All Chapters of False Revenge : Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

"I will attend to you in a while, please be patient." Cora said. "We are running late on time." The crowd roared. The rain came down in heavy sheets, soaking the cracked pavement of Brooklyn’s narrow streets as Cora Black weaved through the late-night crowd outside the coffee shop. Her coat was too thin, her boots were worn through, and her fingers trembled as she clutched her umbrella against the wind. Inside the café, the warmth barely registered,just another night shift in a string of endless ones. She wiped down the counters mechanically, her mind elsewhere. It had been three days since she last painted, two weeks since she’d gotten more than four hours of sleep, and three months since her brother Caleb’s condition worsened. The hospital bills were coming in faster than she could pay. Even with two jobs and her freelance commissions, the money disappeared as soon as it landed in her account. “Cora,” came the voice of her manager, Will, peering out from behind the offi

Cora sat on the edge of the king-sized bed, wrapped in one of the thick bathrobes that hung in the guest suite. Her phone buzzed next to her, Rox had called twice and texted ten times but she hadn’t replied. The world outside the windows was gilded in morning sun. Inside, it was still cold, unyielding. Everything in the penthouse gleamed like it had been polished for show, not comfort. She thought about walking away, she really did. But she also thought about her brother, lying in that hospital bed, tubes snaking into his arms, machines beeping his borrowed time away. She thought about the last time he’d smiled, and how it had only been because she’d promised things were getting better but they weren’t, not until now. If Harvey wanted a fake wife, if he was offering security and medical salvation in exchange for a year of submission, did she have the right to say no? She heard his voice before she saw him. Calm, cold, calculating. He was speaking with someone over the phone in

Around nine, she changed into a powder-blue sheath dress that screamed sophistication and silence. Makeup, heels, pearls. She walked into the Lux interview already wearing the mask. The journalist, a young woman with bright eyes and an air of hero worship, beamed as Cora sat. “So tell me, Mrs. Pritchard, what’s it like being married to one of the most powerful men in New York?” Cora smiled. “Challenging,” she said smoothly. “But worth it. Harvey doesn’t do anything halfway — not business, not relationships.” “Some say your relationship happened fast.” “It did. But sometimes life changes overnight. When you know, you know.” “And how did you two meet?” “An art auction,” Cora lied. “He bid on a painting I loved. I bid back. Neither of us got the piece — but we both left with something better.” The journalist giggled. “That’s so romantic.” Cora fought the urge to scream. At lunch, Ms. White Farrell was waiting at a private rooftop garden, draped in diamonds and secrets. She was