Ava Vitiello POV
The department store rose around us like a cathedral of glass and light.
I was here for retail therapy. I was trying to buy things I didn't need in a desperate attempt to fill the gaping hole in my chest.
Maya was with me, hovering close as we browsed the designer handbags.
"Why are you doing this, Ava?" Maya asked quietly. "Why don't you just let him go?"
I traced the pebbled leather of a Birkin bag, focusing on the texture to ground myself.
"Because he humiliated me," I said. "Because he took my dignity."
I looked up, meeting her eyes.
"Liam is the disease," I said. "Sarah is just the symptom."
I looked across the expanse of the store.
At the high-jewelry counter, I saw a flash of red hair.
Sarah.
She was pointing at a watch. A Patek Philippe.
My breath hitched. It was the same model I had bought Liam for our engagement. The very same one he had pawned last week to pay his gambling debts.
She was buying it back. Or buying a new one.
I watched her hand the clerk a card. A black card.
My stomach dropped.
I knew that card. I knew the matte finish, the weight of it.
It was a supplementary card on my account. I had given it to Liam six months ago for "emergency business expenses."
I had forgotten to cancel it.
The audacity was staggering. She was buying him a gift with my money.
I started walking. My heels clicked against the marble floor like gunshots.
Maya tried to grab my arm, but I shook her off.
I reached the counter just as the clerk was about to swipe the card.
"Stop."
The clerk looked up, startled. Sarah spun around.
Her eyes went wide.
"What are you doing here?" she snapped.
I looked at the card in the clerk's hand.
"That's my card," I said to the clerk, my voice calm and deadly.
Sarah tried to snatch it back.
"It's my fiancé's card!" she screamed.
"It's in his name, but it's my account," I said. "I am Ava Vitiello."
The clerk looked at the name on the card. Then he looked at me. The color drained from his face. He recognized me. Everyone in New York recognized the Vitiello name.
"Ms... Ms. Vitiello," the clerk stammered.
"Cut it," I said.
"What?" Sarah shrieked.
I held the clerk's gaze.
"Cut the card. Now. Or I call the manager and tell him you're accepting stolen credit."
The clerk swallowed hard and picked up a pair of scissors.
"No!" Sarah lunged across the counter.
Maya stepped in, blocking her path with a sharp shove.
The clerk snipped the black plastic in half. The sound was crisp, final, and satisfying.
Sarah let out a sound like a wounded animal.
"You bitch!" she screamed. "That was five thousand dollars!"
I picked up the watch from the velvet tray.
It was heavy. It was beautiful. It was worth more than Sarah's life.
"This belongs to the Family," I said.
A crowd had gathered. People were filming with their phones.
I didn't care.
I held the watch up, letting the light catch the diamonds.
"Tell Liam happy birthday from me," I said.
I dropped the watch into my purse.
Sarah was shaking with rage. Her face was blotchy and red.
"He's going to kill you," she spat.
I smiled. It was a cold, dead smile.
"He can try," I said.
I turned and walked away.
The adrenaline was fading, leaving me empty once more. But my head was high.
I was reclaiming my assets. One by one.
