Maya's POV
"Revenge?"
The word hangs in the cold night air between us. This stranger—Ethan Stone—stands on the sidewalk looking at me like he can see straight into my soul. Like he knows exactly how much pain I'm in.
"I don't understand," I say, wiping tears from my face. "Who are you? Why are you here?"
"I told you. My name is Ethan Stone." He glances at the house behind me, at the three pathetic boxes holding my entire life. "And I've been watching your situation very carefully."
My blood runs cold. "You've been watching me? That's creepy. That's stalker behavior."
"Call it research," he says calmly. "I make it my business to know things about people connected to those I'm interested in."
"Connected to who?" I stand up, suddenly angry despite my exhaustion. "I don't know you. I've never seen you before in my life."
"But I know you, Maya Chen." He steps closer, his blue eyes intense. "I know you worked three jobs for six years to support a man who just threw you away. I know your family stole fifty thousand dollars from you tonight. I know your stepsister is marrying your ex-fiancé tomorrow based on a lie."
"How do you know all that?" My voice shakes. "Have you been following me?"
"I've been following Derek Walsh's family," Ethan corrects. "You just happen to be caught in their orbit. But not for long."
"What does that mean?"
Instead of answering, Ethan walks past me and picks up one of my boxes. "Where are you planning to go tonight?"
"That's none of your business."
"You have nowhere to go," he states simply. "No money, no family support, and your best friend Sophie is in Paris for a fashion conference. You checked your phone three times in the last ten minutes, probably hoping someone would magically text and save you."
He's right about all of it, which terrifies me. This man knows too much.
"Put down my box," I say firmly. "I don't need help from a stranger who stalks people."
"You do need help." He sets the box in his car's open trunk. "You just don't want to admit it. Pride is useful sometimes, Maya, but tonight it's going to leave you sleeping on a park bench."
"I'd rather sleep on a bench than accept help from someone I don't trust."
"Fair enough." He closes the trunk and faces me again. "So let me give you a reason to trust me. Ten years ago, James Walsh destroyed my father's business through fraud and lies. My father lost everything—his company, his reputation, his will to live. He killed himself three months later."
The hatred in Ethan's voice makes me shiver. This isn't just anger. It's something deeper and more dangerous.
"I'm sorry about your father," I say carefully. "But what does that have to do with me?"
"Everything." Ethan's jaw tightens. "James Walsh builds his empire by crushing people. He did it to my father. He's doing it to you right now through his son and your family. And he'll keep doing it until someone stops him."
"You want to stop him," I realize. "That's why you're here. You want revenge on Derek's father."
"I want justice," Ethan corrects. "And you want the same thing, whether you admit it or not."
"What I want is my life back," I whisper. "My fiancé, my family, my money, my home. I want tonight to be a nightmare I can wake up from."
"You can't go back." Ethan's voice softens slightly. "That life is gone. But you can build something better. Something that makes everyone who hurt you regret what they did."
"How?" I demand. "I have nothing! No money, no power, no connections. They took everything from me!"
"They took everything you had," Ethan agrees. "But they can't take what you could have. And that's where I come in."
He pulls out his phone and shows me something on the screen. It's a bank account with more zeros than I can quickly count.
"Is that real?" I breathe.
"Very real." He puts the phone away. "Money is power, Maya. And I have more than enough to help you fight back against everyone who betrayed you."
"Why would you help me? What do you get out of this?"
"Access," he says simply. "Derek Walsh is about to marry into your family. That means Vanessa will be connected to James Walsh's business empire. I need someone on the inside who understands how they think, how they operate."
"A spy," I realize.
"A partner," he corrects. "Someone who wants the same thing I want—to watch the Walsh family empire crumble."
I should say no. This man is a stranger offering me revenge like it's a business deal. Nothing about this is normal or safe.
But then I remember Derek's voice saying "I'll do it." I remember Vanessa's cruel smile. I remember my father refusing to look at me as he admitted stealing my money. I remember Patricia throwing my boxes out like I'm garbage.
"What exactly are you offering?" I ask.
"Pretend to be my fiancée for six months," Ethan says. "Attend events with me. Let Derek and your family see you thriving instead of broken. In exchange, I'll give you money, resources, and a place to live while we plan how to expose their lies."
