Chapter 1 - THE ASHES OF THE PENTHOUSEThe silence of the penthouse was heavier than the sleet battering the floor-to-ceiling windows. Mara Vale stood in the center of the kitchen, her knuckles white as she gripped the marble counter.
Her phone buzzed on the counter. It was an unknown number. With trembling fingers, she swiped it open. A single photograph loaded under the amber glow of the Glasshouse Conservatory. Roman, her husband of three years, was laughing softly, clinking a champagne coupe with Celeste Arman. Celeste, the high-priced art adviser whose invoices had quietly drained hundreds of thousands from corporate accounts while Mara skimped on maternity clothes.
Mara didn't scream. She locked the screen, picked up her pre-packed canvas bag, and walked out into the freezing night as an ambulance idled below. She didn't know it yet, but Roman was currently looking at his phone, seeing the alerts flash across his screen, and deliberately sliding his thumb to silence them. He wanted her to feel small. He wanted her to wait. Little did he know, the woman he left behind was the only person keeping his entire criminal enterprise from collapsing into dust.
May you like
Related Stories
