Opal had everything she could have ever wanted.
"Could you please pass me the caviar?" Opal asked from across the table. Her fiance sat opposite her. Rugged, blonde, chiseled, and with more money than even her father had. They were a match made in business heaven.
"Anything for you, darling." His voice was sickeningly sweet, but Opal didn't care. She knew there was no love between them, but there was loyalty. They were determined to take on the business world by storm, including her strict father's company.
The two sat in his high rise apartment. Outside the city below glittered like a blanket of starlight. Inside the candlelight was low and romantic. The table was decorated with fresh flowers, the crystal dishes were glittering like diamonds, and as she pressed the cool wine glass against her lips for a drink she knew that her life was only going to get better from here.
"Aren't you wondering why I wanted to have dinner with you tonight?" Bradley asked with his typical saccharine tone.
Does he think I forgot? Opal wondered before answering. "Because, it's our two year anniversary. How could I forget that?"
"It is, isn't it!" Bradley exclaimed with a laugh. A chill shot down Opal's spine. If he had forgotten, what was all this about? They rarely had dinner together. Usually it was just morning meetings that left Opal feeling cold and tired by the end. She had accepted that love wasn't something she would experience in her life. But it didn't mean she didn't want it.
Opal moved her food around her plate, the diamond bracelet on her wrist catching on the edge of it and making a loud scraping noise that made her cringe.
"Well, that makes things a little awkward." Bradley swirled the wine in his glass, it caught the reflection of the golden candles. "The reason I wanted to have dinner tonight is to formalize our break up."
"Wait, what?" All of the air in Opal's lungs left with a rush. She gripped the table, her head spinning, as she held his gaze. He looked so relaxed...almost relieved and it cut through her like a knife.
"Your father insisted. He promised me a shareholder's position in the company, twice as much as I would get for marrying you. Besides, we both know there isn't anything but a business contract between us. Why go on pretending when we can hardly tolerate each other?"
Why would my father...? Opal tried to clear away the tears that were starting to blur her vision without ruining her expensive makeup. Makeup styled the way Bradley liked it. The engagement ring on her finger glittered tauntingly and she sucked in a breath.
"It's better this way, isn't it? You can go on with your business plans and I can finally get back to having a real social life without worrying that someone is going to get mad at me for 'cheating' on you. Would you pass the bread?"
It was all so casual. Opal felt like she couldn't breathe. They had a plan. Bradley was going to help her get out from under her father's thumb. They would combine their stocks and oust her father as head of Ephemera Corp. It had been a plan for years, ever since they graduated college together.
As Opal looked at the man across the table she realized that he had always been there. A part of her life that had pushed her to think that he would help her. From the time they met in high school she thought that even if he wasn't a romantic, he was a knight sworn to protect her. Sworn to helping her.
"How can you do this to me? It was your idea to get engaged! It was your idea to take over as majority shareholders! Why are you doing this now when we're almost there?" Tears were streaming down her face, ruining her mascara and leaving streaks of black and gray across her pale skin.
"I told you, Opal. This is just a business transaction. Why are you acting like there is anything more to it? I found a better way to partner up, found some leverage. You would have done the same if you had found someone with more money."
"No I wouldn't have! We're friends, why would I pick someone else?" Opal was trying to keep her voice steady, but the sobs were already starting to come.
"Quit acting like a spoiled brat. You're just mad that your plan isn't going to work and now you have one more rival for the company. Daddy's little girl having to face the world all by herself...Poor thing." The sweet tone in his voice was mocking, had it always been like that? Had he always been laughing at her?
Opal swallowed hard and stood from the table, her silverware clattering to the floor. The tight red dress she wore accentuated every curve and line, her full hips and chest, her long legs that were barely covered by the short hem. Bradley looked her up and down as if he hadn't just thrown her under the bus.
"We could have made this engagement so much more interesting if you had just worked a little harder." Bradley stood from the table and checked the time on his watch. "If you don't mind, I have somewhere to be. You can see yourself out."
He left the dining room and Opal stood there in the silence, her ears ringing, tears running down her face. She gripped the white table cloth in her fists, scraping her sharp red nails against it as she cried. They had been so close to toppling her father's empire. She had been so close to freedom.
Now it was gone again.
- - -
"I'm sorry, miss. Your credit card has been declined."
"Unfortunately, you no longer live here, Miss Ephemera."
"We have been told not to serve you here, miss."
The next three days were nothing but denials. After Bradley had dumped her she had been too ashamed to face her father. She hid in her apartment, knowing her friends would only make things worse. Would only tell her that she hadn't deserved to be with him in the first place.
Now she stood in the elevator, riding up the 60 floors to the penthouse and office where her father stayed. She wanted answers. He had turned Bradley against her.
Opal's stomach dropped as she realized what that meant. Father knew all about her plans.
"He's right inside, Miss Opal," the kindly secretary who had babysat Opal any of number of times as a child said. She buzzed Opal in.
Her father sat at his desk with his hands steepled, a stack of newspapers in front of him, and nodded for her to sit in one of the oversized leather chairs in front of his desk .
Opal sat without making a fuss, putting her purse on her lap in front of her like it would shield her from whatever he was about to say.
"What the hell is this?" Father's tone was level, like it always was, with an undercurrent of ice in it that chilled her to the bone. He tossed one of the newspapers onto the floor and she looked down at the headline.
"Anonymous Source says Party Princess Opal is on the hunt for a new Beau!" Read the newsprint. A picture of her in the red dress, with her face blurred out, adorned the article. Her father had managed to keep the paparazzi from ever revealing her face through numerous payoffs.
"Why did you and Bradley breakup?" She could tell from his tone that it was a test. Her father had steely blue eyes, dark hair that was graying at the temples, and a stern aged face that could strike fear into anyone's heart. Including hers.
"Because, we wanted to see other people--" She began saying but he cut her off.
"Because I offered him more than you did. If you want this company so bad, you're going to have to play the game smarter. I'm not about to fund some spoiled brat's schemes against me. I'm sure you've already noticed the difference in your treatment."
Opal's blood ran cold. He couldn't...
"Oh, I did," he said, as if reading her mind. "You don't have access to anything. Not unless you make a deal with me."
"What kind of deal?" Opal tried to make her voice sound strong, but her fingers were shaking.
"You are going to go through a little makeover. You're going to work for Starlight Industries, for their CEO, as his secretary. I've already arranged your identity. He's got inside information that I want and you are going to get it for me."
"I don't want to spy on someone! I--"
"If you don't you lose everything. The house, the cars, everything. With your reputation and experience you can't do anything. You'll starve on the streets without me to take care of everything. The only thing you're good at is hunting gossip. So hunt it at Starlight."
Opal gripped her hands into tight fists and said nothing. The same way she had when Bradley broke up with her. She wanted to fight back, to scream and yell and assert herself. But she couldn't find her voice. Fear kept her silent.