“Give me your exact location marker. And listen to me very carefully, Audrey: you are never crossing the threshold of that apartment again. Neither you nor my grandson will endure a single fraction of his disrespect for the rest of your lives.”

I closed my eyes tightly as the bus surged forward. My previous life was officially left on the curb. And Dominic Vance had absolutely no idea what kind of leviathan he’d just awakened.

PART 2

When I stepped down from the transit line in front of the high-rise where I lived with Dominic, my knees were trembling from pure physical exhaustion and white-hot rage.

Leo remained fast asleep, completely insulated from the collapse of his father’s world.

I didn’t even have to reach for my keys.

A sleek black unmarked car pulled up smoothly to the curb with absolute mathematical precision. The rear door opened, and Mr. Vance—my father’s senior chief of staff for over two decades—stepped onto the pavement.