Chapter 2

Three days later. Forensic Identification Center in Oakhaven.

A suffocating, sickening reek of formaldehyde hung heavy in the hallway.

Julian's eyes were red and bloodshot. His designer suit had been burned through in several places, the edges singed black.

He shoved past the officers trying to hold him back and stumbled toward the cold examination table.

The white sheet was yanked away.

The body had been exposed to temperatures exceeding two thousand degrees for far too long.

What remained was barely recognizable as human — a deeply charred mass, curled in on itself, blackened beyond distinction.

Julian stared at it, his whole body shaking uncontrollably.

"That's not her… You're lying to me!"

"Audrey couldn't stand pain. There's no way she would've burned like that!"

The forensic examiner on duty let out a quiet sigh.

"Mr. Croft, we found this at the victim's chest — her hands were clutching it tightly, even in death."

An evidence bag was held out in front of him.

Inside was a crumpled, half-melted piece of foil candy wrapper.

Seven years ago, when Julian had nothing to his name, he'd folded it into a makeshift engagement ring for her.

It had been shielded by flesh and bone, buried at the very deepest point — which was the only reason even this small remnant had survived.

Julian stared at the twisted scrap of foil, his knees buckled, and he crashed down hard onto the cold tile floor.

A sound tore from his throat — raw and broken, like a dying animal.

Sophie rushed in from the doorway and reached out to steady him.

"Julian, don't do this. Audrey wouldn't want to see you like this—"

She never finished the sentence. Julian shoved her away with enough force to send her stumbling to the ground.

She hit the floor with a sharp cry.

He didn't even glance at her. He just pressed the evidence bag against his chest and wept like a man who had lost everything — like a man who had lost his mind.

At the same moment, thirty thousand feet above the earth.

Inside a private jet bound for Wall Street, the climate control system hummed along in perfect silence.

A flight attendant approached and presented a glass of chilled Romanée-Conti.

"Madam, your wine."

I took the crystal glass and murmured a quiet thank-you.

After the system severed its bond with me, my soul had been recast into a new body.

My memories remained intact, but this body carried no trace of burns.

Even my left arm — the one that had been impaled by a steel rod — was smooth and unmarked, as if nothing had ever happened.

Beside me, the man turned a page of his book — a German-language original — and his low, slightly hoarse voice drifted through the quiet cabin.

"You seem quite pleased with your new skin."

I turned my head toward him. He was wearing a black silk shirt.

Pale complexion. Almond-shaped eyes with a faint teardrop mole at the corner.

He shared maybe half of Julian's features, but where Julian ended, this man went somewhere darker — something cruel and unhinged ran all the way down to his bones.

Elias Croft.

The true power behind the Croft family. The youngest son, and the one Julian's grandfather had always loved most.

The same man Julian had been guarding against for ten years — the uncle he'd dreamed of destroying.

Five years ago, during the Croft family's internal power struggle, Elias had been caught in an explosion on a yacht in international waters. He was never found.

Everyone assumed he was dead — swallowed by the sea.

Only Julian knew the truth: until there was a DNA confirmation, that CEO chair he sat in would never feel like solid ground.

I took a sip of the wine. The cold liquid slid down my throat.

"A body is just a tool. As long as it works, that's enough."

Elias closed his book. His heavy gaze settled on my face, sharp and probing — the way a snake sizes up its prey.

"Audrey is dead. From now on, your name is Blair Sterling."

"Blair — it's time to prove what you're worth."

I met his gaze without flinching, a cold smile pulling at the corner of my lips.

"You've been hiding for five years. Wasn't that exactly what you were doing — waiting for the perfect moment to strike?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"You need someone who knows Julian's weaknesses. Someone who can help you take back everything."

"And I want to make his life a living hell."

The pressure inside the cabin dropped to something glacial.

Elias let out a low laugh. His long fingers tapped a slow, idle rhythm against the leather armrest.

"I look forward to working with you, my accomplice."