own apartment, Amber had ret

r sat beside the bed, gently dabbing Clarke's forehead with a warm, damp cloth. His fever ha

nking against the dim light filtering through the windo

ry, raspy whisper. "Was th

. "Just some paperwork mix-up with the insurance company," she lied smoothly, placing the clot

ess, drifted to the collar of her coat. "Where'

fingers clenched for a fraction of a second. "Oh," she said, her voice breezy and casual. "It was looking a

ker of pain and self-reproach in his eyes. He knew her too well. He kn

Amber," he said, his voice low and serious. "If this is too much... if

rted with hate as he carried Delma away, flashed in her mind. She looked

queezing his hand gently. "You just focus

nd, carefully avoiding the stiff, she began to peel it. The blade moved in short, jagged strips, the red peel

, the medication began to take hold, and he

New York skyline, her reflection a pale ghost in the glass. Her expression w

ny of urban chaos. She was heading to the Carlisle Group's headquarters on Wall Street. The st

ferent. The receptionist, who used to greet 'Mrs. Carlisle' with a deferential smile, now look

ectly to the secure elevator bank. She pressed the button f

chief financial officer's office, only to be informed by a tight-lipped assistant that the Hayes Corp transfer had been flagged. "Or

was being choked off. Just as she turned to leave,

of dread tightening i

her. Her voice was as cold and brittle as ice.

ve some urgent

ia snapped. "Eleanor is back. Her flight

posture soften slightly. Eleanor was the only person in that cold, calculating family who had

hink," Cynthia warned, her voice dripping with venom, "about usi

ne wen

o go. She rode the elevator down to the underground parking garage, slid back behin

deep breath and s

and into the gray light of the city. She merged onto the FDR