Audra stood on the sidewalk outside the revolving glass doors of The Plaza. She looked down at the tips of her shoes, caked in wet mud from the rose bushes.

She sucked in a sharp breath of freezing air. A group of wealthy socialites in floor-length gowns approached the entrance, flashing their gold-embossed invitations at the security guards.

Audra lowered her head, pulling the collar of her trench coat up to hide her scratched face. She pressed herself closely against the group, slipping through the heavy glass doors while the guards were distracted by the women's loud laughter.

She walked quickly down the opulent, gold-leafed corridor. She reached the massive, carved wooden doors of the main ballroom and pushed them open with both hands.

The heat and noise of the room hit her instantly. Beneath a sprawling crystal chandelier, a live orchestra played a smooth waltz. Waiters carried towering trays of champagne. The light reflected off the diamonds on the guests' necks, a blinding contrast to the dirt and blood on Audra's hands.

Her eyes scanned the crowded room with frantic, desperate speed.

Then, she stopped breathing.

In the center of the room, surrounded by a circle of admiring investors, stood a man in a custom Tom Ford tuxedo. He was facing away from her, his posture rigid and commanding as he raised a glass.

Audra shoved her way through the crowd. She didn't care who she hit. Her shoulder slammed hard into a waiter.

The silver tray flipped. Crystal champagne flutes crashed against the marble floor, shattering into hundreds of pieces. The sharp noise cut through the music.

The man in the tuxedo paused. Slowly, he turned around.

The moment their eyes met, Audra's lungs stopped working. Hot tears instantly spilled over her lower lashes, blurring her vision.

It was him. The exact way the corner of his mouth tightened, and the faint, almost invisible old scar just behind his left ear. It was the face that had haunted her every waking moment.

"Kendall..." she choked out. Her voice was a broken rasp.

She stumbled forward, her muddy shoes slipping on the spilled champagne. She reached out her bleeding hand, desperate to grab the dark fabric of his sleeve.

Before her fingers could brush his suit, a massive bodyguard materialized from the shadows. He grabbed Audra by the shoulder and shoved her backward with brutal force.

Audra lost her footing. She crashed hard onto the marble floor. The jagged shards of broken champagne glasses sliced deep into the palms of her hands.

She ignored the blood pooling beneath her fingers. She looked up at him.

The man stared down at her. His amber eyes were completely devoid of warmth. He looked at her the way one might look at a rotting animal on the side of the road. There was no recognition. No flicker of the past.

"Ma'am, you have the wrong person," he said. His voice was deep, smooth, and entirely foreign. It held only cold annoyance.

A woman in a stunning, backless emerald gown stepped into view. Corie Burke wrapped her slender arm intimately around the man's waist. She looked down at Audra with a mixture of pity and disgust.

"Eben, what is going on? Who is this?" Corie asked, her voice sweet and concerned.

Eben placed his large hand over Corie's waist, pulling her closer. The corner of his mouth twitched upward in a cruel, mocking smirk.

"Just some crazy woman whose mind has snapped. Ignore her," he stated loudly, ensuring the surrounding guests heard every word.

The words sliced through Audra's chest like a rusty blade. She shook her head frantically, her tears dripping onto the marble. "No... you're Kendall. I know it's you..."

Gus Nowak, the hotel's head of security, rushed over with three large men in suits. They grabbed Audra by the arms, hauling her roughly to her feet.

"Throw her out. Don't let her ruin the evening," Eben commanded, his tone absolute ice.

Audra kicked and struggled against the guards. She kept her eyes locked on his face, but Eben had already turned away. He was gently tucking a stray piece of hair behind Corie's ear, completely ignoring Audra's screams.

The guards dragged her backward through the ballroom, down the long corridor, and out the back service exit.

They threw her onto the freezing asphalt of the dark alley behind the hotel.

Audra's knees slammed into the hard ground, tearing the skin. Blood trickled down her shins. She lay there on the cold pavement, her body shaking uncontrollably from the cold and the devastating heartbreak.

Suddenly, the low purr of a heavy engine filled the alley. A black stretch Lincoln limousine rolled silently through the shadows and stopped inches from where she lay.

The rear door swung open.

Two massive men stepped out. Before Audra could scream, they grabbed her by the armpits, lifting her off the ground.

They shoved her violently into the dark, cavernous backseat of the limousine.

Audra tumbled onto the plush carpet. The heavy door slammed shut behind her, instantly cutting off the sounds of the city.

The air inside the car was thick. It smelled sharply of cedarwood and cold mint.

