Three days later.
Harmony sat at the polished mahogany bar of an exclusive, underground private club in Manhattan. The lighting was dim, smelling of expensive bourbon and old money.
She held a chilled martini glass in one hand. Her other hand rested on her phone, hidden beneath the counter. Operating through an encrypted VPN, she had just executed a massive short-sell order against a major tech firm under her alias, the "Ghost."
The heavy, brass-studded doors of the club swung open with a violent thud.
A blast of freezing winter air rushed in, followed immediately by Essex Joyce.
He had spent the last seventy-two hours tearing the city apart. He finally found her only because he had quietly bought a controlling stake in the club's parent company that morning, just to access their private billing records.
Essex marched straight toward the bar. His heavy footsteps made the bartender instinctively step back into the shadows.
He stopped right beside Harmony, pulling out the high-top leather stool next to hers. He sat down.
He turned his head to look at her, expecting to see her looking exhausted, broke, and desperate. Instead, his eyes swept over her outfit. She wasn't wearing the soft, submissive pastel dresses he liked. She was wearing a razor-sharp, tailored black suit that screamed power and aggression.
Essex pushed down the sudden spike of unease in his gut. He leaned his elbow on the bar, adopting a tone of arrogant mercy.
"Three days, Harmony," Essex said smoothly. "You've made your point. The tantrum is over."
Harmony didn't turn her head. She didn't flinch. She took a slow, deliberate sip of her martini, staring straight ahead at the rows of liquor bottles as if Essex were nothing more than a draft of cold air.
Her total physical dismissal made the veins in Essex's neck bulge. He let out a harsh, mocking laugh, deciding to hit her where he thought it would hurt the most.
"I picked up your dress today," Essex said, his voice dripping with condescension. "The custom holiday gown from 'H'. The one you begged me for six months ago."
He paused, waiting for her breath to hitch. Waiting for the desperation.
"I gave it to Fallon," Essex stated brutally. "She needs a statement piece for her debut. You're her older sister. You should be generous."
He leaned back, a cruel smirk playing on his lips, waiting for the tears. Waiting for the hysterical jealousy to break her cool facade.
Harmony stared at the green olive resting at the bottom of her glass. Her heart rate didn't elevate by a single beat.
She was the anonymous designer 'H'. That so-called "masterpiece" gown was a rejected sketch she had thrown together in ten minutes while drinking a coffee.
Harmony slowly turned her head. She looked at Essex. Her eyes were filled with a profound, chilling pity, like she was watching a clown perform a miserable trick.
"Is that so?" Harmony whispered, her voice light and completely detached. "It suits her."
Essex's smirk died instantly. His jaw tightened. He couldn't process her absolute indifference. He convinced himself she was just acting, trying to save face.
He reached into the breast pocket of his suit and pulled out a leather checkbook and a Montblanc fountain pen.
He uncapped the pen and aggressively scribbled across the paper. He ripped the check out and slid it across the bar, stopping it right next to her martini glass.
"Five hundred thousand dollars," Essex commanded, his tone heavy with arrogant charity. "Since Conner cut you off, go buy yourself some off-the-rack clothes. Consider it compensation. Now, get up. We are going home."
Harmony looked down at the piece of paper.
A sudden, sharp laugh escaped her lips. The sound was bright and completely genuine, cutting through the quiet hum of the club.
She reached out. She pinched the edge of the check between her index and middle finger, lifting it up to the dim light like it was a piece of contaminated trash.
Essex watched her, his chest swelling with the expectation that she would finally fold.
Instead, Harmony flicked her wrist.
She dropped the half-million-dollar check directly into a small, dirty plastic bucket on the counter-the bin the bartender used for discarded, squeezed lemon peels and wet napkins.
Essex shot up from his seat. The heavy leather stool scraped violently against the floorboards, the screech echoing loudly. His eyes darkened with pure, unhinged rage.
He leaned over the bar, his face inches from hers, his voice dropping to a lethal growl. "Do not push me, Harmony. Without my protection and your family's money, you are nothing in this city. You will starve."
Harmony stood up smoothly. She was shorter than him, but the absolute lack of fear in her posture made her presence feel suffocatingly large.
She looked dead into his furious eyes.
"You can't buy taste with money," Harmony said, her voice dropping to a cold, surgical precision. "And you can't buy my obedience with a piece of paper."
She picked up her Birkin bag from the counter, turning her shoulder to walk away.
Essex snapped. He reached out and clamped his large hand around her wrist. His fingers dug into her skin, the grip tight enough to grind her bones together.
"We are not done talking," Essex hissed through his teeth. He yanked her arm hard. "We are going to the terrace."
