The heavy oak doors of the boardroom shut behind Serena with a satisfying, resolute thud.

For the first time in three months, she took a full, deep breath. Her pulse was racing, thrumming against the diamond choker at her throat, but her hands were perfectly steady. She had played the scene out in

The crystal chandeliers of the Grand Palais bathed the ballroom in a warm, golden luminescence, casting fractured rainbows across the imported marble floors. A string quartet played a delicate Vivaldi piece in the corner, though the music was nearly drowned out by the clinking of champagne flutes an

The morning sun filtered through the massive arched windows of the Laurent estate, illuminating the dust motes that danced in the quiet library. Serena sat in a high-backed leather chair, a cup of Earl Grey tea cooling on the mahogany desk in front of her. She was reviewing the latest quarterly proj