The 24-year-old woman was forced by her stepmother to get into bed with one of her business partners, and she fled in desperation to a stranger's car… but that moment of fate would change her life forever…

At exactly 8:45 a.m., a soft knock on the door woke Aria. Mrs. Higgins entered, carrying a freshly pressed outfit—a tailored cream-colored silk blouse and a pair of wide-leg charcoal trousers. Beside the clothes was a pair of soft leather flats designed to protect her bandaged feet.

"Mr. Cross is waiting for you in the formal dining room, Miss Montgomery," the housekeeper said with a polite bow. "He appreciates punctuality."

Aria dressed quickly, her reflection in the bathroom mirror revealing a stark contrast to the broken girl who had crawled into the car the night before. The swelling on her cheek had subsided significantly, hidden beneath her hair, and the tailored clothes lent her a sense of armor. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and walked out to face her savior.

Ethan was sitting at the head of a twenty-foot marble dining table, a cup of black coffee in one hand and a thick financial dossier in the other. He didn't look up as she entered, merely gesturing to the seat to his right, where a full breakfast array had been laid out.

"Sit," he said. "Eat. You need the calories if you intend to survive the week."

Aria sat down, taking a small piece of toast. "Mr. Cross, I need to know what happens now. Victoria will be looking for me. She has connections with the local police department, and she won't stop until she finds me. To her, I am the key to signing the merger with Vance Industries."

Ethan closed the dossier with a definitive snap, finally looking at her. "Victoria’s connections are irrelevant. I own the bank that holds the mortgage on her mansion, and I own the logistics firm that handles sixty percent of her company’s shipping distribution. If she attempts to use the police to harass you, I will execute a margin call on her personal debt by noon."

Aria blinked in shock, her breath catching. "You... you have that much power over her?"

"I have that much power over everyone, Miss Montgomery," Ethan replied flatly, taking a sip of his coffee. "But let’s discuss you. I spent the last three hours reviewing your father’s original estate planning documents before Victoria altered them after his death. Did you know that your father left forty-nine percent of Montgomery Logistics to you in a blind trust, to be executed on your twenty-fifth birthday?"

Aria’s eyes widened. "No... Victoria told me my father died bankrupt, that she used her own personal fortune to keep the company afloat and support me."

"A lie," Ethan stated coldly. "Your stepmother has been systematically draining your trust account to fund her lavish lifestyle and offset her disastrous corporate investments. The merger with Vance isn't to save the company; it’s to cover up her embezzlement before your birthday next month, when the trust automatically audits itself."

Aria felt a cold rage blossom in her chest, replacing the last remnants of her fear. "She didn't just want to sell me to Vance for a deal... she wanted to trap me in a marriage contract that would legally waive my rights to the trust."

"Precisely," Ethan said, leaning forward, his gaze intense. "Now, you have two choices. I can provide you with a plane ticket to Europe, a comfortable stipend, and a new identity. You can live a quiet, peaceful life far away from Victoria. Or, you can stay here, play the game, and help me strip Victoria Montgomery of everything she has ever stolen from you."

Aria looked down at her bandaged hands, then up at Ethan’s impenetrable eyes. She thought of her father’s memory, of the terror she had felt in that bedroom, and the slaps she had endured.