Amanda stepped through the arched doorway and left the noise of the ballroom behind. The long corridor leading to the washrooms was dimly lit by antique wall sconces. Thick, hand-woven Persian runners covered the hardwood floor, absorbing the sound of her heels.

She stopped behind a massive marble pillar. She pressed her back against the cold stone and peered around the edge.

Seraphina was standing in front of a large gilded mirror outside the women's washroom. She was pressing her fingers under her eyes, practicing a wide-eyed, tearful expression.

Amanda's fingers curled into fists. She stepped out from behind the pillar, ready to confront her.

Before Amanda could speak, the washroom door swung open. The sharp clatter of high heels echoed in the hallway. Three women walked out. Amanda recognized them immediately. They were the daughters of Julio's business partners.

Amanda quickly stepped back into the shadow of the pillar. She held her breath.

The woman in the center, wearing a bright red dress, pulled a compact from her purse. She snapped it open and laughed.

"Did you see Amanda standing there like a ghost?" the woman in red asked. "She looks pathetic. She can't even keep Julio's attention for five minutes. No wonder Billie is the favorite."

Amanda's fingernails dug into the soft flesh of her palms. The sting grounded her. She kept her body perfectly still.

Seraphina, standing by the mirror, heard the women. She turned around. Instead of walking away, a nasty, triumphant smile spread across Seraphina's face.

Seraphina took a step toward the socialites. She placed her hand on her chest, right over her collarbone, mimicking Billie's innocent gesture.

"It is so sad," Seraphina said, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "I work with Julio. He tells me Amanda is very mentally unstable. She throws tantrums over nothing."

The three socialites stopped walking. They turned and looked Seraphina up and down. Their eyes locked onto the champagne-colored dress.

The woman in red let out a sharp, cruel laugh.

"Who are you?" she asked. She pointed a manicured finger at Seraphina's chest. "That dress is from last season's clearance rack. You look like a cheap napkin. Do not speak to us."

Seraphina's fake smile shattered. The blood drained from her face. Her hands flew to her sides, and she grabbed handfuls of her cheap silk skirt, clutching the fabric tightly. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

The socialites rolled their eyes and walked past her, their heels clicking loudly as they headed back to the ballroom.

Amanda watched from the shadows. The tight knot of pain in her stomach loosened slightly. A cold, dark amusement washed over her.

Seraphina stood trembling in the hallway. She snatched her small clutch from the console table and ripped her phone out. She dialed a number with shaking fingers and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Julio," Seraphina whined. Her voice echoed loudly in the empty corridor. "Some girls just bullied me in the hallway. They were so mean. Come find me, please."

Amanda listened to the silence as Julio spoke on the other end. Seraphina's face instantly softened. The panic vanished, replaced by a calculating smirk.

"Okay, I am coming back in," Seraphina said.

She hung up the phone. She shoved it into her clutch and spun around sharply to head toward the ballroom. She moved too fast.

The edge of her champagne skirt caught on the jagged branch of a decorative floral arrangement sitting on the console table. Seraphina yanked her body forward. The fabric pulled tight. She stumbled, her shoulder jerking downward.

A tiny, almost invisible object slipped from her right earlobe. It hit the thick Persian rug with a muffled, heavy thud.

Seraphina did not notice. She regained her balance, smoothed her dress, and practically ran down the hallway toward the ballroom.

The corridor fell dead silent.

Amanda stepped out from behind the marble pillar. She walked slowly to the spot where Seraphina had stumbled. She looked down at the dark red rug.

A small point of light reflected off the dim wall sconce.

Amanda crouched down. Her knees popped in the quiet hall. She reached out with her pale fingers and picked up the object.

She stood up and held it under the light. Her lungs stopped working.

It was a heavy, antique emerald earring surrounded by a halo of crushed diamonds.

Amanda's hand began to shake uncontrollably. She knew every cut of that emerald. It was her grandmother's earring. It was the only heirloom she had ever been given, the only thing she truly valued in this house. She kept it locked in a biometric safe in her childhood bedroom upstairs.

The realization hit her like a physical blow to the head. Seraphina was not just sleeping with her fiancé. Seraphina had been in her bedroom. Seraphina was wearing her dead grandmother's jewelry.

Amanda squeezed her fist shut. The sharp edges of the diamonds bit deep into her skin. The physical pain was nothing compared to the violent, explosive rage detonating in her chest.

She turned around and marched toward the ballroom.

Amanda walked down the corridor. Her strides were long and aggressive. She gripped the emerald earring so tightly her knuckles turned white. The sharp metal posts dug into her palm, sending sharp spikes of pain up her arm. She needed the pain. It kept the rage from blinding her.

