The conference room inside the towering Manhattan law firm smelled of lemon polish and predatory greed.
Frankie sat on one side of the massive glass table.
Opposite her sat Eleanor, flanked by three men in expensive suits-the "Shark Lawyers" of the Alexander family.
Eleanor leaned back in her plush leather chair. She looked at Frankie with a mixture of triumph and utter disdain.
She slid a single sheet of paper across the glass, followed by a rectangular slip of paper.
"Sign the non-disclosure agreement, Frankie," Eleanor said, her tone dripping with arrogant charity. "You waive all rights to Aetherion Dynamics, you admit fault in the marriage, and you walk away quietly."
Frankie looked down. It was a cashier's check.
One hundred million dollars.
Frankie's mind instantly pulled up the financial data she had reviewed last night. Aetherion's pre-IPO valuation was currently sitting at ten billion dollars.
Eleanor was trying to buy the core architecture of a ten-billion-dollar tech empire for one percent of its value, thinking she was overpaying a gold digger.
It was so profoundly stupid it almost hurt to witness.
Frankie didn't argue. She didn't demand more.
She reached into her blazer, pulled out her heavy Montblanc pen, and uncapped it.
She pressed the nib to the paper and signed her name with aggressive, fluid strokes. The scratch of the metal on paper was the only sound in the room.
Eleanor's lips curled into a victorious sneer. Just a greedy little peasant after all, her eyes said.
Frankie capped her pen. She picked up the check and her copy of the agreement, stood up, and looked down at Eleanor.
"I hope you remember this moment," Frankie said softly, her eyes dead. "Because when you come begging me to tear this up, I want you to remember how eager you were to give it to me."
She walked out without looking back.
That evening, the atmosphere inside Le Bernardin, New York's most exclusive Michelin three-star seafood restaurant, was hushed and elegant.
Frankie sat in a velvet booth, wearing a stunning, backless emerald-green velvet gown. Across from her sat her best friend, Siobhan, a ruthless venture capitalist.
Siobhan raised her crystal champagne flute. "To freedom. And to watching that bastard's company burn to the ground."
Frankie clinked her glass against Siobhan's, taking a slow sip. Her eyes briefly flicked toward the entrance of the restaurant, noting the arrival of a distinguished older gentleman in a tweed suit being led to a table across the room. She recognized him instantly, and a faint, calculated glint passed through her eyes. Siobhan hadn't noticed; she was too busy pouring more champagne.
Suddenly, a loud, braying laugh cut through the quiet hum of the restaurant.
Frankie's body tensed. Her military-trained hearing instantly isolated the sound. It was coming from the semi-private dining room right next to their booth, separated only by an ornate wooden screen.
She leaned slightly to the left, peering through the carved gaps in the wood.
Sitting at the large round table were Domenic, Carley, and Ashley Sutton, Domenic's loudest, most obnoxious trust-fund friend.
"I still can't believe she's dragging this out," Ashley was saying, shaking his head with a loud scoff. "She's probably going to take that settlement money and run back to whatever trailer park she crawled out of."
Carley placed a gentle, perfectly manicured hand on Domenic's arm, her face a mask of delicate concern.
"Dom, you shouldn't let this upset you. Some people just have different priorities," Carley said, her voice dripping with fake, sugary sympathy, playing the perfect, innocent confidante. "I never wanted to cause trouble between you two. You have to understand her background. She has no family. A hundred million is an incomprehensible amount of money to someone with her limited... scope. It's only natural she'd act out."
Domenic sat there, swirling the dark red wine in his glass. He didn't say a word to defend his wife of five years. He just took a sip, leaning into Carley's touch, silently validating every backhanded insult.
Siobhan heard it too. Her face flushed dark red with fury. She slammed her hands on the table, preparing to stand up and storm the room.
Frankie's hand shot out. Her fingers clamped around Siobhan's wrist like a steel vice.
Siobhan gasped at the sudden, bruising pressure. She looked at Frankie.
Frankie's eyes were completely black, devoid of any light. She looked like a predator watching its prey wander into a minefield.
"Sit down," Frankie whispered, her voice a chilling breeze. "Let the bullets fly a little longer. I want them at the absolute peak of their arrogance before I break their legs."
