The next, I was on my knees with blood in my mouth and her diamond ring carved into my cheek.

The silence in the grand foyer was so profound you could hear the soft fizz of champagne bubbles in the crystal flutes nearby. Vanessa’s face went completely pale, her red lipstick looking like a splash of blood against her porcelain skin.

“You’re insane, Dante!” Vanessa screamed, abandoning all social etiquette. “She’s nothing! She was wiping spilled liquor off our table yesterday! She’s a street rat!”

I felt the urge to recoil, to shrink away from the burning gazes of two hundred upper-class socialites staring at me. But then I felt Dante’s fingers tighten gently against my spine—a silent, immovable pillar of strength.

I lifted my chin and looked Vanessa dead in the eye. “And yet, he picked me over you.”

A quiet gasp rippled through the gathered crowd. Vanessa looked as if she had been slapped herself. Arthur Thorne stepped in front of his daughter, his eyes dark with promise of violence. “You’ll regret this, Moretti. The board meets on Friday. We will see how much power your little fake love story holds when your shares are stripped.”

Dante only offered a cold, predatory smile. “I look forward to it, Arthur.”

We walked past them into the main hall, the crowd parting like the Red Sea. But inside my chest, my heart was racing out of control. Once we reached a secluded balcony overlooking the orchestra, I pulled away from Dante’s grasp, leaning against the cold stone railing.

“Why did you do that?” I whispered, trembling. “You made them hate me even more.”

“They already hated you, Maya,” Dante said, standing beside me and looking out at the glittering lights of Manhattan. “People like the Thornes hate anything they cannot buy or destroy. You survived them tonight.”

“Why are you really fighting Arthur Thorne?” I asked, turning to look at his sharp profile. “This isn't just about company shares. I saw your eyes when he spoke. You want to destroy him.”

Dante was quiet for a long moment. The mask of the ruthless billionaire slipped for a fraction of a second, revealing something dark, ancient, and deeply wounded.

“Ten years ago, my father was betrayed by Arthur Thorne,” Dante said, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous murmur. “Arthur embezzled millions from our medical research division—the division that was developing experimental trials for rare pediatric illnesses. When my father tried to expose him, Arthur leaked false financial records that framed my father for fraud. My father died of a heart attack three days before he could clear his name.”

I froze. “Pediatric medical research?”

Dante turned to me, his eyes burning in the dim light of the balcony. “Do you know why your brother’s hospital bill was so high, Maya? Because Arthur Thorne bought the patent for Leo’s specific heart treatment five years ago and jacked the price up by eight hundred percent to maximize profits for Thorne Global.”

My blood ran cold. The mountain of debt that had crushed my life, the sleepless nights, the hunger, the humiliation—it wasn't just bad luck. It was the direct result of Arthur Thorne’s greed.

“So you didn't just pick me at random,” I said, realization washing over me like a wave.

“No,” Dante admitted quietly, stepping closer until he was inches from my face. “I looked for the person who suffered the most under Arthur Thorne’s corruption. I wanted to use you to burn his legacy to the ground. But tonight... when you stood up to Vanessa...” He reached out, his long fingers gently touching the scar on my cheek. “Tonight, I realized I might have brought something far more dangerous than revenge into my home.”