"Fake engagement," I repeat. "Like actors playing a role."
"Exactly like that." He studies my face. "You'd have your own room in my penthouse. Your own space. I won't touch you or pressure you for anything beyond public appearances."
"And after six months?"
"After six months, we'll have destroyed the Walsh family's reputation and your family will regret ever crossing you. Then we go our separate ways."
It sounds too good to be true. Which means it probably is.
"What's the catch?" I ask. "There's always a catch."
Ethan smiles slightly. "The catch is that you'll have to watch Derek suffer. You'll have to pretend you're over him while he realizes what he lost. Can you do that? Can you face him without breaking down?"
I think about Derek asking me to wait for him while he marries someone else. Offering me secondhand love like I'm not worth being first choice.
"Yes," I say firmly. "I can do that."
"Then we have a deal?" Ethan extends his hand.
I stare at his hand for a long moment. This decision will change everything. Once I shake his hand, there's no going back to the girl I was this morning.
But that girl is already gone. Derek and my family killed her tonight.
"We have a deal." I shake Ethan's hand.
His grip is firm, warm, and strangely comforting. For the first time tonight, I don't feel completely alone.
"Good." He releases my hand and opens the passenger door of his car. "Let's get you somewhere safe. You can shower, eat, sleep. Tomorrow we'll start planning your transformation."
"My transformation?" I pick up my remaining boxes.
"The broken girl sitting on these steps is gone," Ethan says, helping me load the boxes. "Starting tomorrow, you become someone powerful. Someone who fights back. Someone Derek will regret losing for the rest of his life."
Part of me knows this is crazy. I'm agreeing to a fake engagement with a stranger based on his promise of revenge. My mother would be horrified.
But my mother is dead. My father chose his new wife over me. And I'm tired of being the girl everyone walks over.
"One question," I say as I slide into the passenger seat. The leather is soft and expensive. This car probably costs more than I made in three years. "How did you find me tonight? How did you know I'd be sitting on those steps right when you drove by?"
Ethan starts the engine. The car purrs to life like a sleeping cat waking up.
"I told you," he says, pulling away from the curb. "I've been researching the Walsh family. That includes monitoring their communications. When Derek called your father about canceling the wedding and arranging for Vanessa to take your place, I knew you'd end up exactly where I found you."
"You've been listening to their phone calls?" My stomach twists. "Isn't that illegal?"
"Probably." He doesn't sound concerned. "But so is stealing fifty thousand dollars from your daughter's bank account. Sometimes you have to break small rules to expose bigger crimes."
I look out the window as we drive through the city. Streetlights blur past. People walk home from bars and restaurants, living their normal lives. None of them know my whole world ended tonight.
"Where are we going?" I ask.
"My penthouse. It's on the top floor of the Stone Tower downtown. You'll be safe there."
"Safe from what?"
Ethan's hands tighten on the steering wheel. "From James Walsh. Once he realizes I'm involved with you, he'll try to use you to get to me. He's not a man who forgives or forgets."
"That's comforting," I mutter.
"I won't let him hurt you," Ethan says, and something in his voice makes me believe him. "That's part of our deal. You give me access to information about the Walsh family, and I keep you protected."
We drive in silence for a few minutes. My mind races with questions. Who is this man really? Why does he care so much about destroying James Walsh? What aren't his telling me?
"Ethan?" I finally ask. "Is there something else? Something you're not telling me about why you want revenge on the Walsh family?"
He's quiet for so long I think he won't answer.
Then he says, "James Walsh didn't just destroy my father's business, Maya. He destroyed my entire family. My mother left us after we lost everything. My sister had a breakdown and hasn't been the same since. I spent ten years building my company from nothing, waiting for the perfect opportunity to make James pay."
"And I'm that opportunity," I realize.
"You're a weapon I can use," he admits. "But you're also someone who deserves justice. So this benefits both of us."
We pull into an underground parking garage. Security guards wave us through. Ethan parks in a spot marked "Reserved - Penthouse."
He kills the engine and turns to face me. "Last chance to back out. Once you come upstairs, once people see us together, this becomes real. The Walsh family will know you're not broken. They'll know you're fighting back."
My hand rests on the door handle. I could still leave. I could find Sophie's apartment key under her doormat and crash there until she gets back from Paris.
