Chapter 13

The Grand Palais had fractured into total bedlam. The pristine, highly curated atmosphere of Paris Fashion Week dissolved into a riot of flashing cameras, shouting critics, and a stampede of luxury buyers furiously texting on their phones.

Above the obsidian runway, the sixty-foot scre

Chapter 14

The morning sun poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse corporate office in downtown Paris. For the last three years, this office had served as the global headquarters for the Damien Sterling brand.

Today, the massive silver "DS" logo on the glass double doors was

Chapter 15

The Mediterranean Sea was a canvas of deep, glittering indigo beneath the twilight sky. The Vance Syndicate’s flagship luxury superyacht, *The Sovereign*, cut smoothly through the gentle waves off the Amalfi Coast, leaving a trail of white foam in its wake.

On the top deck, surrounded