Scarlett's POV
The conference room is too cold.
Or maybe it's just me. I've been sitting here for ten minutes, waiting for Adrian Blackwell to arrive, and my hands won't stop shaking.
Devon set up the room perfectly. Water glasses on the table, condensation already forming on the outside. Leather portfolio positioned just right. Two pens one for me, one for the client. Everything professional and polished, exactly the way I've done a hundred times before.
But I feel like I'm about to shatter into a million pieces.
You can still cancel, Devon says from the doorway. His voice is gentle but worried. I'll tell him you had an emergency. Family crisis. Food poisoning. Whatever you want. We'll refer him to another firm and you'll never have to see him again.
The offer is tempting. So tempting.
No. My voice sounds stronger than I feel. I'm doing this.
Devon gives me a long look. We've worked together for two years. He knows when I'm lying to myself. Okay. But I'm right outside if you need me. You text me one wordany wordand I'm in here immediately.
I'll be fine.
You're not fine. You haven't been fine since you saw his name yesterday. Devon crosses his arms. But I trust you. Just… remember who you are now. Not who you were.
He leaves. Closes the door softly behind him.
I'm alone with my racing heart and three years of carefully buried rage.
I check my reflection in the window. Platinum blonde hair styled in soft waves. Makeup flawless smoky eyes, nude lips, perfectly contoured cheekbones. Black power suit that cost three thousand dollars. Heels that add three inches to my height.
I look nothing like Lettie Morgan.
That's the point. That's always been the point.
But sitting here, about to see Adrian for the first time in three years, I suddenly wish I looked like myself. My real self. The girl with brown hair and thrift store dresses and dreams that didn't include revenge.
The door opens.
And Adrian Blackwell walks into my life again.
Time does something strange. Slows down and speeds up at the same time. I see everything in painful detail.
He's even more handsome than I remember. Three years have sharpened his features, carved away the softness of youth and left something harder. More refined. His dark hair is longer than he used to wear it, styled in that effortlessly perfect way that probably takes twenty minutes and three products. His suit is charcoal gray, custom-tailored to his athletic frame. A Rolex glints on his wrist the same one his father gave him when he turned twenty-one.
But it's his eyes that stop my heart.
Green. That specific shade of green that used to make me believe in forever. The color of deep forests and old money and promises whispered in the dark.
Those eyes look right at me.
And show absolutely no recognition.
Nothing. Not a flicker. Not a pause. He looks at me the way you'd look at any professional woman in an office polite interest, professional courtesy, nothing more.
Three years of missing him. Three years of hating him. Three years of becoming someone new so I could survive losing him.
And he doesn't even know who I am.
Ms. Monroe? He extends his hand, professional smile in place. Perfect white teeth. The smile that used to make my knees weak. Adrian Blackwell. Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice.
I stand. Force my legs to work. My heels click on the floor a sound Lettie Morgan never made. She wore sneakers and flats. Scarlett Monroe wears weapons.
I take his hand.
The moment our skin touches, electricity shoots through me. My breath catches. My heart stumbles. For one terrifying second, I think I might cry or scream or tell him everything who I am, who I was, how he destroyed me, how I've spent three years rebuilding from the ashes of what he left behind.
But Adrian just shakes my hand firmly. His grip is warm and confident and completely impersonal. Then he lets go. No reaction. No spark. No recognition.
Nothing.
He doesn't know who I am.
I should be relieved. This is what I wanted. What I planned for. The whole reason I changed my name, my hair, my entire existence. So I could walk back into his life as someone he'd never suspect.
But instead, it feels like being erased. Like Lettie Morgan never existed at all. Like the six months we spent together, the love I thought we shared, the baby we lost all of it meant so little that he can look at a woman with my eyes, my voice, my mannerisms, and see a complete stranger.
Please, sit. I gesture to the chair across from me. My voice is steady. Professional. Scarlett Monroe's voice, not Lettie's. Lower, more controlled. I taught myself to speak differently. Can I get you anything? Water? Coffee?
I'm fine, thank you. He sits, crossing one leg over the other. Completely at ease while I'm dying inside. I appreciate you taking this meeting. Your reputation is impressive. They say you're the best breakup strategist in Manhattan.
I'm good at what I do. I open my portfolio, pull out a blank contract. Anything to have something to do with my hands. They're shaking slightly. I hope he doesn't notice. Why don't you tell me about your situation? Start from the beginning.
Adrian takes a breath. For the first time, I see a crack in his perfect facade. Exhaustion around his eyes faint dark circles that expensive concealer can't quite hide. Tension in his shoulders. A tightness in his jaw.
He's not sleeping well. Good.
I'm engaged to Victoria Ashford. Have been for three years. He says it like a prison sentence. Our families arranged it a merger of Blackwell Industries and Ashford Bank. On paper, it's perfect. Two powerful families becoming one dynasty. In reality… He trails off, looking for the right words.
You don't love her, I finish.
