“What on earth are you doing here, Vivienne?”

The voice was sharp, dripping with condescension. I stood to find Chloe, Dominic’s executive secretary, looking me up and down. Her gaze lingered on my water-stained boots before rising to my face with undisguised contempt.

“I brought Sophia to surprise Dominic,” I said evenly. “We know the executive gala is upstairs.”

Chloe let out a dry, rattling laugh that echoed in the cavernous lobby. “Surprise him? That’s rich. Dominic’s real family is already upstairs, Vivienne.

His fiancée, her son, and the kind of in-laws who’ll actually elevate his career instead of dragging it into suburban mediocrity.”

The words hit like a physical blow. The air left my lungs.

Fiancée? Sophia tugged at my damp sleeve. 

“Mommy? Where’s Daddy? I want to give him my present.” She held out the paper necklace, the crayon colors slightly smudged from the snow.

Chloe’s eyes narrowed. With one swift, cruel motion she slapped her hand down, knocking the fragile paper craft out of my daughter’s grasp. It fluttered to the marble.

Before I could react, she shifted her weight and brought the razor-thin heel of her stiletto down directly onto it, grinding it into the wet stone.

Sophia let out a small, sharp gasp and buried her face in my coat, her shoulders shaking.

Something dormant and terrifying ignited in my chest. It started in my stomach and rushed to my fingertips.