Chapter 1 - The Black Dress
I stared at my reflection in the gilded mirror of the country club restroom.
The blood-red lipstick felt like war paint against my pale skin.
For my entire life, I had allowed myself to fade into the background so my sister Allison could shine.
I had worn beige, I had kept quiet, and I had smiled politely while my father tore my self-esteem to shreds.
Not anymore.
The freezing water of the terrace fountain had washed away the last lingering ounce of my pathetic obedience.
I smoothed down the sleek fabric of my black cocktail dress.
It was a dress meant for a funeral, which was fitting, because the passive, submissive Meredith was officially dead.
I glanced at my water-damaged phone, seeing the read receipt on the message I had sent to my hidden contact.
Daniel Reyes was on his way.
Most of the elite guests out in the ballroom knew the name Reyes.
He was a ruthless venture capitalist, a billionaire shadow who bought and destroyed legacy companies for sport.
My father had spent the last six months desperately trying to secure a meeting with him to save his failing real estate firm.
What my father did not know was that I had been secretly married to Daniel for three years.
I took a deep breath, pushed the heavy wooden door open, and walked back out into the grand hallway.
The music was playing a soft waltz, but the atmosphere shifted the moment I stepped back into the ballroom.
Heads turned, whispers erupted, and the cruel laughter from earlier completely died in the throats of the wealthy guests.
My father spotted me from the head table, his face instantly twisting into a mask of pure, unadulterated rage.
He dropped his champagne flute and marched across the dance floor, ready to verbally slaughter me for changing out of the assigned bridesmaid dress.
But before he could even open his mouth, the massive mahogany doors at the back of the ballroom violently swung open.
Every eye in the room darted toward the entrance as a suffocating silence fell over the crowd.
Daniel stood there in a perfectly tailored midnight-blue tuxedo, looking like a god of destruction stepping into a room full of mortals.
My father stopped dead in his tracks, his jaw dropping in sheer disbelief as he recognized the billionaire he had been relentlessly stalking.
He quickly adjusted his tie and rushed past me, extending a sweaty hand toward the most powerful man in the city.
Daniel completely ignored my father's outstretched hand, walking directly past him until he stopped right in front of me.
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He gently touched my damp hair, his dark eyes flashing with a dangerous, lethal fury as he looked at my father.
"Who threw my wife into the water?"
