Ervin's hand froze mid-air.

A flash of pure shock crossed his dark eyes. It was gone in a fraction of a second, replaced by a thick, stormy rage.

He slowly released his crushing grip on her wrists. He pushed himself off her and stood up beside the bed.

He adjusted the collar of his ruined shirt. He looked down at her torn clothes and exposed skin with absolute disgust.

A cruel smirk twisted his lips.

"Your tactics are getting pathetic."

He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Is this your new leverage to get a bigger share of the family trust fund?"

Kelsey pulled the torn edges of the silk over her bare shoulder. She sat up. She looked straight into his eyes. She did not flinch.

"I am giving up all property division. I am leaving with nothing."

Her voice was flat. It held no emotion.

Ervin's pupils dilated. His heart skipped a hard beat against his ribs.

He quickly masked the sudden panic with a scoff.

"I do not believe a word of that."

He turned his back on her.

"This is just a Wall Street short-selling game. You are playing hard to get."

He walked toward the master bathroom.

"Do whatever you want."

The frosted glass door slammed shut behind him. The walls vibrated from the force.

Kelsey sucked in a shaky breath. Her throat burned. She pushed herself off the mattress.

She walked barefoot across the plush carpet and entered the massive walk-in closet.

She bypassed the rows of haute couture dresses. She ignored the velvet drawers filled with diamonds.

She went straight to the back corner. She pulled out a battered black suitcase she had brought with her three years ago.

Her movements were robotic. She threw in a few plain shirts, jeans, and her toothbrush.

She walked over to the vanity. She crouched down and unlocked the bottom drawer with a small key.

She pulled out a yellowed sketchpad and a few loose design drafts.

She carefully slid the papers into the inner zipper compartment of the suitcase.

The sound of running water from the shower suddenly stopped.

Kelsey zipped the suitcase shut.

She dragged it over to the nightstand. She looked down at her left hand.

She gripped the massive pigeon blood ruby ring on her ring finger. She pulled it off.

She placed the ring onto the glass surface of the nightstand.

The metal clinked sharply against the glass. The sound severed the invisible chain around her neck.

Kelsey turned around and walked out of the bedroom. She did not look back.

In the living room, Elena Rios stood frozen. The housekeeper stared at the old suitcase in horror. She took a step forward to stop her.

Kelsey gave Elena a small, sad smile and shook her head.

She pushed the heavy front door open.

The cold wind from the hallway hit her thin coat. She shivered violently.

The elevator doors slid shut just as the master bedroom door was ripped open.

Ervin stood in the doorway with only a towel wrapped around his waist.

He stared at the empty living room.

His eyes darted around like a predator. His gaze locked onto the nightstand.

The ruby ring sat there, completely alone.

A massive wave of raw fury exploded in his chest. The audacity of her defiance was suffocating.

He swung his arm out and backhanded the antique lamp off the table. It shattered into a hundred pieces against the wall.

The metal door of the rundown Brooklyn apartment rattled under Kelsey's frantic knocking. It was two in the morning.

The door cracked open. Phoebe Chandler peeked out. Her hair was a messy nest. She held a can of pepper spray aimed straight ahead.

Phoebe saw Kelsey's blue lips and the old suitcase. Her eyes went wide.

She grabbed Kelsey's arm and yanked her into the cramped, warm apartment. She slammed the door and threw the deadbolt.

Phoebe rushed to the tiny kitchen. She poured a mug of hot milk and shoved it into Kelsey's freezing hands.

The heat seeped into Kelsey's numb palms. The tension in her spine snapped.

Tears spilled over her lower lashes and tracked down her cold cheeks.

Phoebe wrapped her arms around Kelsey's shaking shoulders.

"Ervin is a heartless bastard," Phoebe spat.

Kelsey sniffled. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her phone. Her thumb shook as she unlocked the screen.

She pulled up a series of leaked paparazzi photos and held the screen up to Phoebe's face.

Sylvia Vance was in the photos. She was wearing a tight dress, resting her hand on a slightly rounded stomach. She was walking out of a premier private maternity hospital in Manhattan.

Phoebe gasped. She snatched the phone and zoomed in on the picture.

"Sylvia even emailed her ultrasound report directly to my private inbox," Kelsey whispered. Her voice cracked.

Phoebe's face turned bright red. She grabbed a throw pillow off the couch and hurled it at the peeling wallpaper.

"I am calling my contacts at the tabloids! I am exposing this entire Valdez family scandal!"