Audra scrambled backward against the leather seat, her heart pounding in her throat. She looked up.

Sitting across from her in the dim light was Eben. His long legs were crossed casually. In his right hand, he slowly flipped open and closed a heavy silver lighter.

The tiny flame illuminated his face. The mask of the polite stranger was gone. His eyes were burning with a raw, bloodthirsty hatred.

The black Lincoln tore through the empty streets of New York, the engine a low, menacing hum. Inside the cabin, the air pressure was so heavy it felt like a physical weight pressing down on Audra's chest.

She pressed herself deeply into the corner of the leather seat. Her entire body trembled. She stared at the man sitting across from her, desperately searching the harsh lines of his face for any trace of the warmth she used to know.

Eben snapped the silver lighter shut. The sharp click echoed like a gunshot in the quiet car. He leaned forward suddenly, his large hand shooting out to grip her chin.

His fingers dug painfully into her jawbone. "What's the matter?" he sneered, his voice dripping with venom. "Is Anderson Hopper not satisfying you enough? Is that why you're running around the city acting like a lunatic?"

Audra winced, a sharp pain shooting through her face. Tears welled up, spilling over his knuckles. "Kendall, please. You have to listen to me. Back then, I was-"

The moment she said his name, a flash of pure, unadulterated violence crossed Eben's eyes. His grip on her jaw tightened until she felt her bones grinding together.

"Shut your mouth!" he roared, his voice vibrating with rage. "That idiot died three years ago, and you were the one who put him in the grave!"

The limousine slammed on its brakes.

The massive force of the sudden stop threw Audra forward. She crashed hard against the wooden partition separating them from the driver, her shoulder taking the brunt of the impact.

The automatic door slid open. The freezing night wind, thick with the smell of the Hudson River, ripped into the cabin.

Eben grabbed the collar of her black trench coat in a white-knuckled fist. He dragged her out of the car, his movements rough and completely devoid of mercy.

Audra stumbled over her own feet as her shoes hit the wet pavement. She forced her head up, looking around. Her pupils shrank to tiny pinpricks.

They were standing on the edge of an abandoned industrial iron bridge spanning the dark waters of the Hudson River. Right in front of them, a massive section of the rusted iron railing was missing, leaving a gaping hole that looked like the open mouth of a monster.

Below them, the black, churning waters of the river smashed against the concrete pillars with a deafening roar.

It was the exact spot. The exact place the transport van had gone over.

A wave of pure, paralyzing terror swallowed Audra whole. Her PTSD triggered instantly. Her chest tightened so severely she couldn't pull in a single breath. She began to hyperventilate, her mouth opening and closing like a suffocating fish.

Eben didn't care. He kept his iron grip on her wrist and dragged her relentlessly toward the jagged edge of the broken concrete.

Audra's toes slipped over the edge. Half of her foot was suspended over the deadly drop. One wrong move, and she would fall.

She let out a blood-curdling scream. She twisted her body, throwing her arms around Eben's solid bicep. Her broken, bleeding fingernails dug frantically into the expensive fabric of his suit jacket, clinging to him for dear life.

"Scared?" Eben's voice was colder than the wind whipping around them. "Were you scared when you sent me over this edge three years ago?"

He stepped up right behind her. His chest pressed hard against her back. He wrapped one thick arm tightly around her waist, locking her in place. With his other hand, he grabbed the back of her neck, forcing her head down to look at the black water swirling far below.

"Do you know what it feels like when the water fills your lungs?" he whispered, his lips brushing against her ear. Every word was a razor blade slicing into her sanity. "Do you know what it feels like to wait to die in the freezing dark?"

Audra's legs gave out completely. If he wasn't holding her, she would have collapsed. She shook her head wildly, sobbing so hard she choked on her own saliva. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

Eben let out a dark, cruel laugh.

He suddenly released the arm holding her waist.

Audra's center of gravity shifted forward. The sickening sensation of weightlessness hit her stomach. She was falling. She screamed, a raw, primal sound of absolute despair.

In the fraction of a second before she tipped over the edge, Eben's large hand clamped down on her upper arm. He yanked her backward with brutal force, throwing her away from the ledge.

Audra collapsed onto the damp concrete. She curled onto her side, clutching her chest, and began to dry heave violently. Her stomach cramped, trying to expel the sheer terror that had consumed her.

Eben stood tall, looking down at her pathetic, trembling form. There was no pity in his amber eyes. Only the dark satisfaction of revenge.

"This is just a fraction of the interest you owe me, Audra Hill," he said coldly. He pulled a crisp silk handkerchief from his pocket, wiped the fingers that had touched her coat, and dropped the fabric onto her face in disgust.

