Ansley grabbed a thick towel and pressed it against her wet face. She took a deep, shaky breath.

She unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out into the dim hallway.

The dining room was empty. A maid was silently scrubbing the red wine stain out of the white tablecloth.

Ansley walked softly down the hall toward the guest bedroom. As she passed the heavy oak doors of the study, she noticed they were cracked open an inch.

Eleanor's shrill voice sliced through the gap.

Ansley's feet stopped moving. Her body acted on its own. She pressed her back flat against the cold hallway wall and held her breath.

Through the narrow crack, she saw Eleanor pointing a shaking finger at Emery.

"Are you insane?" Eleanor hissed. "We sent her away five years ago because your obsession with protecting her crossed every acceptable line! You are suffocating her, Emery, and if you keep this up, it will destroy your engagement with Brigette!"

Ansley's breath caught in her throat. She pressed both hands against the cold wall, her fingers trembling as the weight of Eleanor's words hit her. For five years, she had believed she was banished because she was a burden, a mistake. But it was Emery? His overbearing control had been the real catalyst?

Arthur's voice joined in. "The Logan family will never agree to this marriage if they find out the heir to the Holcomb fortune is willing to blow up a billion-dollar merger just to keep his adopted sister locked in a golden cage."

Emery stood with his back to the door, staring out the window.

"Cut my trust fund dividends," Emery said. His voice was so cold it froze the air. "See what happens."

He turned around. The look in his eyes was pure, unhinged madness.

"If either of you touches one hair on Ansley's head," Emery whispered, "I will burn this entire family to the ground."

A cold chill spread through Ansley's veins. The perfect, protective older brother she had loved for years was suddenly casting a terrifyingly dark shadow. His protection wasn't a shield; it was a cage. And she had just walked right back into it.

She couldn't stay here.

She turned around. She reached down and pulled her high heels off her feet. Holding them in one hand, she ran down the hallway in her bare feet. The thick carpet absorbed the sound of her panic.

She reached the foyer. She grabbed her trench coat off the hook.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the hallway behind her.

Emery walked out of the study. His eyes immediately locked onto Ansley.

He closed the distance between them in seconds. He reached out and grabbed her wrist. He yanked her backward.

The high heels slipped from Ansley's fingers and crashed onto the marble floor.

Emery slammed her back against the wall. He leaned down, his face inches from hers. His eyes searched her pale, terrified face.

"How much did you hear?" Emery demanded.

Ansley shook her head frantically. She forced her eyes to look confused. "Hear what? I... I just remembered Kegan needs me at the hospital."

Emery's grip on her wrist tightened. His fingers dug into her skin, bruising the flesh. He didn't believe a word she said.

Ansley squeezed her eyes shut. The pain in her wrist was sharp, but she kept her mouth shut.

Suddenly, the phone in her coat pocket started ringing.

The loud, obnoxious ringtone shattered the terrifying silence. Emery's hand flinched.

Ansley used that split second of distraction to rip her wrist out of his grip. She shoved her hand into her pocket, pulled out the phone, and hit accept on speaker.

"Ansley!" Leo's panicked voice filled the foyer. "Cade just got an interview with Aegis Group! He's taking the algorithm to their headquarters tomorrow morning!"

Ansley stared right into Emery's dark eyes.

"I'll be there tomorrow," Ansley said loudly into the phone. "I'll intercept him at Aegis."

She ended the call. She lifted her chin. The fear in her eyes was gone, replaced by a cold, hard wall.

"I have to go to work," Ansley said, her voice completely dead. "Congratulations on your engagement, Emery."

Emery flinched. The mention of the engagement hit him like a physical blow. A flash of pure agony crossed his face, and his arms dropped to his sides.

He didn't try to stop her again.

Ansley didn't bother putting her shoes on. She pushed the heavy front door open and ran out into the hallway barefoot.

She slammed her hand against the elevator button. The doors opened. She stepped inside and watched the doors close, blocking Emery from her sight.

The second the elevator started moving down, her legs gave out. She slid down the metal wall and hit the floor, her entire body shaking uncontrollably.

The morning sun sliced through the blinds of Ansley's small Manhattan apartment.

She sat on the rug. Blueprints and algorithm charts from Aura Aerospace were scattered all around her. She rubbed her burning eyes. She hadn't slept for a single second.

She gathered the final comparison reports and shoved them into a thick manila envelope.

She stood up and walked into the bathroom. She stared at her reflection. Her skin was pale and dark circles bruised the skin under her eyes. She turned on the faucet and slapped freezing water against her cheeks until they turned pink.

She walked to her closet. She pushed past the soft, feminine dresses Emery had bought her over the years. She reached to the very back and pulled out a sharp, tailored black Armani suit.

She pulled her long hair back and twisted it into a tight, severe bun at the base of her neck. She uncapped a tube of dark, blood-red lipstick and painted it over her lips. It felt like war paint.

She slipped her feet into a pair of black stiletto heels. They were sharp enough to be weapons.

She grabbed her car keys and the envelope.

Thirty minutes later, she parked her car across the street from the Aegis Group headquarters in the Financial District.

Ansley looked up through the windshield. The massive, all-glass skyscraper pierced the clouds. It looked like a giant, impenetrable fortress.

She took a deep breath. She opened the car door and stepped out. She walked across the crosswalk, her heels clicking sharply against the asphalt.

She pushed through the heavy revolving doors and stepped into the lobby.

The ceiling was vaulted. The air conditioning was freezing. Hundreds of people in expensive suits rushed past her, their faces set in masks of corporate indifference.

Ansley kept her spine straight. She walked directly to the massive marble front desk.

