Chapter 1 - THE DEVIL IN THE MIRRORED TOWER
The elevator ascended slowly,
pinching my stomach with every floor,
as I clutched my father’s medical records,
against my chest.
I reached the top floor,
where the air felt thinner,
and the carpet swallowed the sound of my footsteps.
The receptionist did not smile,
she only pointed toward a set of mahogany doors,
that looked heavy enough to seal a tomb.
I walked inside,
and there sat Harlon Vance,
the man who had let my mother die in poverty.
He didn't look up from his papers,
his gray hair slicked back,
his eyes cold as a winter morning in the Atlantic.
"I don't have nieces,"
he said,
his voice like grinding stones.
"I have business partners,
and I have enemies."
I didn't flinch,
I placed the hospital bill on his desk,
right over his expensive leather blotter.
"I am not here for family,
Harlon,"
I replied,
my voice steady,
"I am here for a loan."
He laughed,
a dry and hollow sound,
and finally looked at me.
"You have your mother's eyes,
but her stubbornness was her downfall."
Just as he was about to call security,
a shadow moved in the corner of the room.
I hadn't noticed the man sitting in the armchair,
swathed in the gloom of the late afternoon.
He stood up,
tall,
imposing,
and radiating a power that made the room feel small.
It was Saurin Ashford,
the man the tabloids called the Icicle of Wall Street.
He walked toward me,
his eyes scanning me like I was a spreadsheet,
calculating my value,
my desperation,
and my resolve.
"The girl is right,
Harlon,"
Saurin said,
his voice a deep baritone that vibrated in the air.
"Family is a liability,
but a woman who knows exactly what she needs is an asset."
He turned to me,
his gaze lingering on my frayed coat.
"How much is your father's life worth to you,
Marin Holloway?"
"Everything,"
I said,
without a second of hesitation.
"I will do anything."
Saurin smiled,
but it didn't reach his eyes.
"I need a wife,"
he said,
as if he were discussing a merger.
"Not a real one,
not for love,
but for the board of directors."
"They want a family man,
a man with stability,
to trust me with the merger next year."
"I provide the treatment for your father,
the best doctors in the world,
the house in Beacon Hill,
and a monthly allowance."
"In exchange,
you give me your life for three years."
"You will be discreet,
you will be obedient,
and you will never ask where I am at night."
I looked at the bill on the desk,
then I looked at the man who looked like he could kill with a word.
"Where do I sign?"
May you like
I asked,
and the deal with the devil was sealed.
