Chapter 1 - The Torn Dress
The grand ballroom of the luxury downtown hotel was a blinding display of corporate wealth, illuminated by massive crystal chandeliers. Hundreds of elegant guests in expensive evening wear mingled, holding crystal champagne glasses, completely oblivious to the brutal confrontation happening near the entrance.
Norah, a thirty-one-year-old corporate junior analyst, stood in the heavy double doorway.
She looked absolutely destroyed.
Her beautiful auburn hair was disheveled. She was wearing a stunning, vintage green velvet dress, but the fabric was visibly torn near the hem. She wore long black evening gloves that reached past her elbows. She leaned heavily against the wooden doorframe, her face pale and covered in a fine layer of cold sweat. She was breathing shallowly, desperately favoring her left leg due to a severely injured ankle, while clutching her bruised ribs with one gloved hand.
Standing a few feet away was Gregory, the forty-six-year-old Director of Finance. Wearing an impeccably tailored designer suit, he looked at her with pure, unfiltered disgust.
Gregory let out a loud, mocking laugh that cut through the soft classical music playing in the background.
"Elevator break under the strain, Norah?" Gregory sneered cruelly, looking her up and down. "You look like you crawled out of a dumpster. You are an absolute embarrassment to this firm. Get out before the CEO sees you."
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Norah didn't scream. She didn't cry. She just stared at him, desperately trying to stay upright.
👉 Gregory thought he was protecting the company's elite image, completely unaware that the billionaire CEO was standing right behind him.
