was not just any jewelry brand—it was the jewelry brand. Celebrities fought to wear their pieces on red carpets. One campaign with them could launch a career into the stratosphere. A single advertisement could make someone a household name overnight.

Cora's stomach twisted. So that was it. That was why Liam had chosen Vanessa. Not just for her beauty or her connections. For everything she could give him that Cora never could. Money. Fame. Power. A future that glittered like the diamonds Lumière was famous for.

Vanessa stepped forward, her bare feet silent on the marble floor. She moved closer and closer until she was right in Cora's face. So close that Cora could smell her expensive perfume—something floral and sickly sweet that made her want to gag.

"Tell me, Cora," Vanessa whispered, her breath hot against Cora's skin. "What can you offer him?"

Cora's jaw clenched. Her fists balled at her sides so tight her nails dug into her palms.

"What connections do you have?" Vanessa tilted her head, mock concern dripping from her voice like poison. "What doors can you open? What world can you give him?"

The questions hung there, suffocating. Because they both knew the answer.

"Nothing." Vanessa's smile turned vicious. Sharp. "You have nothing. Because you are a nobody. An orphan. Your own family rejected you. They did not even want you. They threw you away like garbage."

The words hit harder than any slap ever could. They reached deep inside Cora and squeezed everything that was already broken, crushing it into dust.

Cora's vision turned red. Her whole body started shaking, but not from fear anymore. Not from sadness. From rage. From something dark and furious that had been building inside her since the moment she walked through that door and saw her husband with another woman.

"My family did not abandon me!"

The scream tore from her throat like an animal's roar. Raw and desperate and full of every ounce of pain she had been carrying for twenty-five years. Before she knew what she was doing, before her brain could catch up with her body, Cora's hands shot out and she shoved them both with every ounce of strength she had left.

THUD!

Liam and Vanessa crashed to the floor in a tangle of limbs and shock. Vanessa's silk robe flew open, exposing more skin than Cora wanted to see. Liam's shoulder slammed into the edge of the coffee table, and his head followed with a sickening crack that echoed through the apartment.

"I was not abandoned!" Cora screamed again, her voice breaking into pieces. Tears streamed down her face, hot and unstoppable, but she did not care anymore. She was past caring. "I was kidnapped! Stolen by very bad people when I was four years old! I remember my family—they were powerful! They had money and people who worked for them and big cars! They loved me! They wanted me!"

Liam groaned and pushed himself up, rubbing the back of his head. When he pulled his hand away, there was a small smear of blood on his fingers. His face twisted with anger and something else. Disbelief. Mockery.

"Kidnapped?" He started laughing. It was ugly laughter, mean and sharp, the kind that cut. "Oh, that is rich. That is really rich, Cora."

Vanessa scrambled to her feet, her perfect hair messy now, sticking up in places. Her robe hung half off one shoulder. Her face was flushed—part embarrassment, part fury. She looked less like a supermodel now and more like a wild animal ready to attack.

"If your family was so powerful," Liam said, standing up slowly and steadying himself against the couch, "then why did they not find you? Huh?" He took a step toward her. "It has been what, twenty-five years? Twenty-five years, Cora. Where are they? Where is this magical powerful family that supposedly loved you so much?"

The question hit her like a fist to the stomach. Because she did not have an answer. She had asked herself that same question a thousand times growing up in that horrible orphanage. A million times when she lay awake at night on that thin mattress, listening to the other kids cry. Why did they not come? Why did they not find her? Had they even looked?

"Maybe they did not want to find you," Liam continued, his voice dripping with cruelty. Each word was a nail hammering into her heart. "Maybe they were glad you were gone. One less mouth to feed. One less problem to deal with."

"Shut up!" Cora's voice cracked.

"Or maybe—" Liam's smile was pure evil now, "—maybe you were never kidnapped at all. Maybe your parents just left you on the street because they could not stand you. Maybe you made up this whole fantasy to make yourself feel better about being worthless."

"I said shut up!"

Vanessa stepped forward, fixing her robe with shaking hands. She was trying to look composed, but Cora could see the rage burning in her eyes. "You just assaulted us. You pushed me to the ground. You hurt Liam. Do you have any idea what I could do to you for that?"

"I do not care," Cora spat back, and she meant it. What more could they take from her? They had already taken everything.

"You should." Vanessa's smile returned, but it was different now. Darker. More dangerous. "Because you are not leaving this apartment until you sign those papers. You understand me? You are not going anywhere."

Cora's blood ran cold. Her eyes darted to the door. It looked so far away now. Miles away.

"That is right." Liam moved to stand beside Vanessa, blocking the path completely. His body was a wall between Cora and freedom. "Sign the divorce papers, Cora. Sign them right now, or things are going to get very bad for you."

"And if I do not?"

Vanessa laughed, but there was no humor in it. Just threat. Just promise. "Then maybe you have a death wish."

The words hung in the air, heavy and real. Cora looked at the door again. Then at Liam. Then at Vanessa. They were both bigger than her. Stronger. And Vanessa—Vanessa was a Sterling. She had power Cora could not even imagine. She could make phone calls and erase people. Make them disappear. Make problems go away.

But something in Cora refused to be afraid anymore. She had lost everything already. Her husband. Her dignity. Her heart. What else did she have to lose? Her life? Maybe that would be easier than living with this pain.

"You know what?" Cora's voice came out steady now. Strong. Like something inside her had finally clicked into place. "I do not want this anymore. I do not want him." She pointed at Liam with pure disgust. "You can have him. You can have this cheating, lying, worthless excuse for a man. He is all yours. Congratulations on your prize."

Liam's face went red. His jaw clenched. "What did you just—"

"And let me tell you one more thing." Cora turned to face Vanessa directly, her eyes blazing with everything she had left. "You look like a prostitute. A cheap prostitute in that trashy robe. So you two are absolutely perfect for each other. A cheater and a whore. What a beautiful couple."

For a second, everything stopped.

The air went still. Time seemed to freeze.

Vanessa's mouth fell open. Her eyes went wide. Her face went white, then red, then purple with pure rage.

"What the hell did you just say to me?"

And then Vanessa charged forward like a bull, her manicured nails stretched out like claws, murder written across her beautiful face.