Kelsey reached out and grabbed Phoebe's wrist. She shook her head. Her eyes looked dead.

"I have no right to take the moral high ground against Sylvia."

Phoebe froze. She stared at Kelsey in total confusion.

Kelsey took a deep breath. Her lungs ached.

"Three years ago, I used a pregnancy report to force the Valdez family into a marriage through the media."

"That was an accident!" Phoebe yelled. "And you lost the baby! You were the victim!"

"In Ervin's eyes, I am just a vicious, calculating liar," Kelsey cut her off.

She wrapped her arms around her own ribs. The memory of the media tearing her apart three years ago made her throat close up.

Phoebe sat back down. She grabbed Kelsey's cold hand and squeezed it tight.

Ten minutes passed. The silence settled.

Kelsey wiped her face. The fragile look in her eyes hardened into something sharp.

She pulled Phoebe's old laptop across the coffee table.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard. She typed in a long, complex string of passwords. She opened an encrypted offshore email server.

The inbox loaded.

Dozens of unread emails sat in the queue. They were all from top-tier global jewelry brands.

Phoebe leaned closer to the screen. She slapped both hands over her mouth to muffle her scream.

Every single email subject line started the same way.

"To the esteemed legendary designer, R."

Kelsey clicked on an email from Starlight Jewels. She hit the reply button.

She turned to look at Phoebe. A real smile finally touched her lips.

"It is time to find myself again."

The morning sun blasted through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Valdez Corp headquarters in Manhattan.

The light hit Ervin right in his bloodshot eyes.

He sat behind his massive ebony desk. His tie hung loose around his neck. The glass ashtray was overflowing with crushed cigarette butts. He had not slept a single second.

Alex Dunn knocked softly and pushed the glass door open. The executive assistant looked terrified.

Alex held a thick, brown FedEx envelope in both hands. He placed it gently on the edge of the desk.

Ervin glared at the package. "What is that?" His voice was a rough gravel.

Alex swallowed hard. "It is the divorce agreement from Mrs. Valdez's private attorney, sir."

Ervin's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. He snatched the envelope off the desk.

He ripped the cardboard flap open. He pulled out the stack of legal documents. They smelled like fresh ink.

His eyes scanned the dense paragraphs. His jaw clenched tighter with every line.

He stopped at page four.

"Waives all rights to trust fund yields and real estate. Leaves with zero assets."

Ervin let out a dark, booming laugh.

He slammed the thick stack of papers onto the desk. The bone china coffee cup rattled. Hot black coffee sloshed over the rim.

"She is playing a high-level game of hard to get just to make me compromise," Ervin growled.

He looked up at Alex. "A woman used to endless luxury will not last three days before she comes crying back to me."

Alex stood perfectly still. He nodded quickly, too afraid to speak.

Ervin grabbed the desk phone. He punched the direct line to the Chief Counsel of the legal department.

"Use every legal loophole in the Bankruptcy Code and family law to stall this agreement indefinitely," Ervin ordered.

He slammed the phone down. His chest still felt tight. He yanked at his collar, popping the top button off his shirt.

He grabbed his personal cell phone. The screen was blank. No missed calls. No begging texts from Kelsey.

The blood rushed to his head. He opened his contacts. He found Kelsey's name.

He pressed the block and delete buttons.

He threw the phone across the desk. It slid across the wood and smashed into his pen holder.

"Cancel all board meetings this morning," Ervin barked at Alex.

"And call the bank. Freeze every single Centurion Card and account under her name. Cut her off completely."

Alex scribbled furiously on his notepad. He turned to run out of the suffocating room.

Alex's hand touched the door handle.

"Wait," Ervin's voice dropped an octave.

He stared at his computer screen, pretending to read an email. "What did the penthouse security footage show from last night?"

Alex cleared his throat. "The footage shows she left alone, carrying only one old suitcase. She took a cab."

Ervin's jawline turned to granite. A cold spike of dread pierced his stomach. He ignored it.

He waved his hand, dismissing Alex.

The massive office fell into a dead silence.

Ervin's eyes drifted back to the last page of the divorce agreement.

Kelsey Head. Her signature was neat and steady.

He grabbed his heavy metal fountain pen. He pressed the nib against the paper right next to her name.

He slashed a thick, violent black line across the page.

The sharp metal tore right through the thick paper, leaving a deep, permanent scratch in the expensive wood of his desk.