CHAPTER ONE: THE FALL
Dominic didnât remember leaving the ballroom.
One moment he was standing beneath the chandeliers, drowning in silence and stares, and the next he was outside on Fifth Avenue, the cold Manhattan air slicing into his lungs like punishment. The flashing lights were gone. The motorcade had vanished. The world had resumed as if nothing had happened.
Except everything had.
His phone buzzed.
Dominic grabbed it with trembling fingers, relief flooding himâuntil he saw the screen.
ACCESS DENIED.
âWhat?â he whispered, swiping again.
His banking appâlocked.
His company emailâdeleted.
His corporate accountâsuspended pending review.
A second notification appeared.
BOARD VOTE COMPLETED. TERMINATION EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.
Dominic let out a hollow laugh. âNo⊠no, thatâs not possible.â
He dialed his assistant.
The line didnât even ring.
He tried Richard Dupont.
Straight to voicemail.
Then a message came through from an unknown number.
You were warned not to play above your weight. Consider this mercy.
Dominicâs stomach twisted. Mercy?
He turned back toward the Plaza, but security had already closed ranks. No one met his eyes. No one acknowledged him.
He was invisible now.
Or worse.
Expendable.
By morning, the news had spread.
Not officiallyâno headlines, no scandalâbut in the circles that mattered, Dominic Cross had become a ghost story. Investors pulled out. His name disappeared from company listings. Meetings were canceled before they were even scheduled.
By noon, his apartment access code failed.
By evening, his belongings were packed into boxes and left with the doorman.
âSir⊠Iâm sorry,â the man muttered, unable to meet his gaze.
Dominic stood on the sidewalk, staring at the life he had built reduced to cardboard and tape.
It wasnât just gone.
It had been erased.
And somewhere in the city, a woman he had once called his future had simply⊠walked away.
That night, Dominic sat alone in a cheap hotel room, staring at the ceiling.
For the first time in years, there was no noise. No ambition. No distractions.
Just silence.
And in that silence, something far more dangerous crept in.
Regret.
Not for losing the money.
Not for losing the status.
But for the moment he had looked at Ameliaâand chosen power over her.
He closed his eyes.
And for the first time, Dominic Cross understood what it meant to lose something that could never be bought back.
But he didnât yet understand one thing.
The game wasnât over.
May you like
Not for him.
Not yet.
