ialism. Towering glass monoliths pierced the smog, their digital billboards flas

easured, her posture upright despite the burn

ntimatter-powered megacities of the Star Alliance, but

ce. Her cocktail dress was torn at the hem, splatte

umbrellas, she looked like a high-societ

ad ground to a complete standst

Mulsanne. Its sleek, reinforced chassis and privacy-t

window, Justine caught sight of a

ree-piece suit that cost more than

d emotionless as diamond blades. He was reading a financial portfolio

er ignored an opportunit

ectly up to the Bentley, and tapped her

cended another

heveled woman outside. The moment he registered her face, the subtle indif

very tabloid in Manh

heiress who had made a nationa

dying decree-a betrothal agreement that threatened to tie h

the dirt on her cheekbones, the f

ht in some degenerate dive bar chasing her ex-lover, gotten into a

said, his voice flat,

e's shallow memories were so consumed by Jared that high-tier corpo

And she knew how to play wea

gh her shoulders. She widened her hazel eyes, le

purse was stolen. My phone is gone. Some men tried to grab me near the pier. If

f his tablet. Every instinct warned him no

king for a loophole to destroy the engagement con

a

Justine was guilty of 'irreparable moral depravity.' If he brought her home looking like this-ruined, smelling of street vice, surrounded by the

," Jennings commanded

, taking the far leather corner and ensuring s

in Westchester," s

er glass, raising the soundproof partition, leaving them in heavy, suff

ving room of the Estes mansion, the atmosphere

catalog while sipping Earl Grey. Her daughter, Julissa, paced back a

whined, checking her phone for the tenth

venomous sound. "Run where, darling?

oned warehouse or she's already taking a swim in the harbor. Either

g-d

aged butler, Thomas, entered the room, carrying a silver

tly. "A courier left this at the front

's Jared's birthday gift! Justine's stupid mus

laughing as she undid the clasp.

ped the

resh human blood. Resting on the white satin lining was a jagged,

odcurdling shriek. It shattered against the Italian marble, and the bloody toot

teacup to the floor, her aristocratic

proof of a kill. Justine was alive-and she