Chapter 2 - The Door locked in the Dark
Just three hours earlier, Nora had been inside the penthouse apartment she had shared with Julian for five years.
She had spent months quietly building Northstar Holdings, a covert venture capital firm, while Julian publicly took credit for all of Aurelia Corporation's recent market expansions. For years, Nora had allowed Julian to shine, believing they were an unbreakable team.
That illusion vanished at four o'clock that afternoon when Nora walked into the master bedroom and found Julian packing her dresses into plastic trash bags. Stand next to him was Camilla, her former assistant, casually trying on Nora's rare heirloom diamond earrings in the mirror.
"What is the meaning of this, Julian?" Nora had asked, her voice trembling slightly.
Julian hadn't even looked her in the eye. He simply shoved a set of pre-signed separation papers across the marble vanity table.
"You're out, Nora," Julian had sneered arrogantly, adjusting his beige linen suit jacket. "Aurelia is merging with Price Logistics tonight at the Halcyon Gala. Camilla is coming with me as my partner and official Vice President. You’re too soft, too background, and frankly, embarrassing for the image I want to project."
When Nora reached forward to grab her legal folders from the desk, Julian had grabbed her violently by the left shoulder, twisting her arm behind her back to yank the papers away, slamming her body hard against the sharp wooden doorframe.
"Go home, Nora!" Julian had growled, locking the penthouse door from the outside as she fell to the carpet in searing pain. "If you show your face at the Halcyon tonight, I'll make sure you leave with nothing!"
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What Julian didn't know was that the pain in her shoulder was nothing compared to the cold fire igniting inside her soul.
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