The mahogany desk in my Turner Industries office had been my sanctuary for the past two weeks—a place where I could lose myself in quarterly reports and board meeting preparations, anything to avoid the pitying looks and whispered conversations that followed me everywhere else in Seattle. But even here, Kane's poison found me.
I stared at the package that had been delivered during my morning meeting, my hands trembling as I held the expensive black lingerie between my fingers. The silk was still warm from being handled, and attached was a handwritten note in Selah's careful script: *"This is what real women wear for their men. No wonder Kane couldn't wait for your wedding night—you probably would have worn flannel."*
My assistant knocked softly before entering. "Miss Turner, there's another package—"
"Leave it on the side table," I said without looking up, my voice barely steady.
After she left, I opened the second package with numb fingers. Inside was a tablet, already powered on, displaying a video thumbnail that made my stomach lurch. I recognized Kane's apartment, his bedroom. My finger hovered over the play button before I forced myself to press it.
The sounds that filled my office were intimate, passionate—everything Kane had never been with me. Selah's voice, breathy and satisfied: *"Tell me I'm better than her. Tell me she could never make you feel like this."* And Kane's response, rough with desire: *"She's nothing compared to you. Cold as ice. I don't know what I was thinking all these years."*
I slammed the tablet shut, my breath coming in short gasps. The walls of my office seemed to close in as I realized this wasn't just about stealing Kane—this was about destroying me completely, piece by piece.
---
The Seattle Elite Charity Gala was an annual tradition I couldn't avoid without causing more scandal. I chose my armor carefully—a midnight blue Valentino gown that made me look untouchable, my grandmother's sapphires glittering at my throat like ice. If I was going to be Seattle society's favorite tragedy, I would at least look magnificent while enduring it.
The ballroom of the Four Seasons buzzed with conversation that died whenever I passed. I held my head high, accepting air kisses from women who had been gossiping about me moments before, their sympathy as fake as their smiles.
"Angelina, darling," Mrs. Whitmore cooed, her eyes bright with malicious curiosity. "You look absolutely radiant. Such strength in the face of... adversity."
I was formulating a polite response when the crowd's attention shifted toward the entrance. Kane strode in wearing a perfectly tailored tuxedo, Selah clinging to his arm in a white dress that seemed deliberately bridal. The symbolism wasn't lost on anyone present.
Kane's gaze found mine across the room, and something cold and calculating flickered in his eyes. He guided Selah toward the center of the ballroom, where the evening's speeches would take place.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Kane's voice carried clearly as conversations died. "I have an announcement to make."
My blood turned to ice as I realized what was happening. He wasn't just going to humiliate me—he was going to do it in front of every powerful family in Seattle.
"Many of you know the Turner family's reputation for success," Kane continued, his voice gaining strength. "What you may not know is that their fortune was built on Bennett family generosity. My grandfather's loans, my family's connections—without us, there would be no Turner dynasty."
Gasps rippled through the crowd. I felt Victoria's hand find mine, squeezing tightly, but I couldn't move, couldn't breathe.
"But tonight isn't about old debts," Kane's smile was sharp as a blade. "Tonight is about new beginnings. I'm proud to announce my engagement to Miss Selah Holmes—a woman who has shown me what true passionate love feels like for the first time in my life."
Selah beamed beside him, her hand displaying a diamond ring that caught the chandelier light. The crowd's murmurs grew louder, a mix of shock and excitement at witnessing such a public destruction.
"Some people confuse duty with love," Kane continued, his eyes locked on mine. "But when you find someone who ignites your soul, who responds to your touch with genuine fire instead of cold obligation—well, that's when you realize what you've been settling for."
Each word was a calculated strike, designed to paint me as frigid, unwanted, a burden he'd finally escaped. Around me, Seattle's elite absorbed every detail, already composing the stories they'd tell at tomorrow's luncheons.
I turned and walked toward the exit, my spine straight and my head high. Behind me, I heard Kane's voice rise: "To finding real love at last!"
The sound of champagne glasses clinking followed me into the night like mocking laughter.
---
Two days later, Isabella burst into my bedroom, her face flushed with protective rage. At seven months pregnant, she moved with determined fury that would have been comical if not for the fire in her eyes.
"I'm going to end this," she declared, pulling on her coat. "Kane thinks he can destroy you publicly and face no consequences. He's about to learn otherwise."
"Isabella, no." I grabbed her arm, fear spiking through me. "He's not rational anymore. It's not safe."
"I'm not afraid of that pathetic excuse for a man." Her voice carried an edge I'd never heard before. "Someone needs to remind him that Turner women don't cower."
Before I could stop her, she was gone, leaving me with a terrible sense of foreboding that settled like lead in my stomach.
The call came an hour later. Isabella's voice, weak and strained: "Angelina... I need you to come to the hospital. Now."