No. And she doesn't love me. We're both trapped in something neither of us wants. We've talked about it privately. We're friends, actually. Good friends. But we're not in love. We've never even pretended to be. Adrian runs his hand through his hair a gesture I remember. He does it when he's stressed. The problem is her father. Gregory Ashford.
I write the name down. Circle it. Tell me about him.
Powerful. Connected. Ruthless. Adrian chooses each word carefully. He built Ashford Bank from nothing forty years ago. Now he has connections in government, law enforcement, the courts. The kind of man who doesn't accept no for an answer. The kind who makes people who cross him… disappear.
Are you afraid of him?
Terrified. The honesty in Adrian's voice surprises me. Gregory orchestrated this engagement with my father three years ago. They were best friends. They decided their children should unite the families. Neither Victoria nor I had a choice.
Everyone has a choice, I say before I can stop myself.
Adrian's eyes meet mine. Not in my world, Ms. Monroe. In my world, family legacy means everything. Business means everything. What you want, who you love that's weakness. Liability.
Who you love. The words hang in the air between us.
So you're here because… I prompt.
Because if Victoria and I break up publicly, it'll look like a failed merger. Gregory's ego won't tolerate that. He'll destroy anyone involved. My company, my reputation, everything I've built. And Victoria would face worse he controls her trust fund, her social standing, her entire life.
I study Adrian's face. He looks genuinely worried. Trapped. Nothing like the cruel playboy who ghosted me at his own party three years ago. Nothing like the monster I've built up in my head.
This is worse. This is complicated.
So you need a strategy, I say. A way to end the engagement that protects both you and Victoria from her father's retaliation.
Exactly. Adrian leans forward, his intensity filling the space between us. I've been researching options for months. Your name kept coming up. People say you're discreet, creative, and you've never failed a client.
I haven't failed anyone yet. I allow myself a small smile. Because I'm very good at understanding what people really want. Not what they say they want what they actually want. And what they're willing to do to get it.
What I want is freedom. For both of us. Victoria deserves to marry someone she actually loves. So do I.
My pen stops moving. You're in love with someone else?
The question comes out sharper than I intended. Adrian notices. His eyes flicker with something I can't read.
I was. Three years ago. But I ruined it. Lost her. Made the worst decision of my life. His expression changes. Becomes distant. Haunted. Sad in a way that makes my chest tight. She's probably moved on by now. Found someone better. Someone who didn't… He stops himself. It doesn't matter. The point is, I can't marry Victoria when I'm still
He doesn't finish. Doesn't need to.
I see. My throat is tight. I force myself to keep writing notes. My handwriting looks shaky. And this woman from three years ago. Do you think about her often?
Every day. Adrian's voice is barely above a whisper. Every single day for three years. I wonder if she's happy. If she's safe. If she ever forgave me for what I did.
The answer is no. Lettie never forgave you. Lettie died hating you.
But Scarlett… Scarlett doesn't know what she feels anymore.
I clear my throat. Mr. Blackwell, what I do isn't cheap. And it requires complete honesty between us. So I'm going to ask you something, and I need the truth.
Okay.
Why now? You've been engaged for three years. Your father has been dead for six months. What changed today, this week, that made you finally decide to do this?
Adrian is quiet for a long moment. He stands, walks to the window. Looks out at Manhattan spread below us like a kingdom.
My father died six months ago. Heart attack in his office. Quick, they said. He didn't suffer. Adrian's voice is flat. When I went through his things, I found files. Records of things he'd done. People he'd hurt to protect the family name. Businesses he'd destroyed. Lives he'd ruined.
He turns back to me. His eyes are wet.
Including someone I cared about. Someone I thought I was protecting by staying away from. I found evidence that my father had her fired from her job. Found documentation of a plan to destroy her father's business, her sister's future, everything she loved. He was going to systematically demolish her entire world if I didn't end our relationship.
I can't breathe. Can't move.
So I left her, Adrian continues. I ghosted her without explanation. Let her think I was just another rich bastard who got bored. Because I thought God, I was so stupid I thought I was saving her. Protecting her from my father's cruelty.
A tear slides down his cheek. He wipes it away roughly.
But all I did was hurt her worse. I found out recently that she was pregnant when I left. She lost the baby. Alone. And I… His voice breaks completely. I wasn't there. I didn't know. I robbed her of the choice to fight beside me. I made the decision for both of us like my father taught me. Like men in my family always do. We decide what's best and everyone else just has to accept it.
I'm crying now too. Silent tears I can't stop.
I can't change the past, Adrian says. But I can stop repeating my father's mistakes. I can stop letting him control my life from the grave. I can stop making decisions for other people. So yes, Ms. Monroe. Now. It has to be now. Because if I marry Victoria, I'm just continuing the cycle. And I can't do that anymore.
The room is silent except for the hum of the air conditioning.
I want to scream at him. Want to tell him that I'm her. I'm the woman he left. I'm the one who lost everything. I'm sitting right here and he can't even see me.
But instead I say, I'll take your case.