She pushed through the heavy double doors and stepped back into the ballroom. The heat and the smell of roasted meat hit her face, making her stomach roll, but she swallowed the bile down.

Her eyes scanned the massive room. She found them instantly. Julio was standing near a towering champagne pyramid. Seraphina was pressed against his side, her hand resting lightly on his forearm.

Amanda took a breath and stepped forward.

Suddenly, a loud mechanical clunk echoed through the room. The massive crystal chandelier above them went completely dark. The wall sconces flickered and died. The string quartet stopped playing mid-note.

The crowd gasped. The room fell into shadows.

A second later, a single, blinding white spotlight snapped on. It hit the small raised stage at the front of the room.

Amanda stopped walking. She stared at the stage.

Billie walked into the circle of light. She was holding the microphone stand with one hand. In her other hand, she held a small, dark velvet jewelry box. It was open and completely empty.

Billie looked out at the crowd. She blinked rapidly. A single, perfect tear rolled down her cheek. She pressed her free hand against her collarbone.

"I am so sorry to interrupt the party," Billie said into the microphone. Her voice trembled perfectly. "I went upstairs to put on my grandmother's emerald earrings for this special night. But my safe was forced open. The earrings are gone."

A wave of shocked whispers ripped through the ballroom. Guests looked at each other in disbelief. A robbery at the Rogers estate was unheard of.

Meredith pushed her way to the front of the crowd. Her face was purple with rage. She pointed a shaking finger at the head of security standing near the wall.

"Lock the doors!" Meredith screamed. "Nobody leaves until we find the thief!"

Amanda stood frozen in the dark. She stared at Billie's crying face. The emerald earrings belonged to Amanda, not Billie. Billie had lied to the entire room.

The pieces snapped together in Amanda's brain. Billie knew every inch of this house's security—she had grown up patching its old alarm systems with their father. Of course she could bypass a biometric safe in her own childhood home. Billie had stolen the earrings from Amanda's room, given them to Seraphina to wear as a sick joke, and was now using the "theft" to play the tragic victim and ruin the party.

A cold, hard laugh bubbled up in Amanda's throat. She swallowed it.

She pushed past a wealthy real estate developer. She shoved a socialite out of her way. She marched straight toward the edge of the spotlight. Her black heels slammed against the marble floor. The sharp, rhythmic clicking cut through the whispers of the crowd.

People turned to look at her. The crowd parted.

Julio saw her walking. He dropped Seraphina's arm and stepped forward. He glared at Amanda and tugged his tie.

"Stop," Julio hissed under his breath. "Do not make a scene right now."

Amanda walked right past him. She stopped at the edge of the stage, directly in the light. She looked up at Billie.

"The earrings were not stolen," Amanda said. Her voice was not loud, but it was sharp enough to cut glass. It carried across the silent room.

The crowd went dead quiet.

Billie's hand dropped from her collarbone. Her eyes widened. "Amanda, what are you talking about?"

Amanda turned her back to the stage. She looked directly into the crowd. She raised her left hand and pointed her index finger straight at Seraphina. The spotlight operator, following her gesture, swung the harsh beam toward Seraphina, trapping her in a pool of white light.

"They were not stolen," Amanda repeated. "Because I just saw that woman wearing them in the hallway."

Hundreds of eyes shifted instantly from Amanda to the now brightly illuminated Seraphina.

Seraphina gasped. She took a step backward and hit the table holding the champagne pyramid. The glasses rattled dangerously. Instinctively, Seraphina reached up and slapped her hand over her left earlobe, where the remaining earring still hung.

The physical movement was a confession. The crowd murmured.

"Move your hand," Amanda commanded. She took a step toward Seraphina. "Show everyone what is on your ear."

Meredith's eyes narrowed. She looked at Seraphina, then at the security guards. "Grab her," Meredith barked.

Two massive men in black suits lunged forward. They grabbed Seraphina by the arms. Seraphina screamed. She thrashed against their grip, her cheap silk dress tearing at the seam.

"I didn't take anything!" Seraphina shrieked. She looked wildly at Julio. "Help me!"

Amanda walked up to Seraphina. She looked at the woman's terrified face.

"You dropped something in the hall," Amanda said.

Amanda raised her right hand. She slowly uncurled her fingers. Her palm was covered in deep, red half-moon indentations from where the metal had dug into her skin.

Resting in the center of her bruised palm was the heavy, antique emerald earring. The diamonds caught the spotlight and threw fractured beams of light across the room.

The crowd erupted into loud gasps.

Seraphina stared at the earring. The blood left her face entirely. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed toward the floor, held up only by the grip of the security guards.

The emerald earring gleamed in Amanda's palm. The whispers of the crowd turned into a loud, buzzing roar of judgment directed at the woman hanging from the guards' hands.

