CHAPTER ONE: THE WOMAN IN RED
The first time Sienna Vale saw Adrian Ashford in person...
...she almost forgot she had spent the last eight years planning to destroy him.
He stood at the center of the ballroom, dressed in a black tailored tuxedo, one hand tucked casually into his pocket as politicians, celebrities, and billionaires waited for nothing more than a nod from him.
Power looked effortless on him.
That was what made him dangerous.
The giant screen behind him flashed:
ASHFORD GROUP ANNOUNCES THE LARGEST HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION IN THE COUNTRY.
The audience erupted into applause.
Sienna clapped too.
Not because she admired him.
Because hatred had taught her patience.
Eight years ago, her father had walked into Ashford Group with evidence that could have destroyed someone powerful.
He never came home.
Three days later...
His body was found inside his burned-out car.
The police called it an accident.
Her mother called it fate.
Sienna called it murder.
And every trail...
Every witness...
Every missing document...
Every lie...
Always led back to one name.
Adrian Ashford.
The country's youngest billionaire.
The nation's favorite philanthropist.
The man everyone adored.
The man she had come to bury.
She smiled politely as waiters floated through the crowd carrying champagne.
Her forged invitation had worked.
Now she only needed five minutes alone in his office upstairs.
Five minutes to copy the encrypted files she'd spent three years trying to reach.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
She slipped away from the ballroom unnoticed.
Or so she thought.
The executive floor was silent.
Luxury had a smell.
Fresh leather.
Old oak.
Money.
She stopped outside the CEO's office.
The security panel blinked red.
Exactly as she'd expected.
She pulled a tiny device from her clutch.
Thirty seconds.
Forty.
The light turned green.
The lock clicked.
"Too easy," she whispered.
Inside, the office overlooked the entire city.
Floor-to-ceiling windows.
Minimalist furniture.
A single framed photograph sat on the desk.
Face down.
Strange.
She ignored it.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard.
Password.
Denied.
Again.
Denied.
She connected the decryption drive.
A loading bar crawled across the screen.
3%.
Her heartbeat remained steady.
11%.
Almost there.
27%.
Then...
A notification appeared.
REMOTE USER CONNECTED.
Sienna frowned.
Someone else was accessing the computer.
From somewhere else.
Before she could disconnect—
The office lights went out.
Complete darkness.
Every screen died.
Her breath caught.
Someone was inside the room.
She heard it.
A shoe scraping softly against the wooden floor.
Not behind her.
To her left.
Impossible.
She had checked the room before entering.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
She reached into her clutch and wrapped her fingers around the small pepper spray she'd brought.
A faint click echoed.
The lights came back.
The office was empty.
Her laptop lay exactly where she'd left it.
The loading bar had vanished.
The computer screen displayed only one sentence.
You're late.
She froze.
That message hadn't been there before.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Heavy.
Unhurried.
Coming closer.
The office door handle turned.
Sienna barely had time to slip behind the bookshelf before the door opened.
A man walked in.
Not Adrian.
Older.
Silver-haired.
Impeccably dressed.
He scanned the office once.
His gaze stopped on the computer screen.
His expression changed.
"...Interesting."
He picked up the desk phone.
"Sir."
A pause.
Then, in a calm voice that made Sienna's stomach tighten, he said—
"She's here."
Silence.
He listened.
His eyes slowly drifted toward the bookshelf where she was hiding.
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Then he said five words that made every hair on her body stand on end.
"Just as you predicted, sir."
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