flash
The helicopter’s blades beat a relentless rhythm into the night sky, throwing cold air over the entrance of L’Auberge, the city’s most elite restaurant. Inside, the silence remained suffocating. / Chapter 1 / 8

Chapter 1 - THE ASHES OF THE DINNER TABLE

The helicopter’s blades beat a relentless rhythm into the night sky, throwing cold air over the entrance of L’Auberge, the city’s most elite restaurant. Inside, the silence remained suffocating.

Vanessa stood frozen near the shattered remains of her wine glass. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. The man she had just spent thirty minutes belittling—the man she had called a "nobodies’ son" and mocked for offering a "cheap silver band"—had just walked out to a private military-grade chopper.

"Vanessa..." her friend Sophia whispered, her voice trembling as she approached. "Do you... do you know who that was?"

Vanessa couldn't speak. Her lips parted, but no sound came out.

"That wasn't Andrew Vance, the struggling architect," Sophia hissed, pulling out her phone with frantic hands. "Look at the emblem on that pilot’s shoulder. That’s the insignia of the Vance Global Consortium. He isn't a low-level worker. He’s the sole heir to a eighty-billion-dollar energy empire!"

Vanessa’s knees gave out. She grabbed the edge of the mahogany table to keep from falling. Her mind reeled back to every cruel word she had uttered over the course of their six-month relationship. She had treated him like a stepping stone, flaunting her family’s mid-tier wealth while secretly cheating on him with Marcus Thornton—a man whose entire trust fund wouldn't cover the fuel costs for the helicopter Andrew had just boarded.

Outside, Andrew sat in the leather interior of the Eurocopter. He didn't look back at the glass doors of the restaurant. He pulled out his phone, his face devoid of any emotion.

"Victor," Andrew said coldly into the receiver.

"Yes, Sir Andrew?" replied his head of security.

"Cancel the Thornton Group’s credit line with Vance Bank. Call in every debt they owe us by 8:00 AM tomorrow."

"And Miss Vanessa’s family estate, sir?"

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Andrew looked down at the velvet ring box in his palm. He snapped it closed, the sound echoing sharply in the cabin.

"Destroy them gently," Andrew whispered. "I want her to feel every single step of the fall."

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