"I am going to make you feel a hundred times the despair I felt. This is only the beginning."

Eben turned his back on her. He walked toward the waiting Lincoln, pulling the door open, leaving Audra alone in the dark, shivering on the edge of the abyss.

Audra crouched on the wet concrete, her body shaking violently in the freezing wind. It took several long minutes before she could gather enough strength to push herself up. She grabbed the rusted iron railing, her knuckles white, and forced herself to stand.

Before she could take a single step, a blinding beam of high-beam headlights hit her directly in the face. She threw her arm up to shield her eyes.

The black Lincoln hadn't left. It had reversed aggressively, the tires screeching as it slammed to a halt just two meters away from her.

Eben threw his door open. His handmade leather shoes splashed into a puddle of dirty water. He marched toward her, his body radiating a dark, volatile energy.

Audra instinctively shrank back against the railing.

Eben reached her in three strides. He grabbed her thin wrists, yanking her forward. Her chest slammed hard against his solid torso.

He ducked his head and crushed his mouth against hers.

It wasn't a kiss. It was an act of violence, a brutal punishment. His teeth clashed against hers, biting down on her lower lip until the sharp, metallic taste of fresh blood flooded both their mouths.

Audra whimpered in pain. She pushed her hands frantically against his broad chest, trying to wedge some space between them.

Eben ignored her struggles. His large, rough hand slid down the curve of her waist. In his aggressive haste, his fingers caught the fabric belt of her trench coat and ripped it open.

The wind instantly caught the edges of the coat, blowing it back. The thin silk dress she wore underneath plastered itself tightly against her stomach.

Eben's hand moved lower. His fingertips brushed against her lower abdomen.

He felt a thick, raised line of scarred flesh through the thin silk.

His hand froze instantly.

He shoved her away so hard she stumbled back against the railing. The impact caused the hem of her silk dress to ride up sharply, catching in the wind. His eyes dropped to her lower abdomen, locking onto the ugly, horizontal C-section scar suddenly laid bare beneath the harsh lights.

The air in the alley seemed to solidify. Eben's chest heaved. His breathing turned ragged. The edges of his eyes turned a furious, bloodshot red as extreme jealousy and rage consumed him.

"You actually..." he gritted his teeth, his voice sounding like it was being dragged over broken glass. "You had a child for him?"

Audra clutched her stomach, her face draining of all color until she looked like a corpse. A phantom pain ripped through her womb. She opened her mouth to explain, but the terrifying weight of Anderson's non-disclosure agreement and the threat to her mother's life clamped her throat shut.

"That was..." she rasped, her voice dry and broken.

Eben didn't give her a chance to finish. He lunged forward, his large hand wrapping tightly around her throat. He slammed her back against the freezing iron railing.

"You disgust me! Your body is filthy!" he roared, his fingers automatically tightening around her windpipe.

A severe lack of oxygen hit Audra's brain. Dark spots danced in her vision. She couldn't breathe. Tears of pure agony leaked from the corners of her eyes, sliding down her cheeks and dropping onto the back of Eben's hand.

The moment the scalding hot tears hit his skin, Eben flinched as if he had been burned by fire. He released her neck instantly, taking a sharp step back.

Audra slid down the railing, collapsing onto the ground. She clutched her bruised throat, coughing violently as she sucked in greedy mouthfuls of cold air.

Eben stared down at her. The pain of betrayal in his eyes hardened into absolute, impenetrable ice.

"Anderson Hopper's bastard," he sneered, every word a calculated strike to her heart. "Was that the price you demanded to sell me out?"

Audra's heart was ripped to shreds. That baby was his. It was their flesh and blood, and he was standing here cursing it with the most vicious words imaginable.

While Eben was blinded by his own rage, Audra pushed herself off the ground. Driven by pure survival instinct, she turned and sprinted toward the dark, empty road leading away from the bridge.

She ran like a hunted animal. One of her heels snapped, the shoe falling off, but she didn't stop. She ran barefoot on the freezing asphalt, desperate to escape the monster he had become.

Eben stood perfectly still. He didn't chase her. He watched her limping, pathetic figure disappear into the shadows, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles popped.

He pulled his phone from his pocket. He dialed his assistant's number. His voice was absolute zero.

"Initiate the full short-selling protocol against the Hopper Group. I want Anderson bankrupt in three days."

He paused, his eyes fixed on the empty darkness where Audra had vanished.

"And dig up everything on that woman. I want her ruined in this city. I want her begging for death."