The next morning, Kelsi woke up in Gisele's guest bed with a pounding headache. The hangover was brutal, but the crushing weight of her breakup felt slightly lighter in the harsh light of day.
Gisele kicked the door open, carrying two mugs of black coffee and a bottle of Advil.
"Drink. Swallow. Wake up," Gisele ordered, shoving a mug into Kelsi's hands.
Gisele sat on the edge of the bed, aggressively scrolling through her phone. Suddenly, she gasped loudly.
"Look at this!" Gisele shoved the phone screen into Kelsi's face.
Kelsi squinted. It was a digital news article. The headline read: Russo Family Foundation Annual Charity Gala Invitations Dispatched.
"The Russo Gala," Gisele breathed reverently. "It is the most exclusive event in New York. Billionaires, politicians, A-list celebrities. It's the ultimate playground."
Kelsi rubbed her temples. "Okay. And?"
"And," Gisele waved her hands, "this is the perfect place for you to make your grand reappearance! You walk in there looking like a goddess, completely unbothered. It will drive Jeb insane when he sees the photos."
"Gisele, I don't want to go to a billionaire's party," Kelsi sighed. "And we don't even have invitations."
Gisele smirked. "Leave that to me. The lawyer I'm currently dating? His boss is the legal counsel for the Russo Group. I can absolutely pull some strings and get us on the guest list."
Kelsi wanted to say no, but Gisele's relentless enthusiasm was hard to fight. She finally nodded, agreeing to think about it.
As she sipped her coffee, a random thought crossed her mind. She thought about Yannis. An artist struggling to pay rent would never even see the outside of a party like the Russo Gala. She felt a sudden, sharp stab of guilt for her own privilege.
Ten miles away, in the towering glass monolith of the Russo Group headquarters, Augustus Russo stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling window. The entire city of Manhattan was spread out beneath his feet.
He held his phone to his ear.
"I got the intel," Chase Cabrera's voice crackled through the speaker, sounding entirely too excited. "I texted Gisele last night. Played it cool."
"Talk," Augustus said, his voice flat and commanding.
"The breakup is real. Kelsi dumped him," Chase reported. "The reason is insane. Jeb ditched her while she was trying on her wedding dress to go comfort his sister-in-law. Then, Kelsi had an emergency appendectomy that same night, and Jeb ignored her calls because he was at a party with the sister-in-law."
Augustus's grip on his phone tightened. His knuckles turned white. A cold, lethal fury settled in his gut.
He knew Jeb Harrington was a weak, entitled fool, but he hadn't realized the extent of his cruelty.
"Kelsi moved out of his penthouse," Chase continued. "She's staying in Gisele's guest room in SoHo right now. Oh, and Gisele was fishing around, trying to see if I could get them tickets to your charity gala. She wants to use it as Kelsi's 'coming out' party."
A slow, dark smile curved Augustus's lips.
It was almost too easy.
"Call the foundation directors," Augustus ordered. "Have them courier two VIP invitations to Gisele Vazquez's apartment. Send them from the foundation's executive office and use the chairman's official seal."
Chase choked on his spit. "The chairman's seal? Augustus, you never authorize that level of access for public events."
"Just do it," Augustus snapped. "And Chase? Find out if there are any luxury apartments available for lease or purchase in Gisele's building. Or the building directly next door."
Silence hung on the line for three seconds.
"You want to be her neighbor?" Chase asked, his voice full of disbelief. "Augustus, are you playing a game here, or are you actually insane?"
Augustus hung up the phone without answering.
He turned around as his executive assistant, A. J. Finch, walked into the office. Finch placed a thick manila folder on the massive mahogany desk.
"The complete background file on Kelsi Owens, sir, as requested," Finch said professionally.
Augustus sat down and opened the file. He read through the pages meticulously. He read about her parents dying in a car crash when she was eight. He read about her moving in with her aunt and uncle, the Crowleys, in Queens.
His eyes stopped on a legal flag near the back of the file. Ten years ago, Declan Crowley had attempted to forge documents to transfer Kelsi's trust fund into his own business account. The attempt had failed, but it was buried in the legal records.
Augustus closed the folder. His jaw ticked.
She had been surrounded by parasites her entire life.
He picked up his pen. He knew exactly what his next move was.
