Chapter 2 - The Ghost of ParisWhile Alexander was discovering that my silence came with a staggering price tag, he was sitting in the corner booth of Le Cirque, trying desperately to salvage a romance that had died two years ago. Sophia Reed looked across the white tablecloth, her eyes swimming with practiced, fragile tears.
“You look distracted, Alex,” she murmured, swirling her vintage Burgundy—ironically, the exact same vintage I had left uncorked on our dining table. “Is it Erin? I shouldn't have called you. I just... I couldn't face my hotel room alone tonight.”
Alexander forced a tight, reassuring smile, though his pocket felt heavy with the phantom weight of his vibrating phone. “Don't worry about Erin. She’s quiet. She stays home. I gave her some money to keep her occupied so we could have this evening in peace.”
He truly believed it. In Alexander’s world, every person had a price, and every inconvenience could be solved with a transaction. He thought he had successfully managed me, sealing me away with a piece of plastic like a domestic pet given a new toy to chew on. He had no idea that the plastic card in my hand was the crowbar I was using to pry open the cage he had built for me.
Sophia leaned in closer, her diamond bracelet catching the dim candlelight. “You always know how to take care of things, Alex. Just like you managed everything when we were in Paris. If only you hadn't let your family pressure you into that marriage…”
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Alexander’s jaw tightened. He didn't mention that his marriage to me had been a strategic corporate alliance arranged by his mother to stabilize his grandfather’s estate—an estate he only inherited because I quietly uncovered the missing legal deeds that his own uncles tried to hide. He had spent two years treating me like a convenience store clerk while living off the dividends of my hidden labor.
And now, the bill for his ignorance was coming due.