Three receptionists in matching uniforms stood behind the counter. Their eyes were cold and bored.

Ansley pulled out a business card and slid it across the marble toward a blonde receptionist. "I am here representing Aura Aerospace. I need to submit a proposal to the defense systems division."

The blonde didn't even look at the card. Her fingers tapped lazily on her keyboard. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No," Ansley admitted. "But this algorithm is critical to your new defense contract."

The receptionist's lips curled into a fake, condescending smile. She pointed a manicured finger toward a waiting area in the corner. "Fill out a visitor log and take a seat over there."

Ansley looked over. The waiting area was packed with desperate startup founders. Some of them looked like they had been sleeping in those chairs for days.

It was a graveyard for rejected ideas. If she sat there, she would never see the inside of an elevator.

Ansley turned back. She placed both hands flat on the cold marble counter and leaned in. "I need you to call the project review director right now."

The receptionist frowned. Her fake smile vanished. "Ma'am, step back. Do not cause a scene in this lobby."

Two large security guards standing near the turnstiles noticed the commotion. They rested their hands on the radios clipped to their belts and started walking slowly toward Ansley.

Before Ansley could speak again, a soft ding echoed through the lobby.

The doors of the private VIP elevator slid open.

A group of men in bespoke suits walked out. The air pressure in the lobby seemed to drop as they moved.

Ansley turned her head. Her blood ran cold.

Walking right next to a senior Aegis executive was Cade Vance. He was smiling like a rat, and in his hand, he held the silver hard drive that contained Kegan's life's work.

Cade glanced toward the front desk. His eyes locked with Ansley's.

He stopped walking. A look of shock crossed his face, quickly replaced by a sick, twisted smirk.

He whispered something to the executive, then broke away from the group. He walked straight toward Ansley.

The two security guards sped up. They stopped right behind Ansley, ready to grab her.

Ansley squeezed the manila envelope in her hands. Her nails dug into the thick paper. She stared at the traitor walking toward her, her heart pounding with pure rage.

Cade stopped less than two feet away from Ansley.

He looked her up and down, his eyes lingering on her black suit. He let out a loud, grating laugh.

"Look at this," Cade mocked, his voice echoing in the quiet lobby. "The little greenhouse flower put on a suit to play pretend on Wall Street."

A few Aegis employees walking by stopped and turned their heads, watching the drama unfold.

Ansley didn't step back. She stared right into his eyes. "That hard drive belongs to Kegan. You stole it."

Cade's smile twitched, but he recovered quickly. He leaned in closer. "I helped write the code. I'm just cashing out my equity."

He lowered his voice so only she could hear. "Besides, Kegan is going to be dead in a week anyway. That company is a sinking ship. I'm just taking the life raft."

The mention of Kegan dying sent a shockwave of despair through Ansley's chest. Her eyes filled with helpless tears.

"You can't do this, Cade," she pleaded, her voice cracking. "Please."

Cade snarled, his face contorting with disgust. "Watch me." He took a step forward and shoved her hard in the chest.

Ansley stumbled backward in her high heels. Her back crashed hard against the solid marble of the front desk. The breath was knocked out of her lungs, and she let out a sharp cry of pain.

The two security guards lunged forward. They grabbed Ansley by both arms, their thick fingers digging into her biceps. They started dragging her toward the exit.

Cade straightened his tie. He looked at the receptionist. "This crazy bitch is stalking me. Throw her out."

He turned back to Ansley, a victorious sneer on his face. "I already met with the director. The contract is mine. Take your little envelope and go back to Europe, Ansley. You don't belong here."

Ansley's arms throbbed with pain as the guards dragged her backward. Pure panic set in. She was losing Kegan's only hope. In a blind, desperate frenzy, she thrashed against their iron grips.

"No! Let me go!" she cried out.

One guard slipped slightly on the polished marble. Ansley used the split second of imbalance to wrench her arm free. She didn't think; she just reacted. She lunged over the counter, her hands blindly grabbing the heavy black phone sitting on the receptionist's desk.

"Hey!" The receptionist screamed, reaching for the phone. "Grab her!"

Ansley dodged the woman's hand, her fingers trembling wildly as she punched in the four-digit extension she had memorized from a leaked corporate directory last night. It was a suicide mission, but it was all she had.

The top floor. The CEO's office.

The phone rang exactly once before a deep, icy male voice answered. "State your business."

Cade laughed out loud. "Who are you calling? God? You think crying on the phone is going to save you?"

Ansley squeezed her eyes shut as the guards grabbed her waist, ready to hurl her to the pavement. She pressed the receiver tight against her ear, a sob catching in her throat.

"My name is Ansley Holcomb," she blurted out, her voice shaking with raw terror but laced with an undeniable desperation. "Please... tell Darius Woodward that Emery Holcomb's sister is down here. Please!"

The moment those names left her mouth, the lobby froze.

The security guards stopped pulling her. Their hands hovered in the air, suddenly terrified to touch her.

The receptionist yanked her hand back from the phone like it was on fire. All the color drained from her face.

Total, dead silence fell over the room. Everyone in the building knew the weight of the Holcomb and Woodward names. They were the apex predators of New York.

On the other end of the line, the icy voice paused for three agonizing seconds.

When the man spoke again, his tone had completely changed. It was smooth and deeply respectful.

"Please wait right there, Miss Holcomb. I am coming down personally."

The phone slipped from Ansley's sweaty fingers and clattered onto the desk. She shrank back against the marble counter, her chest heaving as she looked at Cade with wide, frightened eyes.

Cade's mouth was open, but no sound came out. He looked like he had just seen a ghost.