The harsh fluorescent lights of the hospital room buzzed overhead, casting long, sterile shadows across the linoleum.
Damian sat in the plastic visitor’s chair beside my bed. He stared at the floor, his tie undone, the sleeves of his tailored shirt rolled up to his elbows. He looked like a man who had lost a war.
His phone vibrated against the metal tray table.
The screen lit up instantly. *Serena.*
I kept my eyes fixed on the glowing letters. "Answer it."
Damian reached out and pressed the power button, plunging the screen back into darkness. "I'm not going."
I turned my head to look at him. "But you went yesterday."
The room fell entirely silent. The heart monitor beeped a steady, indifferent rhythm.
Damian flinched as if I had struck him across the face. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He rested his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands.
I didn't offer him comfort. I turned my gaze back to the ceiling tiles.
Morning brought a new kind of destruction.
The television mounted in the corner played the local news on mute, but the red ticker at the bottom of the screen screamed the headlines.
*Sinclair Heiress Stripped of Management Rights. Board Cites Suspected Commercial Fraud.*
The broadcast cut to a live press clip. Serena’s father lay in a hospital bed of his own, a microphone shoved near his face. He offered a weak, apologetic smile to the cameras, mouthing words that the captions helpfully translated.
*Avery made the final calls. We merely followed her directives. I trusted her vision for the company.*
Damian paced the length of my room. He stopped and pointed aggressively at the television screen.
"I'm calling a press conference," he announced, his voice rigid with fury. "I'll hire the best PR firm in the city. I'll clear your name."
I sat up slowly, the thin hospital sheets pooling at my waist. "How are you going to clear it?"
"I'll tell them the truth," he insisted, though his eyes darted away from mine. "I'll say it was a misunderstanding."
"Will you?" I tilted my head. "Are you going to tell the world you forged the documents?"
Damian froze. His shoulders dropped.
"Are you going to admit that the CEO of Cross Holdings committed corporate fraud to protect his ex-girlfriend's father?" I pushed, my tone conversational.
He stared at the floor. The silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating.
He wanted to fix this. He regretted the pain he caused. But he would never sacrifice his empire. Cross Holdings meant too much to him.
I reached over and grabbed the IV tubing taped to the back of my hand.
I yanked the needle out.
A bright bead of blood welled up instantly, spilling over my knuckles and dripping onto the white sheets.
"Avery, what are you doing?" Damian rushed forward. Panic widened his eyes. He grabbed a square of gauze from the bedside table and pressed it hard against my skin.
I didn't struggle. I simply looked at his hand covering mine, then pulled my arm out from under his grip.
Reaching to my left hand, I slid the three-carat diamond off my ring finger. The metal felt incredibly heavy. I set it on the nightstand. It landed with a hollow clink that echoed in the quiet room.
"Damian, we're done."
His head snapped up. "Impossible."
"You ended it yourself," I said. My voice held no anger. No hatred. Just an absolute, hollow emptiness.
"I can fix this," he pleaded, stepping closer. "Just give me time to figure out the legalities. We can rebuild."
"Get out."
He opened his mouth to argue, saw the dead expression on my face, and stopped. He turned and walked out the door.
The sky broke open the day they discharged me.
Rain battered the windows of the cab all the way to the Sinclair estate. I paid the driver and walked through the heavy front doors.
The foyer was freezing.
Xavier stood at the top of the grand staircase, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. He looked down at me, his lip curled in disgust.
"Good that you're leaving," my brother sneered. "Saves you from dragging the family down with you."
I glanced toward the closed mahogany doors of my father’s study on the first floor. No movement. No sound. He wasn't coming out to say goodbye.
"Did you get what you wanted, Xavier?" I asked.
"I protected the Sinclair name," he shot back.
A maid appeared on the second-floor landing. She didn't carry my suitcase down the stairs. She hoisted it over the railing and let go.
The leather bag plummeted and hit the marble floor with a sickening crack. The zipper burst. Clothes, shoes, and books spilled across the pristine entryway.
A small, silver object rolled across the floor, stopping an inch from the tip of my shoe.
My mother’s vintage brooch.
I crouched down and picked it up. The sharp pin dug into my palm. I squeezed my fist shut until the pain anchored me to reality. I did not shed a single tear.
I stood up, grabbed the broken handle of my suitcase, and walked out the door.
The rain soaked through my coat the second I stepped off the porch. Cold water plastered my hair to my cheeks. I dragged the ruined suitcase down the driveway, the wheels scraping harshly against the wet asphalt.
My phone rang.
I stopped walking and pulled it from my pocket. An international number flashed on the screen. London.
I swiped the glass. "Hello?"
"Ms. Sinclair?" a deep, resonant voice asked.
"Who is this?"
"I'm Julian Hayes," the man replied. "I heard about your situation. I think we should talk."
The storm raged around me. Thunder cracked overhead, but the voice on the line remained perfectly clear, cutting through the noise.
"Talk about what?" I asked, wiping water from my eyes.
"About building something that no one can ever take away from you."
I tightened my grip on the phone. I didn't look back at the mansion. I didn't look back at the family that threw me to the wolves, or the man who traded my future to save someone else.
I took a step forward, straight into the downpour.
"When does my flight leave?" I asked.
A low chuckle rumbled through the speaker. "I have a jet waiting at Teterboro. But before you board, Ms. Sinclair, there is one final piece of business you left unfinished."
I paused, rain dripping from my eyelashes. "What business?"
"The trust fund your mother set up," Julian said softly. "Xavier just filed the paperwork to liquidate it. We have exactly two hours to steal it back."
