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 headline on *Page Six* was accompanied by a grainy still photograph of Lucas leaning over Audrey, her hair tangled in his fingers:

*MIDNIGHT MELTDOWN: UNSTABLE HEIRESS ATTACKS NAOMI CROSS AT CHARITY GALA; HEROIC HUSBAND FORCED TO RESTRAIN HER.*

Audrey dropped the tablet onto the duvet as if it had burned her. The nausea was an overwhelming, violent wave. "They're calling me insane."

"Of course they are," Daniel said, pacing across the polished hardwood floor. He had changed into a charcoal three-piece suit, his cuff links gleaming like silver coins. "Lucas owns thirty percent of the media conglomerate that syndicates that paper. Naomi Cross has two million followers who believe she is a delicate philanthropist whose dress was ruined by a jealous wife."

"My mother called Lucas's office this morning," Audrey whispered, staring blankly at the wall. "She left a voicemail. She apologized to *him*. She said I was always prone to hysterical episodes and that our family would pay for Naomi’s damaged gown."

A terrible, hollow ache tore through her ribs. Her own mother. The woman who had dressed her for the gala, who had adjusted her diamond necklace and whispered, *'Don't make a scene tonight, Audrey. Lucas needs this merger. Just let Naomi have her moment.'*

"Your mother is bankrupt without the Sterling quarterly stipends," Daniel said bluntly, showing no mercy for the truth. "She chose her lifestyle over her daughter years ago. Stop looking to ghosts for protection."

"Then who do I look to?" she snapped, fire finally breaking through the numbness. She swung her legs over the edge of the mattress, ignoring the searing burn in her knee. She stood up, swaying slightly, glaring at him. "To you? The great Daniel Vance? What’s your price, Daniel? What do you want in exchange for keeping me in this ivory tower?"

Daniel stopped pacing. He took two slow, measured strides until he was standing directly in front of her. He was tall enough that she had to tilt her chin up to meet his gaze. His jaw was clenched, a faint muscle ticking beside his ear.

"I want the blueprints, Audrey."

She froze. "What?"

"The original digital files for the Manhattan Horizon Project. The ones Lucas locked in the Sterling family vault after your father’s funeral. He has a meeting with the city zoning board on Friday to finalize a four-billion-dollar contract. If he builds it, his empire is untouchable." Daniel leaned down slightly, his voice dropping into a dangerous, intimate whisper. "If I prove he stole the intellectual property from you, his funding collapses by noon on Monday."

"And what happens to me?"

"You get your name back," Daniel said, his eyes burning with an intensity that made her pulse race. "You get fifty percent of the development under Vance Holdings. And Lucas Sterling will never be able to look at this skyline without remembering that you built it, and I own it."

Audrey looked at her trembling hands. For three years, she had swallowed poison and called it marriage. She had let Lucas break her confidence, slice away her friends, and parade his mistress in front of the world while demanding she smile and play the gracious hostess.

She looked up at Daniel Vance.

"The files aren't in the Sterling vault," Audrey said, her voice dropping all traces of weakness. "They're on an encrypted drive hidden inside my father's old workshop in Brooklyn. And Lucas doesn't have the password."