Chapter 1

I was halfway to unbuttoning my silk blouse to offer myself to the thugs holding my boyfriend hostage, when the man I was trying to save burst into laughter.

My fingers froze on the second button.

"Enough," Ethan's voice rang out. He stepped out from the shadows behind a stack of rusted shipping crates. "Don't act too much. You're going to give her a heart attack."

My brain struggled to process the image in front of me. The three menacing men who had just threatened to tear me apart if I didn't take Ethan's place suddenly dropped their weapons.

My friend Maureen covered her mouth. "Oh my god. How did you expose it now? It was just getting good! She was actually going to do it. It is so boring now."

Ethan casually wrapped an arm around Maureen's shoulder. "I just made a bet with Maureen to see how far you would go. I wanted to see how important I am to you."

"A bet?" My voice sounded hollow.

I had driven like a madwoman through the pouring rain.

I had genuinely believed I was going to die tonight to save the man I loved.

"It's okay. You didn't disappoint me." Ethan offered a careless smile. "Can you not have such a cold face? It's just a joke. I didn't really let them do anything to you. There is no need to be so stingy about it."

Maureen held up her phone. "Smile for the camera, Vanessa. Everyone is watching."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"The private group chat. All of our friends. The entire Upper East Side circle." Maureen tilted the screen toward me. "I have been live-streaming this entire pathetic display. We wanted to prove once and for all that you do not belong in Ethan's world. You are just a desperate, clinging nobody who would degrade herself for a man who doesn't even want her."

My own phone vibrated in my pocket. Once. Twice. Three times. The continuous buzzing felt incredibly loud in the sudden silence of the warehouse. I pulled it out. The screen illuminated the darkness.

The time read exactly 12:01 AM.

My thirtieth birthday had officially begun.

The messages were from my father. I opened them.

"Vanessa, don't forget our promise."

"Midnight has passed. He didn't propose."

"The Kensington contract is activated. Come home and marry the man I chose."

I stared at the glowing words.

For three years, I had hidden my identity from the world. I had lived in a cramped apartment. I had worked a grueling job.

I had played the role of an ordinary woman just to prove my father wrong.

I wanted to prove that love could exist without money.

I wanted to prove Ethan loved me for me.

My father had been right all along.

I looked up from the screen. Ethan was still smirking.

Maureen was still holding the camera. They expected me to cry. They expected me to scream, to beg, to throw a tantrum. They wanted a show.

I refused to give them one.

I looked back down at my phone. I opened the keyboard and slowly typed a single line.

"I'll marry him tomorrow."

I hit send. I slipped the phone back into my pocket. I calmly buttoned my blouse.

I turned on my heel and began walking toward the heavy metal exit doors.

"Where are you going?" Ethan called out. "Vanessa, come on. Don't be like this. The joke is over."

I kept walking. The naive girl who walked into this warehouse was dead.

"Vanessa!" Ethan shouted. He sounded annoyed now. "Stop acting like a victim. It was just a prank."

I was ten feet away from the exit when the entire building shook.

A deafening crash shattered the night.

The heavy, corrugated metal doors were violently blown off their hinges.

They slammed onto the concrete floor with a screeching metallic roar. Dust and debris exploded into the air.

Cold rain whipped into the warehouse. The blinding glare of headlights pierced the gloom.

A fleet of sleek, black SUVs had formed a barricade outside the entrance.

The back door of the lead vehicle swung open. A man stepped out into the torrential rain and stopped a few feet away from me.

"I believe my fiancée is ready to leave."