Chapter One
Henry
Rich people loved their masquerades, and this was no different. A fundraiser for clean energy, or clean oceans, or whatever the hell they were pretending to care about this week, while they snorted lines off marble counters in private jets and bought absolution with seven-figure donations.
I hated everything about being here. The glittering chandeliers. The designer tuxedos. The conversations dripping with false smiles and ulterior motives. Hypocrisy had a stench, and it clung to this place like cheap perfume.
But I was here for a reason, wearing a suit that felt more like a straitjacket and drinking scotch that cost more for a bottle than I once made in an entire year during my military days. I didn’t belong here. I never had. But tonight, I wasn’t just blending in. I was hunting in plain sight, dressed like one of them and smiling like I gave a damn.
The crystal glass felt heavy in my hand as I leaned against the polished mahogany bar, the distant hum of laughter and polite conversation grating on my nerves. Every so often, I noticed a few people glance my way before whispering amongst themselves. They knew who I was. A recluse. Mysterious. Cold.
A ghost with too much money and nothing left to lose.
The room was a showcase of wealth and pretense, a three-ring circus.
And the ringmaster was none other than Victor Kane.
He stood in the center of the grand hall, his arm draped around his wife’s slim shoulders, the image of a doting husband and magnanimous benefactor.
A fraud wrapped in designer labels and impeccable grooming.
I raised the glass to my lips, the smoky burn of the scotch doing little to dull the edge of my focus.
Months of combing through digital shadows, chasing whispers and breadcrumbs, had finally brought me here.
To Victor.
The man with a sterling reputation and a soul dipped in sin. He’d built an empire of deceit, hiding his true self behind charity galas and glossy magazine profiles.
I’d watched him long enough to know what he valued.
Power. Control.His wife.
And that made Ariana Kane the perfect weapon to use against him.
All poise and polish, her smile was as sharp as glass, and just as dangerous. They played their roles perfectly. The philanthropist and his adoring wife. Two sides of the same rotten coin.
The scotch swirled in my glass as I turned it slowly, my gaze never straying too far from Victor and Ariana. But he never noticed me watching. Surveying.
Planning.
Why would he?
To him, I was just another billionaire who hoped to clear his conscience by donating to a good cause. An unassuming guest blending into the background, letting the illusion of disinterest shroud my intent.
He’d learn who I was soon enough.
Hell, when I was done with him, he’d never forget me, even after he drew his last breath… Something that would happen much sooner than he realized.
Ariana’s sequined dress caught the light as Victor placed a hand on her back, guiding her toward another group of sycophants. She moved with the grace of someone who thrived in the shadows of power, her every gesture calculated to support his image.
I knew the truth, though. She wasn’t just a rich trophy wife. A piece of eye candy. A woman without ambition.
She was his queen.
But as every chess player knows… In order to take out the king, you must first capture the queen.
And that was exactly what I planned to do.
