"Twelve minutes after midnight, Daniel Reeves humiliated me in front of three hundred people by choosing another woman after months of making me believe I mattered. Three minutes later, Nathaniel Mercer, the most feared Mafia boss in the ballroom, covered my bare shoulders with his heavy coat and whispered five words that made my ex turn white: ‘Stand up and act like you’re mine.’"

Grant Holloway was arrested at his home before dawn, the federal indictments for embezzlement and securities fraud sealed by a judge who answered directly to Pinehaven’s legal network. With Holloway behind bars and the pension fund scandal dominating the front pages of every financial daily in New York, the entire leadership structure of the Alliance fractured.

The powerful families who had spent decades treating the city like their personal playground suddenly found themselves fighting for survival.

And at the center of the storm sat Nathaniel Mercer and me.

In the penthouse suite of the Pinehaven tower, the rain lashed against the massive glass windows as I sat at the kitchen island, reviewing the final asset seizure documents for Moretti Holdings.

Nathaniel walked in carrying two mugs of black coffee, setting one down in front of me before leaning against the counter.

“Holloway’s lawyers tried to cut a deal an hour ago,” Nathaniel said, watching me over the rim of his mug. “They’ll give up the entire shipping route syndicate in exchange for reduced sentencing.”

“And you accepted?” I asked, signing the final authorization form with a steady hand.

“I countered,” Nathaniel smirked. “I told them I wanted the shipping routes and the downtown commercial real estate portfolio. They’ll sign by midnight.”

I looked up at him, a small smile playing at the corners of my lips. “You really are ruthless, aren’t you?”

“Ruthless is how you survive in this city, Claire,” he said quietly, his gray eyes darkening as he set his mug down and stepped closer to the island. “If you aren't the one holding the knife, you’re the one bleeding on the table.”

He reached out, his warm fingers brushing against my wrist, right over the diamond watch he had given me.

“And you,” he murmured, “stopped bleeding a long time ago.”

Before I could answer, my phone buzzed on the counter.

An unknown number.

I picked it up and swiped to answer.

“Claire?”

The voice was thin, desperate, and trembling.

Daniel.

“How did you get this number?” I asked, my voice chilling instantly.

“Please, Claire, you have to help me,” he sobbed over the line. “Madeline’s father cut me off. The engagement is canceled, the board fired me this morning, and the police are asking questions about the Moretti accounts. You know I didn't know about Holloway’s embezzlement! We were together—you know me!”

“I knew a man named Daniel Reeves,” I said clearly, looking straight into Nathaniel’s steady, unblinking eyes. “He liked getting coffee, he hated his job, and he was terrified of anyone seeing him with someone who wasn’t rich enough to matter. But he doesn't exist anymore.”

“Claire—wait—!”