I stepped out of the elevator vestibule, my off-the-rack winter coat swinging around my boots, my daughter in my arms. Sophia’s small hands clutched the handmade paper necklace against her chest.

As I walked down the center aisle of the ballroom, a heavy, suffocating silence began to ripple through the crowd. It started at the back and moved forward like a shockwave.

Executives paused with their glasses halfway to their mouths. Investors turned, murmuring in confusion at the sight of a woman in a wet coat walking into their inner sanctuary.

Dominic turned casually to see what was causing the disruption.

The moment his eyes landed on my face, his confident smile vanished so fast it looked as though his features had frozen in stone. His glass slipped slightly in his hand, champagne sloshing over his knuckles.

“Vivienne?” he stammered, his voice carrying across the silent ballroom. “What… what are you doing here? Who let you up to this floor?”