"You look nervous."
I turned from the mirror to find Nate standing in the doorway, his bow tie already perfectly knotted. Evans' right-hand man had a way of appearing without sound, like smoke.
"I'm not nervous," I lied, smoothing the silver fabric of my dress. Evans had bought it for me last month, said the color brought out my eyes. Tonight felt different. Tonight felt like possibility.
"Right." Nate's smirk suggested he wasn't buying it. "And I suppose you're not planning to finally tell him how you feel either?"
Heat rushed to my cheeks. "I don't know what you mean."
"Vivian." His voice softened. "You've been living in this house for three years. You follow him around like a lost puppy, and he treats you like furniture. When are you going to realize, "
"He doesn't treat me like furniture."
"When's the last time he had a real conversation with you? When's the last time he asked how you're doing?"
I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it. The silence stretched between us.
"That's what I thought," Nate said. "Look, I care about you, but Evans isn't, "
"He saved me." The words came out sharper than I intended. "When I had nowhere else to go, he gave me a home. He gave me a purpose."
"He gave you a cage."
"You don't understand."
"I understand plenty." Nate stepped into the room, his expression serious. "I understand that you're twenty-two years old and you're wasting your life waiting for a man who doesn't even see you."
"He sees me."
"Does he?"
Before I could answer, the sound of cars pulling into the circular drive drifted through the window. The guests were arriving for Evans' birthday celebration, politicians, business magnates, socialites. All of New York's elite would be here tonight.
"I should go," I said, moving toward the door.
Nate caught my arm gently. "Vivian, just... be careful tonight. I have a feeling something's going to happen."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. Evans has been acting strange lately. Secretive. More than usual."
I pulled free from his grip. "He's always been private. That's just who he is."
"This is different."
But I was already walking away, my heels clicking against the marble floor. Tonight was going to be perfect. It had to be.
"There she is!"
Madeline Newton's voice carried across the ballroom like a blade wrapped in silk. Evans' mother stood near the champagne fountain, resplendent in black Chanel, her smile as sharp as her jewelry.
"Vivian, darling, you look... adequate."
The word hit its mark. I forced a smile. "Thank you, Mrs. Newton."
"I was just telling the Ashfords about your little charity work. So admirable, helping those poor children. Though I suppose you can relate to their circumstances."
The group around her tittered politely. I felt the familiar burn of humiliation in my chest, but I kept my expression neutral.
"Where's Evans?" I asked.
"Oh, he's handling some last-minute business. You know how he is, always working." Her eyes glittered with something I couldn't quite read. "I'm sure he'll make his entrance soon. He has such a flair for the dramatic."
I nodded and moved away, weaving through the crowd of guests. The ballroom was spectacular, crystal chandeliers casting rainbow light across polished marble, flowers arranged in towering displays, the city skyline glittering through floor-to-ceiling windows.
"Vivian?"
I turned to see Daniel Pierce approaching, handsome in his tuxedo but somehow out of place among the crowd. My childhood friend looked older than his twenty-four years, his dark hair perfectly styled but his eyes holding the same intensity I remembered from when we were kids.
"Daniel." I smiled, genuinely this time. "I didn't know you were coming."
"Evans invited me. Said it was time I rejoined civilized society." He gestured at the opulent surroundings. "Though I'm not sure this qualifies as civilized."
"It's just a party."
"This isn't just a party, Viv. This is a display of power. Look around, half the city's power brokers are here."
I glanced at the guests mingling around us. He was right. Senators, CEOs, judges, people who could make or break fortunes with a word.
"What are you doing here, Daniel? Really?"
His expression grew serious. "Looking for answers. About you. About what happened to, "
"Don't." I cut him off. "Not tonight."
"When, then? You disappeared for three years, Vivian. Three years. Do you know what that did to me? To everyone who cared about you?"
Guilt twisted in my stomach. After that night ten years ago, after Dad's words carved themselves into my soul, I'd eventually run. Left everything behind. Left everyone behind.
"I couldn't stay," I whispered.
"So you came here? To him?"
"He helped me when no one else would."
"He's using you."
"You don't know him."
"I know enough." Daniel stepped closer, lowering his voice. "I know he's been asking questions about your family. About what happened to Bella."
My blood turned to ice. "What?"
"He's been digging, Vivian. Hiring investigators, bribing officials. Why would he do that unless, "
"Ladies and gentlemen!"
The voice boomed across the ballroom, cutting through the conversation like a sword. All heads turned toward the grand staircase, where Evans Newton stood in perfect silhouette against the chandelier light.
My breath caught. Even after three years, he still had that effect on me. Tall and commanding in his perfectly tailored tuxedo, dark hair swept back, eyes that seemed to see everything and reveal nothing. He was beautiful in the way that dangerous things are beautiful, sharp and untouchable.
"Thank you all for joining me tonight," he continued, his voice carrying effortlessly across the room. "Your presence means more to me than you know."
The crowd murmured appreciatively. I felt my heart start to race. This was it. After the speeches, after the toasts, I would find him. I would tell him how I felt. I would finally take the leap I'd been too afraid to take for three years.
"Before we continue the evening's festivities," Evans said, "I have someone very special I'd like you all to meet."
He turned toward the top of the stairs, extending his hand. "A woman who has changed my life in ways I never thought possible."
My chest tightened with anticipation. Was he talking about me? Had he planned this? Was this his way of,
A figure emerged from the shadows at the top of the stairs, taking Evans' outstretched hand.
The world stopped.
It was a woman, stunning in an emerald gown that hugged her curves like liquid silk. Her dark hair cascaded over one shoulder in perfect waves, her skin luminous under the chandelier light. She moved with the confidence of someone who knew she was being watched, who knew she was desired.
But it wasn't her beauty that made my knees buckle.
It was her face.
A face I knew better than my own. A face that had haunted my dreams for ten years. A face I'd seen lifeless and pale, surrounded by paramedics and the smell of chlorine.
"Allow me to introduce Isabella Grants," Evans announced, his arm sliding around her waist with practiced intimacy. "The woman I intend to marry."
The champagne glass slipped from my numb fingers, shattering against the marble floor. The sound seemed impossibly loud in the sudden silence of my world collapsing.
Bella.
My sister.
The sister I'd killed.
Standing there alive and radiant and perfect, looking down at me with eyes that held no recognition, no love, no forgiveness.
Only hatred.