Chapter 2

The clinking of silver against porcelain woke me the next morning.

By the time I descended the grand staircase of the Holt penthouse, Josie Rowe was already seated at the dining table. She looked up, her glossed lips curving into a radiant smile.

"Hazel, sweetie! Come have breakfast."

I paused on the bottom step, my nails digging into my palms. This woman. In my past life, that same sickly-sweet smile was the last thing I saw before she had me locked away in an asylum.

While I endured the agonizing shocks of electroconvulsive therapy, she was busy walking down the aisle, becoming the universally envied Mrs. Hayes Holt.

Swallowing the bile rising in my throat, I gave a curt nod. "Thanks."

I had barely taken two bites of my toast when Josie struck.

"Hazel, a dear friend of mine has a son with an excellent background," she said, her tone dripping with casual innocence. "I was thinking of setting you two up on a date. What do you say?"

Here it comes.

In my previous life, she had used this exact same blind date as a wedge to drive me out of the house. Back then, I had thrown a massive, tearful tantrum, screaming that I would rather die than leave Hayes. Hayes had slammed his hand on the table, his face dark with disgust, calling me a spoiled, unreasonable child.

This time, I didn't even blink. I took a sip of my orange juice and met her gaze.

"Sure. Thank you for setting it up, Josie."

The silence that followed was deafening.

Hayes abruptly set his coffee mug down. The sharp clack echoed through the dining room. His dark brows pulled into a harsh frown. "There’s no rush for you to date. You’re barely twenty. I can take care of you for a few more years."

"That won’t be necessary," I replied, dabbing the corner of my mouth with a linen napkin. "I’ll have to get married eventually. The sooner I do, the sooner you can both have some peace and quiet."

Peace and quiet.

Those words seemed to physically strike Hayes. His jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek. He opened his mouth to speak, but Josie was faster. She leaned over, wrapping her manicured hands around his arm, pressing her chest against him.

"Oh, Hayes, don't be so overprotective! Don't you trust my judgment? I promise I’d only introduce her to the best."

I watched them lean into each other, easy and intimate. Once, the sight would have split my chest wide open, raw and bleeding.

But that heart had already burned to ash on the ECT table.

"I'm done eating," I said, pushing my chair back. "Just let me know when and where."

As I walked up the stairs, I heard Hayes’s voice drift from the dining room. "Is she... angry with me?"

“Oh, Hayes, don’t be silly. She’s finally growing up, that’s all.”

Growing up.

What a cruel joke.

Last lifetime, he’d called her childish and locked her away. This lifetime, she was behaving exactly as he’d always claimed he wanted—and he didn’t like it one bit.

Three days later, I walked into the exclusive private lounge of Le Bernardin for the blind date.

The moment I saw the man sitting in the booth, I froze.

This wasn't just some wealthy friend's son. It was Lucien Voss.

The reigning head of Voss Global, the man Wall Street whispered about like a myth—ice-cold, ruthless, unmarried at thirty, pursued by every socialite and heiress on the East Coast.

I had never in a million years imagined Josie could land someone like him.

"Hello. I'm Hazel Holt," I said, extending a steady hand despite my racing pulse.

He didn't stand, but his piercing gray eyes locked onto mine. He gave a brief nod. "Lucien Voss."

There was no small talk. Lucien leaned forward, the faint scent washing over me.

"I have exactly one reason for being on this date," he stated, his voice a low, commanding baritone. "Marriage. Grandma Elara is gravely ill, and her final wish is to see me settled down. I intend to have a wedding finalized within a week. Name your terms."

The bluntness of it knocked the breath out of me, but only for a second. It was brutally transactional. Perfect.

My mind flashed to the last eight years. Hayes had taken me in at twelve. Private tutors, designer wardrobes, Ivy League prep—it had cost him a fortune. If I was going to cut ties with the Holt family forever, I couldn't owe him a single cent. I needed to buy my freedom.

"One hundred million dollars," I said, looking dead into his eyes. "Wired into a private trust today."

Lucien didn't even blink. "Done."

He checked the Rolex on his wrist and stood up, buttoning his suit jacket. "City Hall is still open. We’re getting the license now."

An hour later, I stood on the sprawling concrete steps of New York City Hall, clutching a crisp, official marriage certificate. I had just married a billionaire I met less than sixty minutes ago.

"I’ll send a car for you in a week," Lucien said, his tone entirely businesslike as he adjusted his cuffs. "The trust fund will be active by the time you get home."

Without waiting for a reply, he turned and slid into the back of a waiting Maybach.

As the car disappeared into the city traffic, my phone vibrated in my purse.

[Citibank Alert: A wire transfer of $100,000,000.00 has been deposited into your private trust.]

I stared at the blinding screen, counting the zeros until my vision swam with unshed tears. I can finally pay him back. Every cent of his "charity."

I was free!

The euphoria lasted until I stepped out of the elevator into the Holt penthouse.

Josie was pacing the living room, her face a mask of barely contained fury. The second she saw me, she snapped.

"Hazel! What on earth is wrong with you? Tyler Hill waited at the restaurant for over an hour! Why did you stand him up?"

I stopped in my tracks. "Tyler Hill? I went to the date. I met with the man."

"You did not!" Josie’s voice pitched into a shrill shriek. "Tyler called me himself. You never showed!"

The realization hit me like a splash of ice water. Josie hadn't set me up with Lucien Voss. I had walked up to the wrong table.

But as the shock faded, a cynical smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. A mix-up? Fine. It was a hundred-million-dollar mistake that worked entirely in my favor.

"I must have gone to the wrong booth," I said with an aloof shrug.

"The wrong booth?" Hayes’s voice boomed from the doorway of his study. He stepped into the light, his expression thunderous. "You gave your word, Hazel. You don't just 'make a mistake' and humiliate this family. We are rescheduling the date."

Josie quickly masked it with a sigh, drifting over to stroke Hayes’s chest.

"Actually, Hayes... the Voss family is hosting their annual 'New Beginnings' Charity Gala tonight. Why don't we take Hazel with us? We can introduce her to Liam Voss."

Liam Voss. Lucien’s younger brother. A notorious playboy whose drug scandals and messy affairs were permanent fixtures on Twitter’s trending pages.

Hayes frowned, genuine distaste crossing his features. "Liam? He's a wreck."

"I know, darling, but what choice do we have?" Josie whispered, loud enough for me to hear. "With all the... scandals Hazel has caused lately, her reputation in our circle is ruined. Marrying into the Voss family, even to Liam, is the best she can hope for."

She spoke about me like I was damaged goods, a stain they needed to bleach out of their perfect lives.

And Hayes—the man who had raised me, the man I had once stupidly loved—remained silent. He looked at me, his eyes running over my figure.

Finally, he nodded. "Fine. We'll take her tonight."

A bitter laugh bubbled up in my throat. In his eyes, I was already so worthless that I only deserved the bottom of the barrel.

"I'm not going," I said.

Hayes’s head snapped up. "Hazel—"

"And don't wait up for me for dinner," I added, not giving him a second glance as I headed for the stairs.

Behind me, Josie immediately began to whine. "Oh, Hayes, look at her. She’s throwing another one of her tantrums..."

"Let her be," Hayes muttered.

Click.

I shut my bedroom door, leaning my back against the wood, and closed my eyes.

Hayes Holt. Who you love, who you marry, and what you think of me—none of it matters anymore.