Chapter 1 - The Broken Gala
Shantel Edwards believed she had finally built an honest, peaceful existence. As an accomplished art authenticator in Manhattan, she spent her days evaluating centuries-old masterpieces, deliberately keeping her distance from the shadowy, dangerous world her late father, Arthur Edwards, had once navigated.
When Spencer Harrington walked into her life, he felt like an anchor. He was polished, educated, wealthy, and seemingly enchanted by her. But over their ten months together, subtle fractures appeared. Spencer’s questions grew invasive, focusing constantly on her private valuation clients, security codes for high-profile vaults, and the provenance files her father had left behind. Shantel dismissed her unease, mistaking his suffocating control for deep devotion.
Everything unraveled at the annual St. Jude’s Heritage Gala. Dressed in a floor-length emerald silk gown Spencer insisted she wear, Shantel stood under crystal chandeliers as he tapped a champagne glass. Without warning, without ever getting down on one knee or asking in private, Spencer announced their engagement to the crowd. As his hand clamped possessively around her ribs, Shantel realized this wasn't love—it was a public claim of ownership.
Before she could speak, the double doors swung open. Gabriel Costa entered. Feared across New York as an untouchable syndicate boss, Gabriel did not hesitate. He crossed the marble floor, grabbed Spencer by the throat, and slammed him into a champagne tower.
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Gabriel revealed the brutal truth: Spencer had racked up twenty million dollars in reckless debts to brutal creditors. His courtship of Shantel was an orchestrated setup to deliver her father's private collection codes and trade her expertise to settle his tab.
Yet Gabriel’s intervention was not random. Years ago, Shantel had unknowingly saved the life of someone precious to Gabriel, and he had guarded her from the shadows ever since. When Gabriel pulled out Arthur Edwards’s engraved gold pocket watch, Shantel’s world shattered. Her father’s death was no accident, and the target on her back was far larger than Spencer Harrington.
