Chapter 1 - The Mic on Stage
Under the towering crystal chandeliers of the grand hotel ballroom, hundreds of high-society donors, corporate CEOs, and socialites stood in polished formal attire. Fresh white roses decorated every marble pillar, reflecting the shimmering city lights beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.
On the main stage, under a bright spotlight, stood Daniel Sloan—a handsome, forty-something executive in a tailored black tuxedo—holding a microphone in one hand and a crystal champagne glass in the other. Beside him stood his new wife, Kelsey, twenty-eight, wearing a black glittering gown.
Kelsey leaned into the microphone, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness as her sarcastic laughter echoed through the surround-sound speakers.
"Personal experience at a women's shelter certainly makes Claire qualified to hand out donor cards!" Kelsey announced, pointing a manicured finger toward the middle of the room.
The entire crowd gasped before falling into an uncomfortable, tense silence.
In the center of the floor stood Claire Bennett, thirty-four, an elegant blonde woman wearing a backless white silk gown. Her fingers gripped a stack of pledge cards for Harbor House—a shelter for abused women—so tightly that the heavy cardstock bent under her knuckles.
Daniel stepped up to the microphone, taking a slow sip of his champagne as a smug, predatory smile spread across his face.
May you like
"Some women are simply better at surviving failure than succeeding," Daniel added smoothly, his calm, arrogant voice carrying to every corner of the room.
👉 Read on to discover why Daniel was so determined to ruin Claire in front of the city's most powerful donors.
