Hope POV:
The worn-out windshield wipers of the Ford SUV slashed frantically back and forth, fighting against the torrential rain.
I parked the car on the edge of the abandoned viewing point on the high ground. The city of New York sprawled out below me, gray and miserable. Directly across the valley, cutting through the fog, was the massive structure of the amusement park.
I picked up a pair of high-powered military binoculars from the dashboard. I pressed them to my eyes and locked onto the glass walls of the VIP tower in the center of the park.
My chest tightened for a fraction of a second. Ivan had locked me in that exact tower for three days and three nights during our first year of marriage to teach me a lesson about disobedience. It was the epicenter of my nightmares.
I lowered the binoculars and pulled a thick, encrypted burner phone from the pocket of my cargo pants. It was a heavy piece of untraceable hardware I had acquired from the underground hacker circles.
I powered it on and typed in a sixteen-digit password. The numbers were burned into my brain—the exact date and time I miscarried my first child.
The screen lit up. I opened the encrypted messaging app and sent a single text to a contact named 'D'.
'Entering.'
Three seconds later, Debi replied with a simple thumbs-up emoji. Debi was the most ruthless divorce attorney in New York, and the only person who knew my entire plan. We were two women who had been broken by the patriarchal power of the mafia, bound together by a mutual need for absolute destruction.
I tossed the phone onto the dashboard and reached into the glove compartment. I pulled out a cold, stale turkey sandwich. I took a large bite, chewing mechanically. My stomach was cramping violently from the forced vomiting earlier, but I needed the calories. I needed the energy to watch them burn.
Through the binoculars, a convoy of black Rolls Royces glided smoothly into the theme park's VIP lane. Ivan's signature display of arrogant wealth.
The lead car stopped. The driver's door opened, and Ivan stepped out. He was wearing a tailored charcoal suit. He snapped open a large black umbrella and walked around to the passenger side, opening the door and holding his hand out.
He used to do that for me. Now, he was doing it for her.
Kiera stepped out of the car, giggling. She reached back inside and pulled out her son, Leo. They stood together under the umbrella, a picture-perfect, happy family. It was the exact life that had been stolen from me.
Eleanor and Richard hurried out from the VIP entrance, their faces stretched into massive, fawning smiles. They reached out and took Leo from Kiera's arms, fussing over the boy. They treated this bastard child with more love than they had ever shown their own flesh and blood.
I watched the entire scene unfold through the magnified lenses. My heartbeat was perfectly steady. My chest didn't ache. There was no jealousy, no sorrow. Only a hollow, freezing emptiness.
My burner phone buzzed. The GPS tracker showed the local courier I had hired was halfway up the hill.
I rolled down the driver's side window. The freezing wind and rain immediately blasted into the car, soaking my sleeve. The physical shock of the cold kept my brain razor-sharp.
A moment later, a man in a bright yellow raincoat pedaled a motorized delivery bike up to my window. He looked exhausted, soaked to the bone. The stark contrast of this ordinary, struggling worker against the billionaire mafia drama playing out below was almost poetic.
I reached over to the passenger seat and picked up the black mystery box. I handed it through the window, along with a thick stack of crisp hundred-dollar bills.
The courier's eyes widened in shock. He stared at the cash, his hands shaking as he took it. He nodded furiously, his voice cracking. "I swear, lady, I'll get it there in five minutes."
"Listen to me," I said, my voice cutting through the sound of the rain. "You hand this directly to Ivan Donovan. Nobody else. Not his guards, not the woman with him. Ivan Donovan."
He swallowed hard, shoved the cash into his pocket, and placed the box into his waterproof cargo case. He revved the bike's engine and sped off down the hill toward the park.
The fuse was officially lit.
I raised the binoculars again, tracking the bright yellow dot as it navigated through the park's service roads.
My gaze shifted up to the floor-to-ceiling windows of the VIP tower. Ivan and Kiera were standing near the glass. Ivan leaned down and pressed a kiss to the side of Kiera's neck.
I stared at his sharp jawline. A sudden memory flashed in my mind—Ivan kneeling in the rain five years ago, swearing on his life that he would build me the greatest amusement park in the world. His love had been a weapon, and now it was the blade I was using to cut his throat.
The yellow courier stopped at the ground-floor security checkpoint of the VIP tower.
I saw two massive men in black suits step in front of him. They pointed at the cargo box, gesturing toward the X-ray scanner on the table.
I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel, a slow, rhythmic beat. I had lined the inside of that black box with a specialized lead-barium coating. It would show up as an impenetrable black square on their monitors.
Through the lens, I saw the security guards shaking their heads, aggressively blocking the courier's path. The class barrier was absolute.
The courier panicked. He unzipped his jacket and shoved the black box right into the guard's face, pointing furiously at the top of the lid.
Imprinted in the dark velvet was a VVIP wax seal. I had stolen Ivan's private signet ring from his desk three months ago and forged the stamp perfectly.
The guard's face drained of color. He instantly stepped aside, bowing his head, and gestured for the other guard to personally escort the courier to the elevators. Ivan's absolute authority had just become the spear piercing his own defenses.
The courier and the guard disappeared into the elevator shaft, heading straight for the top floor.
I lowered the binoculars and placed them on the passenger seat. I picked up a silver stopwatch from the cup holder and pressed the button. The digital numbers began to race.
I closed my eyes, listening to the rain hit the metal roof of the car.
"Ten, nine, eight..."
