The gathering was in the west wing. I didn't know about it until Stevens appeared at my door that evening with a black dress on a hanger.
"Mr. Collins requests you wear this," he said. He wouldn't look at me.
The dress was simple. High neck. Long sleeves. The kind of thing you'd wear to a funeral if you wanted to disappear.
I put it on because I didn't have the energy to fight about fabric.
Downstairs, the west parlor had been cleared of furniture. Twenty men stood in a loose circle. I recognized most of them. Brayden's enforcers. His logistics people. A few board members who handled the side of the business we didn't discuss at shareholder meetings.
Brayden stood at the center. Daniella was beside him in a navy dress that fit her perfectly. She looked nervous. Her hands were clasped in front of her like she was at church.
The men went quiet when I walked in.
Brayden gestured to the space in front of him. "Scarlet. Come here."
I walked forward. My heels clicked on the hardwood. Every eye in the room followed me.
When I stopped, Brayden looked at me for a long moment. Then he turned to the men.
"My wife has been under considerable stress," he said quietly. "The loss of my father. The demands of the business. She's been saying things. Irrational things."
I stared at him. He didn't blink.
"I wanted you all to see," he continued, "that I'm handling it. That the situation is under control."
One of the enforcers—a man named Garrett with scar tissue across his knuckles—shifted his weight. He was watching me the way you'd watch a dog that might bite.
Brayden nodded to Daniella.
She stepped forward. Her face was pale, but her jaw was set. She looked at me, and for just a second, I saw something flicker in her eyes. Not guilt. Not hesitation.
Satisfaction.
She raised her hand and slapped me across the face.
The sound cracked through the room. My head snapped to the side. Pain bloomed hot across my cheek. I tasted copper.
I didn't move. Didn't lift my hand to my face. Didn't step back.
I turned my head slowly and looked at Brayden.
He watched me with that same calm expression. Then he glanced at Garrett.
Garrett stepped forward and grabbed my shoulder. His fingers dug into the joint hard enough that I felt the bone shift. He yanked, and the fabric of my dress tore. The sound was loud. Deliberate.
Cool air touched my skin where the sleeve had been.
I stood very still. My hands stayed at my sides. I didn't shake. Didn't flinch. I looked at each man in the room, one by one, and made sure they saw my face.
Someone in the back had a phone up. The small red light of a recording blinked at me.
Brayden stepped closer. He spoke quietly, just for me. "This is insurance, Scarlet. If you try to leave. If you talk to anyone. If you make this difficult." He gestured to the phone. "We reframe the narrative. Unstable wife. Bitter. Delusional. You understand?"
I understood.
He nodded to Garrett. "Take her upstairs."
Garrett's hand closed around my upper arm. Another enforcer moved to my other side. They walked me toward the door, and I didn't resist.
As we reached the hallway, Garrett shoved me forward. Hard.
I stumbled. My foot caught the edge of the first stair, and then I was falling.
I hit the steps shoulder-first. Pain exploded through my ribs. My head cracked against the banister. The world tilted, blurred. I tumbled down, my body slamming into marble and wood, until I landed at the bottom in a heap.
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. Blood ran warm down the side of my face.
Footsteps descended the stairs slowly. Garrett crouched beside me.
"Careful on the stairs, ma'am," he said. Then he stood and walked away.
I lay there until Stevens came. He helped me up without a word and drove me to a private hospital across the city.
They admitted me under a false name. Fractured cheekbone. Bruised ribs. Possible concussion. The doctor didn't ask questions.
I lay in the hospital bed and stared at the ceiling. My face throbbed. My ribs screamed every time I breathed.
Sometime after midnight, I heard voices in the hallway. Low. Casual.
Brayden's voice.
"—haven't thought about that in years," he was saying. He sounded relaxed. Almost nostalgic. "Victor still brings it up sometimes. Says it was the cleanest deal he ever made."
Another voice. Older. Rough. "You were smart. Reyes doesn't forget gestures like that."
Brayden laughed softly. "The collateral sealed it. He knew I was serious."
"What ever happened to—"
"Dead within the year," Brayden said. His tone didn't change. "Reyes doesn't keep loose ends."
A pause. Then the older voice again, quieter. "Your wife ever find out?"
"No," Brayden said. "And she won't."
Their footsteps faded down the hallway.
I lay in the dark. The machines beeped. My chest rose and fell.
Collateral.
The baby I'd delivered six years ago. The daughter they'd told me died in the delivery room. Complications, they'd said. Nothing anyone could have done.
They'd given her to Victor Reyes.
Brayden had traded our child for a deal.
And she was dead.
I stared at the ceiling and didn't blink. Didn't cry. Didn't move.
Something inside me went still. Completely still.
I would destroy him.
Not quickly. Not cleanly.
I would take everything. His empire. His freedom. His name.
And when there was nothing left, when he was on his knees and broken, I would make sure he understood exactly what he had done.
I closed my eyes.
The machines beeped.
I began to plan.
