Part 2: He Dragged Me by the Hair to Beg His Mistress for Mercy at the Most Exclusive Gala in New York—Then the One Man He Could Never Defeat Crossed the Ballroom, Wrapped Me in His Coat, and Claimed Me in Front of Everyone...

The private jet sat idling on the tarmac at Teterboro Airport under a canopy of midnight clouds.

Their luggage was already stowed aboard the Gulfstream, bound for an exclusive private island in the Mediterranean—two weeks of total seclusion that Daniel had promised Audrey once the contracts were signed. The city behind them was silent, Lucas was behind bars awaiting trial, and Vance-Miller Enterprises had become the undisputed powerhouse of the Eastern seaboard.

Audrey stood near the steps of the plane, breathing in the cold night air, watching Daniel finish a secure call with his European directors. He hung up, sliding the phone into his coat, and walked toward her with that familiar, predatory grace, his face softening the moment his eyes met hers.

"Ready to disappear with me?" Daniel asked, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her against his wool coat.

"I’ve been ready for seven years," she smiled, resting her hands on his chest.

Before Daniel could lean down to kiss her, a pair of blinding xenon headlights pierced the darkness of the tarmac.

A sleek, black Maybach with diplomatic plates sped through the restricted airfield gate, blowing past the private security checkpoint and screeching to a halt thirty feet from the aircraft.

Daniel’s posture shifted in a microsecond. The softness vanished, replaced by the lethal corporate predator Audrey had first seen at the Plaza. He pushed Audrey gently behind him as four Vance security guards drew their weapons, surrounding the jet.

The rear door of the Maybach opened.

A man stepped out into the biting wind. He was tall, silver-haired, with piercing icy-blue eyes, wearing a bespoke double-breasted coat adorned with a rare crest. Behind him stood two men carrying armored diplomatic briefcases.

Daniel’s jaw clenched so hard Audrey could hear his teeth grind. "You."

The silver-haired man smiled—a thin, venomous smirk that sent a chill straight down Audrey’s spine. He didn't look at Daniel. His cold, calculating gaze locked onto Audrey, his eyes widening with dark recognition.

"Good evening, Daniel," the man spoke with a smooth, aristocratic European accent. "Did you really think you could take down the Sterling Group and walk away without answering to the family that funded them?"

"Lord Montgomery," Daniel said, his voice dropping into a register of pure poison. "The Sterling debt was settled. You have no jurisdiction here."

"Oh, the money is irrelevant, Daniel," Montgomery chuckled, snapping his fingers. One of his aides opened an armored briefcase, pulling out a faded, certified document sealed with red wax. "Lucas was an incompetent fool, yes. But he served his purpose. He kept her hidden."

Audrey felt her breath catch. "Kept who hidden?"

Lord Montgomery stepped forward, holding the document toward the light.

"Your father never told you the truth about your mother, did he, Audrey?" Montgomery whispered, his eyes gleaming with triumphant malice. "The woman who raised you was an imposter paid to keep you compliant. Your real mother was Princess Sophia of the House of Castiglione. And under the sovereign trust of 1994, you are not just an architect, Miss Miller..."

Montgomery’s smile widened into a cruel grin.

"You are the sole heir to thirty billion dollars in European sovereign assets. Assets that Vance Holdings has been illegally laundering through your father’s foundation for the last ten years."

Audrey froze. The world seemed to stop spinning.

She slowly turned her head, looking at Daniel.

Daniel didn't look at Montgomery. He looked down at Audrey, his face completely pale, his dark eyes filled with something she had never seen in him before.

Guilt.