Prologue
The Night Everything Changed
She didn't mean to drink that much.
That was a lie, she meant it. Every bitter drop. Every burning gulp.
She meant to forget. At least just for one night.
The ballroom throbbed with bass and secrets. Velvet shadows curled around chandeliers. Masks, glittering and grotesque, floated across the room like ghosts with champagne flutes. Somewhere in the blur, Jade Kosoko found herself backed against a marble pillar, drunk off rebellion and resentment.
And then— there he was.
Brian Payne.
Even masked, she knew it was him.
Tall. Still. Dressed in charcoal black like he was born to bring chaos.
His eyes—cold grey like a storm trying not to start.
Of all the spoiled rich kids in Paris tonight, the universe had to cough up him.
She walks up to him, "Payne," she sneered, eyes glassy but daring.
She twirled her wine glass lazily. "What kind of name is Brian anyway? You sound like a retired stepdad. Or worse—" she squinted, smirking, "a golden retriever."
He didn't flinch. Just watched her like she was a puzzle he didn't care to solve.
"You're drunk," he said flatly.
"No shit, Sherlock."
She leaned in, dangerously close. "But you're still hot. Annoying. But hot."
His jaw twitched.
She smiled wider, letting her fingers trail down his chest, slow and deliberate. "I've always wondered… what it'd be like to ride something expensive and emotionally unavailable." Her laugh was low, reckless. "Guess I'm drunk enough to try."
Brian didn't laugh.
He grabbed her wrist — firm, not cruel — and pulled her hand away.
"You should go home, Jade," he said, voice cool and razor-sharp. "Before you embarrass yourself more than you already have."
Something in her cracked.
But before she could spit back, he was gone.
And five minutes later, security found her in the VIP lounge, lipstick smudged, wine-soaked, and escorted her outside—where her father waited.
One slap.
Three words.
"You're a disgrace."
The next morning, the entire city whispered.
And Jade Kosoko added a new name to her enemies list — carved between heartbreak and humiliation:
Brian. Fucking. Payne