Chapter 1: The Diamond Anklet

"How long have you been sleeping with my sister, Julian?"

I didn't turn around to face him, I couldn't bring myself to. I simply kept my gaze fixed on the rain-streaked window of our penthouse, watching the city lights blur into uneven streaks of neon. I didn't need to see his face to know the kind of expression he was wearing. 

I could feel the coldness radiating from him, a chilling contrast to the humid. The five-course anniversary dinner I had spent three hours preparing, which now sat untouched and cooling on the mahogany table behind me. It was warmer than he was.

Julian Thorne paused, the sound of his silk tie loosening became the only noise in the suffocatingly quiet room. 

"What is it this time, Elena? Why are being overly dramatic? I really do not have the strength to have a back and forth with you tonight, I have had a long day and I could use all the rest I can get."

I wasn't surprised he was being dismissive. It was a routine I was now used to. I was used to his gaslighting.

He continued. "Do I need to remind you that Sarah is family. If I spent the evening with her, it was for the sake of the Vance-Thorne merger. You know as much as I do that it's a multi-billion dollar deal and Sarah is Vance's representative. You know that this deal secures our future, but it is something your tiny, domestic and fickle mind wouldn't begin to understand."

I finally turned, my heels clicking sharply against the marble floor. My eyes dropped to the small, velvet box he had carelessly tossed onto the silk duvet of our bed, rumpling it a little. I reached out, my fingers trembling slightly as I picked it up and clicked the latch open. 

Inside sat a diamond anklet, its stones glinting like shards of cold ice under the chandelier. It was beautiful, obscenely expensive, and utterly damning.

"What is this? Why do you have this, Julian?" Fear and uncertainty rippling through my voice.

"What sort of question is that?" Julian asked, his voice dropping to a lower degree.

"She was wearing this in the tabloids tonight, Julian," I said, my voice remarkably steady despite the roar of blood in my ears. "The caption said it was a gift from her 'secret admirer' after their intimate dinner at The Pierre.”

"And? Is there something you are trying to point out from that?" He asked.

"Tell me, did the merger require you to buy her a jewelry that costs more than the annual salary of your entire executive staff? Huh?"

Julian finally looked at me, his sapphire eyes devoid of a single shred of warmth or guilt. He looked at me the way one looks at a malfunctioning appliance: with irritation, disdain not empathy.

"At this point, I think we need to tell ourselves the truth and stop lying to each other." He said.

My heart skipped a beat. " The truth? What truth? Are my fears being confirmed?" I thought to myself.

"I married a quiet, obedient woman because I needed a placeholder to satisfy my grandfather’s will and keep the board happy, not because I really wanted to get married to one. I didn't marry a prosecutor or a law enforcement officer. If you find the truth uncomfortable, Elena, then stop looking for it and stick to fantasies and lies. Being in the dark would bring you so much peace than you can ever think of."

"Look around you, you live in a ten-million-dollar penthouse and wear designer clothes because of my name. What else do you want? I would strongly advise that you don't bite the hand that feeds you over a piece of jewelry, don't do it."

He walked toward the ensuite bathroom, his dismissive shrug cutting deeper than any direct insult could. He truly believed I was trapped, helpless, that the penniless orphan he had rescued through marriage from the shadow of the Vance family had no choice but to swallow the humiliation shoved down my throat and stay silent. He saw my quietness over the last three years as weakness, a lack of spirit, rather than a strategic choice I had made to survive.

"I am not looking for the truth anymore, Julian. I am done," I whispered to his retreating back, though I knew he wasn't listening. "I am looking for the exit."

As the shower hissed to life, my phone vibrated on the nightstand. A message from a blocked number flashed on the darkened screen: 'He has finally signed the divorce papers tonight, Elena. You are officially yesterday’s news. You are no more of use to him. Check the attachment for further information.'

I swiped the screen with a numb thumb. It was a high-resolution photo of a divorce petition. At the bottom, Julian’s sharp, arrogant signature was already inked in heavy black lines. He hadn't even had the decency to tell me himself; he was going to let my own step-sister deliver the blow, what a coward.

My heart didn't break. For years, I had endured so many forms of abuse, I had been hoping and expecting this, but finally seeing the long awaited ink on the paper felt like a heavy stone being lifted off my chest.

 I dunked my phone to the bed and pulled a secondary, encrypted burner phone from the hidden lining of my jewelry box that say pretty on the nightstand and typed a single sentence to a contact I hadn't messaged since the day I said "I do."

"The mask is off and the coast is clear. Activate the Blackwood protocols and begin the aggressive short-sell on Thorne Group, immediately. I’m coming home to claim my seat. Afterall, it is long overdue."

I looked at the bathroom door one last time. Julian thought he was discarding a broken toy. He had no idea he was declaring war on the only person in the world who could actually destroy him.