But then what? Go back to working three jobs? Watch Derek marry Vanessa tomorrow? Let my family think they won?
No.
"I'm not backing out," I say firmly. "I want them to pay for what they did to me."
Ethan smiles—a real smile this time, not the calculated one from before. "Then welcome to your new life, Maya Chen."
We get out of the car and walk to a private elevator. Ethan scans his palm and the doors open. As we ride up, I watch the floor numbers climb. Twenty. Thirty. Forty. Fifty.
"How high up is your penthouse?" I ask.
"Top floor. Sixty-eight."
The elevator is silent and smooth. Within seconds, we've climbed higher than I've ever been. When the doors finally open, they reveal an entrance that takes my breath away despite my exhaustion.
"This is your home?" I whisper.
"This is our home," Ethan corrects. "For the next six months, at least."
He leads me inside, carrying my boxes like they weigh nothing. I follow, my mind struggling to process everything. This morning I was a waitress planning a wedding. Tonight I'm standing in a billionaire's penthouse planning revenge.
"I'll show you to your room," Ethan says. "You should rest. Tomorrow starts your transformation, and you'll need energy."
But as he turns to lead me down a hallway, his phone rings. He checks the screen and his face goes dark.
"What is it?" I ask.
"James Walsh just issued a press release," Ethan says grimly, reading his phone. "He's announcing Derek and Vanessa's wedding happening tomorrow. And he's including a statement about you."
My heart stops. "What kind of statement?"
Ethan's jaw clenches. "He's telling the media that you were unstable and Derek had to end the engagement for his safety. He's painting you as the villain to protect his son's reputation."
Rage floods through me. They're not just stealing my life—they're destroying my reputation too.
"Show them," I say coldly. "Show them the press release. I want to see exactly what lies they're spreading."
Ethan hands me his phone. I read James Walsh's words, each sentence like a knife to my heart. "Unstable." "Obsessive." "Refused to accept the relationship was over." "Forced Derek to take legal action."
Lies. All lies.
But people will believe them because James Walsh is powerful and respected. Who's going to believe me—a poor girl with three jobs—over a wealthy lawyer?
"This changes things," I say, handing back the phone. "I don't just want revenge anymore. I want to destroy them completely."
Ethan's blue eyes gleam with approval. "Now you're thinking like a fighter."
"When do we start?"
"Right now." He pulls out his own phone and starts typing. "I'm releasing a counter-statement to the media. By morning, everyone will know that you're with me now. That you're not broken or unstable. That you've moved on to something better."
"Will people believe it?"
"They'll believe what I tell them to believe," Ethan says confidently. "Money talks, Maya. And I have enough money to shout."
He finishes typing and hits send. Somewhere out there, his statement is spreading across the internet. Tomorrow morning, Derek and my family will wake up to discover I'm not the helpless victim they think I am.
"Get some rest," Ethan says. "Tomorrow, we have a wedding to crash."
"What?" My eyes widen. "We're going to their wedding?"
"Of course." His smile turns dangerous. "They think you'll hide in shame. Instead, you'll walk in on my arm, beautiful and confident. Let them see that they didn't break you."
"I don't have anything to wear to a wedding," I protest.
"You will by morning." Ethan hands me a credit card. "My assistant will take you shopping at dawn. Buy whatever you want. Dress, shoes, jewelry—everything. Spare no expense."
I stare at the black credit card in my hand. It's heavier than I expected.
"This is really happening," I whisper.
"This is really happening," Ethan confirms. "The question is: are you ready for war?"
I think about Derek's voice telling Vanessa he'd marry her. My father's cold expression as he admitted stealing my money. Patricia's fake sympathy. Vanessa's cruel smile.
"I'm ready," I say.
"Good." Ethan shows me to a bedroom that's bigger than my old apartment. "Sleep. Tomorrow, we make them regret everything."
He leaves, closing the door softly behind him. I stand alone in this beautiful room, still holding his credit card, my three boxes stacked in the corner.
Twenty-four hours ago, I was planning my wedding.
Now I'm planning revenge.
But as I finally lie down on the softest bed I've ever felt, one thought keeps me awake:
What is Ethan not telling me? What secrets is he hiding about his connection to my family?
And why do I feel like I just made a deal with someone far more dangerous than the people who betrayed me