Chapter 2

The woman—Bianca Reed—looped her arm through Julian's, practically pressing herself against him. She shot me a sideways glance, the hostility in her eyes undisguised. "Is she some ex who just won't let go?" She covered her mouth and laughed. "You came dressed like that? What, did you just get off a construction site after hauling bricks?" Julian snorted. "Who knows? She's probably gone crazy for money." I ignored their mockery and fixed my gaze at the necklace around Bianca's neck. It was a custom piece. My initials were engraved on the back of the pendant. "Where did that necklace come from?" I asked coldly. Bianca instinctively reached up to touch it. Panic flashed across her face, but it was quickly swallowed by greed. "That's none of your damn business!" she snapped. She then deliberately puffed out her chest, making sure the necklace was even more visible. "My husband gave it to me as a wedding gift. This is a bespoke piece worth millions of dollars. Are you jealous? I bet a poor nobody like you has never seen a real gemstone in your life." Julian froze for a moment. He clearly had no idea where the necklace actually came from, but for the sake of appearances, he played along. "That's right!" he said loudly. "I won it at an auction abroad for Bianca." He looked down at me with arrogance. "What, you want one too? Crawl over and lick my shoes. Maybe then I'll toss you a few hundred bucks so you can buy a fake." "You're still acting this righteous after stealing something," I said flatly. I released my grip on my suitcase handle. "Fine. Since you claim you bought it, where's the receipt?" Bianca stiffened. She quickly demanded, "Why the hell should I show you the receipt? Who do you think you are?" Her face twisted as she yanked her phone out of her bag and started a livestream. "Guys!" she shouted into the phone. "Look at this shameless gold-digger! Today's my big wedding, and somehow my husband's ex found out we bought Skyville Manor. Guess what? She chased us all the way here to cause trouble!" She pointed the camera at me. "She's dirt-poor. When she saw me wearing an expensive necklace, she insisted it was something she had lost! What kind of twisted logic is that?" Comments flooded the screen almost instantly. "Holy shit! Skyville Manor? Isn't that place worth over a hundred million dollars? They're really filthy rich." "She looks broke as hell. I bet she can't even afford knockoffs, and she still dares to cause a scene there?" "Poor Mr. Gray. How did he ever get tangled up with that lunatic?" With public opinion firmly on his side, Julian straightened his back, growing more confident. He waved at the nearby guards. "What are you waiting for? Throw this crazy woman out! Don't let her taint my property!" Two guards rushed over and reached for my arms, one on each side. I spun and grabbed one of them by the wrist. Using his own momentum, I twisted it hard. A sharp crack rang out as he screamed and dropped to his knees. The other guard froze, too scared to move. After years of kickboxing training, dealing with watchdogs like them was effortless. I rolled my wrist and looked at Julian and Bianca. "Throw me out?" I scoffed coldly and walked straight toward the owner's access by the side gate. "I'd like to see who dares stop me." Julian shouted furiously from behind me, "That's password-protected! Who the hell do you think you are? You really think you can crack it?" I didn't bother responding. Calmly, I entered the code known only to me and the estate's head butler, Darren Smith. "Identity verification successful." After a long beep, the heavy side door slowly slid open. Julian and Bianca froze. They stared at me as if they'd just seen a ghost.