Seraphina's makeup ran down her face in dark streaks. She shook her head violently from side to side.

"I didn't steal it!" Seraphina sobbed. She twisted her neck and locked her eyes on Julio. She bit down hard on her lower lip, her chest heaving. "Julio, please! Tell them!"

Julio's face was rigid. He looked at the earring in Amanda's hand, then down at Seraphina's tear-stained face. The muscle in his jaw ticked.

He shoved his way past a group of shocked investors. He threw his shoulder into the chest of the security guard holding Seraphina's right arm.

"Get your hands off her," Julio growled.

The crowd gasped again. The heir to the Mathews family was physically fighting security for a thief.

Julio ripped off his custom suit jacket. He wrapped it tightly around Seraphina's shaking shoulders and pulled her flush against his chest. He glared at the room, daring anyone to step forward.

Amanda watched his hands pull the fabric around the other woman. A block of solid ice formed in her chest. Her lungs felt paralyzed.

"Are you insane?" Amanda asked. Her voice cracked. She pressed her free hand hard against her stomach to stop the cramping. "She is wearing stolen jewelry. You are protecting a thief."

Julio snapped his head toward Amanda. The look in his eyes was pure, unadulterated hatred.

"She is not a thief," Julio yelled. He pointed a finger directly at Amanda's face. "You are a liar. You planted that earring on her."

The ballroom went dead silent again.

Amanda's eyes widened. She looked at the heavy emerald in her hand. She looked back at Julio. "What?"

"You are jealous of her," Julio said. His voice echoed off the high ceiling. "Seraphina is brilliant at work. You are nothing but a cold, paranoid shrew. You brought that earring down here and dropped it to frame her, just to ruin this party."

The crowd inhaled sharply. The socialites who had mocked Seraphina earlier were now looking at Amanda with deep disgust.

Amanda's hand began to shake. She held the earring up higher. "This is physical proof! I found it on the floor after she ran out of the hallway!"

Julio scoffed loudly. He pulled Seraphina closer. "You are having a psychotic break, Amanda. You have been acting crazy for months. You make up lies to get attention because you know I am tired of you."

Seraphina buried her face in Julio's chest. She let out a loud, pathetic sob. Her fingers clutched the fabric of his shirt, playing the helpless victim perfectly.

On the stage, Billie leaned into the microphone.

"Amanda, please," Billie said. Her voice was soft and full of pity. "Do not use grandmother's memory to bully someone. It is cruel."

The crowd turned entirely against Amanda. The whispers grew louder, filled with words like "crazy," "jealous," and "pathetic."

Amanda stood alone in the center of the spotlight. The physical weight of the stares pressed down on her shoulders. The room started to spin. Her vision blurred at the edges.

She bit down on the inside of her cheek until she tasted fresh blood. The sharp pain forced her brain to focus. She locked her knees to keep from falling.

She stared directly into Julio's eyes.

"You are throwing away basic facts and human dignity for her?" Amanda asked. Her voice was a raspy whisper, but the room was so quiet everyone heard it.

"The fact is you are a liar," Julio said coldly. "Apologize to Seraphina right now, or I am calling off the wedding."

The threat hung in the air.

Meredith broke through the crowd. She lunged at Amanda. Her manicured hands clamped down on Amanda's wrist. Meredith dug her nails into Amanda's skin and violently ripped the emerald earring out of her palm.

"Shut your mouth!" Meredith hissed in Amanda's ear. "You are destroying this family. Apologize to him immediately."

Amanda looked at her mother's furious face. She looked at the empty space in her palm where the earring had been.

The last thread holding her heart together snapped. It did not hurt anymore. The ice in her chest expanded, freezing everything inside her.

Amanda stood up perfectly straight. She looked at Julio. She looked at Seraphina. She looked at Meredith.

The corners of Amanda's mouth twitched. She smiled. It was a cold, dead, terrifying smile.

She turned her gaze back to Billie on the stage. "Before I apologize," Amanda said, her voice piercing the silence, "tell me, Billie. Does the earring you claim to have lost have my grandmother's initials, 'AR', engraved on the back of the gold setting? Because the one in my mother's hand does. Let us see yours."

Billie's fake tears instantly stopped. The color drained from her face. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. The crowd shifted, murmuring in confusion as they noticed Billie's sudden panic.

Julio saw the smile fade from Billie's face, but he was too arrogant to understand the trap. He still thought he had won. He let out a breath and turned to lead Seraphina away.

The heavy wooden doors at the back of the ballroom slammed open.

Rosa, the housekeeper, ran into the room. She was panting heavily. In her hands, she held a silver serving tray high above her head.

"Wait!" Rosa yelled.