Chapter 2

I swallowed my pride and fought to keep my voice steady. "Your brand just raised three hundred million dollars, Julian. Use the money that came from the Winslow family to help me save our home."

Julian stopped what he was doing.

He turned and looked at me like I was crazy, then snorted. "You want me to throw money into your family's black hole? Chloe, Vane is at a critical stage. We're about to go public."

His words shattered my heart.

I stared at the man in front of me, so polished and successful now. I barely recognized him.

Five years ago, he'd been a broke kid scraping by, patching secondhand jackets.

And I'd been the untouchable Winslow heiress who'd somehow fallen for his talent.

I'd poured almost all of my family's resources into his career. I stayed by his side through countless days and nights as he sketched and we ate cold sandwiches.

My father, Richard Winslow, hated seeing me struggle and kept urging me to come home.

Blinded by a love that turned out to mean nothing, I'd fought with my father about it over and over.

When I thought of my father, still lying in a hospital bed, all the rage and hurt came bursting out of me.

"Julian! Where do you think all of this came from?

"Three years ago, I mortgaged my horse farm to front you the money. Two years ago, when the industry blacklisted you, I called in every favor I had to get you work." My eyes were red, but my voice kept getting louder. "Without me, you'd still be patching secondhand jackets!"

I'd hit a nerve. He stormed toward me without a trace of gratitude for anything I'd done. "Shut up, Chloe! Stop throwing your little handouts in my face! The Winslow family is finished. All of New York is waiting to watch you and your father beg on the street, and I'm about to be worth a billion dollars!"

When he was done shouting, he straightened his collar and looked down at me. "You want money? Fine."

He gave a cold little smile. "Get down on your knees and wag your tail. Let Mia take your place at the charity gala tomorrow night. If I'm in a good mood, maybe I'll toss you a few million."

Mia suddenly pointed at the ruby necklace my mother, Eleanor Winslow, had left me. "I happen to need a statement piece."

"Don't you dare touch my mother's necklace!" I clutched it to my chest.

Julian grabbed a fistful of my hair and pressed his mouth to my ear. "My assistant is in your father's hospital room right now. Put it on her yourself, or tomorrow morning you'll get your father's ashes."

I could almost hear the ICU alarms going off, and my tears finally fell.

Shaking all over, I slowly sank to my knees. Mia sat upright beside me as I fastened the necklace around her neck with my own hands. It was the only thing my mother had left me.

"Good girl, Princess." Mia sneered, touching the ruby at her throat.

Once he'd ground me into the dirt, Julian pressed a button on a remote.

The doors swung wide open. Reporters had been waiting outside the whole time, dozens of cameras already pointed right at me.

"Ms. Winslow! Are you on your knees begging Mr. Vane for money?"

"How do you feel about the Winslow bankruptcy?"

Julian let out a fake sigh. "Chloe, I've done everything I can. Please stop clinging to me."

So he'd known all along that my family would go bankrupt today.

He'd set the whole thing up, timed it perfectly, and called in every reporter to catch the moment I got down on my knees.

I looked coldly at the man I'd poured everything into for five years, and all I felt was disgust.

I ripped the cheap engagement ring off my finger and threw it at him, then grabbed an ashtray and smashed it into Julian's smug face.

"Even if they bulldoze the Winslow home, I will never eat the scraps you spit out."

Ignoring the curses behind me, I ran out into the freezing late-autumn rain without looking back.