Chapter 1 - Turbulence at 30,000 FeetThe champagne flute sat untouched on the fold-down tray, its bubbles slowly flattening. As the transatlantic jet punched through the gray clouds above Boston, the ambient cabin hum felt less like white noise and more like a ticking clock.
Camille’s tablet screen went black, casting a sharp reflection of her tense, unyielding face. "You didn't answer my question, Elliot," she said, her voice dropping into a register that cut straight through the drone of the engines. "Did you know about the child before we exchanged vows yesterday?"
"No," Elliot said, his eyes fixed on the condensation tracing lines down the oval window. "I told you. I saw her by pure accident at Gate C12."
"And yet," Camille countered, leaning forward, "the moment you looked at that little girl, your entire posture changed. You looked at her the way a man looks at a mirror. Do you have any idea what this does to me? We haven't even reached our cruising altitude, and my honeymoon is already a ghost story about your ex-girlfriend and a toddler who 'might' be yours."
Elliot’s phone buzzed again in his lap. The screen flashed: Naomi. Elliot, there’s a reason I never told you.
May you like
He stared at the text. His thumb hovered over the screen, tempted to swipe and call, but Camille’s hand shot out, her manicured fingers pinning the device against his knee.
"If you press call while sitting next to me on our honeymoon flight," Camille whispered, venom lacing every syllable, "consider our marriage annulled before we land in Rome. Choose, Elliot. The past, or the empire we built yesterday."
