The Grand Solarium of the Beaumont Hotel was a masterpiece of glass and steel, currently overflowing with the city's most elite socialites, industry moguls, and flashing press cameras. A massive, gold-leaf banner hung suspended over the sweeping staircase: *NEW BEGINNINGS: VANESSA VANCE DESIGNS.*

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The private elevator ride to the top floor of the Vance Tower was suffocatingly silent. Harper stood staring at the polished brass doors, her pulse still hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs. The phantom heat of Silas’s mouth lingered on her lips, a dangerous, electric tingling that she could

The morning sun did nothing to warm the chill that had settled in Harper’s bones. She sat at a small, secluded table in the back of a chic, minimalist café three blocks from the Vance Tower. A half-empty oat milk latte sat growing cold beside her tablet, which was currently displaying a barrage of d