Chapter 2

Ella's POV

By morning, the storm had finally passed. New York was buried under two feet of snow, the morning sun reflecting blindingly off the white streets.

I threw on a sharp black Prada suit, swiped on dark crimson lipstick, and walked onto our Wall Street trading floor in four-inch heels.

The second I stepped inside, the atmosphere shifted.

The usual hum of phones and keyboards was dead. Coworkers were huddled in clusters by the pantry, whispering. When they saw me, their eyes darted away. A few didn't even bother to hide their disgusted glares.

"Can you believe she actually showed up today?"

"Pure ice. If she had just sent her brother, Nina wouldn't have been..."

I ignored the whispers and walked straight to Duke’s corner office. Through the gaps in the blinds, I saw Nina sitting on his leather sofa.

She looked thoroughly wrecked. Her blonde hair was matted, and her puffer jacket was stained with dirty slush. Underneath, her white silk blouse was strategically ripped at the collar. There were faint, angry red marks on her neck. She was sobbing into her hands, shaking uncontrollably.

And Duke—my fiancé and the firm's senior partner—was sitting right next to her, gently rubbing her shoulder like a heartbroken savior.

I pushed the glass door open.

"Glad you could finally make an appearance, Ella." Duke shot up. His face darkened instantly as he marched over, pointing a finger at me. "Look at her. Take a good look. This is on you. This is the consequence of your total lack of empathy last night!"

Hearing my name, Nina violently flinched. She shrank into the corner of the couch, crying louder. "Duke, please... don't let her near me..."

I crossed my arms, staring blankly at their little performance. "What happened? She fend off a mugger?"

"Stop playing dumb!" Duke kept his voice low, hissing through his teeth. "Nina waited in the freezing storm for three hours! She finally had to walk back just to survive. And on a dark side street... a black truck cut her off."

He stepped closer, staring me down. "The driver jumped out, grabbed her from behind, and dragged her into the backseat. He yanked her scarf over her eyes so she couldn't see his face, and then he... he forced himself on her, Ella."

I raised an eyebrow.

A perfectly timed blindfold. How convenient. So whether Jeff actually drove out last night or stayed in his room, they had already rigged the narrative to frame him.

"Oh? That's horrible," I said, my voice deadpan. I walked up to the sofa, towering over the intern. "Since you were violently assaulted, Nina, why aren't you at the ER getting a rape kit? Why didn't you dial 911? Instead, you show up to the office in a torn shirt to cry on your boss's couch?"

Nina froze. Genuine panic flashed in her eyes.

She looked up, eyelashes clumped with tears. "I... I was terrified. I'm just a twenty-year-old intern, Ella! If I go to the NYPD, my name gets leaked to the press. I'll be labeled the 'drama girl' and blacklisted from Wall Street forever! And..."

She bit her lip, shooting a desperate look at Duke.

Duke took the cue. "And she knows who it was, Ella. She said the truck had massive lifted seats—like a modified SUV. But more importantly, the guy reeked of a very specific custom Creed cologne. The exact same one your brother wears every time he comes up to our floor."

Duke lowered his voice. "Be smart, Ella. Jeff is your little brother. Do you really want to see him rot in Rikers over this?"

I stared at his disgustingly hypocritical face, my stomach turning.

Last time, this exact "let's protect Jeffery" bullshit had worked on me. I panicked and believed them.

That was when my eyes dropped to Nina's hand, gripping her dirty jacket. On her wrist was a gleaming Cartier Panthère bracelet.

I recognized it instantly. Last month, Duke charged $15,000 to the company card. He swore to me it was a luxury gift for a crucial European client to close a merger.

Turns out, the "crucial European client" was this manipulative twenty-year-old sitting on his couch.

I swallowed my disgust. Without breaking eye contact, I reached into my pocket and casually double-tapped the side of my phone, turning on the voice recorder.

Instantly, my spine slumped. I let my voice tremble, faking absolute panic. "Duke... no. What are you saying? You think Jeff did this? That's impossible, I locked his keys away!"

"Don't be naive, Ella!" Duke leaned in, smelling blood in the water. "He's a college kid with raging hormones. You really think he doesn't have a spare key? Nina is a beautiful girl. Boys make awful mistakes."

"Then... what do you want?" I bit my lip, forcing my eyes to gloss over. "Nina, what is it going to take to keep the police out of this?"

Seeing me finally break, a brief, hungry flash of greed lit up Nina's teary eyes. She sniffled softly. "I really don't want to ruin Jeff's life. But I am traumatized, Ella. I'm going to need intense therapy. I won't be able to work for a very long time..."

Duke didn't miss a beat. He grabbed a thick legal folder from his desk and slapped it right in front of me.

"This is an NDA and a civil settlement," Duke said coldly. "You wire five million from your personal trust fund. Then, at the 2:00 PM all-hands meeting today, you stand up and issue a formal public apology. You admit your selfish decision last night caused this tragedy. You do that, and Nina keeps quiet."

Five million dollars. And professional suicide in front of the entire firm.

It was a brilliantly ruthless corporate shakedown. Extort my inheritance and destroy my authority at the company in one move, leaving Duke in complete control.

I gripped the edge of the leather sofa as if my legs were giving out. I took a shaky breath.

"I... I need time to think," I whispered.

"You don't have time, Ella," Duke sneered, adjusting his expensive tie. "I need your answer by the 2:00 PM meeting. If you try to back out, I will personally walk Nina into an NYPD precinct."

"Okay," I said quietly.

I turned around and walked out the door. The moment my back faced them, the pathetic, trembling look vanished from my face.

A 2:00 PM meeting?

Perfect. I wouldn't miss it for the world.