Chapter 1 - The Woman in the SnowI never thought I would see my ex-wife again.
Certainly not like that.
It was eleven forty-three on a January night when my security chief called from the front gate.
“Mr. Cross, you need to come outside.”
I was in the library with my fiancée, Veronica Kane, reviewing final documents for the largest merger of my career.
“Is it urgent?”
Harris hesitated.
“Yes, sir.”
Something in his voice made me stand.
Outside, snow fell hard enough to erase the driveway within minutes.
Two guards stood near the iron gate.
Neither moved.
Then I saw why.
A woman lay curled beside the stone wall.
Thin coat.
Torn gloves.
Barely conscious.
For several seconds, I did not recognize her.
Then she lifted her face.
“Elena?”
My chest tightened.
Five years.
Five years since Elena Cross—then Elena Mercer—stood in a courthouse and signed the divorce papers that destroyed our marriage.
Five years since she transferred critical voting rights in Cross Continental to my biggest rival, Marcus Vale.
Five years since newspapers called me:
THE BILLIONAIRE WHO LOST HIS WIFE AND HIS COMPANY IN THE SAME WEEK.
I had rebuilt.
Quietly.
Painfully.
Cross Continental was now worth more than it had ever been.
And the woman blamed for nearly destroying it was lying in the snow outside my gate.
“Elena!”
I ran.
Harris followed.
Her skin was frighteningly cold.
Her lips were split.
Blood had frozen beneath one nostril.
“Elena, can you hear me?”
Her eyes opened.
“Adrian…”
She barely had enough breath.
“I had nowhere else to go.”
Then she collapsed against me.
I lifted her.
Behind us came a scream.
“ADRIAN!”
Veronica stood on the steps in a silk evening dress.
No coat.
Anger apparently provided sufficient insulation.
“Have you lost your mind?”
I carried Elena toward the house.
Veronica followed.
“That woman betrayed you!”
“I know.”
“She gave Marcus your company!”
“I remember.”
“She humiliated you in front of the entire country!”
“I was there, Veronica.”
“Then put her down!”
I stopped.
Looked at her.
Something in my expression silenced her.
“She’s freezing to death.”
“That isn’t your responsibility.”
“No.”
I looked at Elena.
“But leaving someone outside to die would be my choice.”
I carried her inside.
Dr. Samuel Lee, my private physician, arrived twenty minutes later.
Mild hypothermia.
Dehydration.
Bruising.
Possible fractured rib.
And marks around both wrists.
While Lee examined her, Veronica paced.
“This is exactly how Elena operates.”
Harris looked at her.
“You know Mrs. Mercer well?”
Veronica stopped.
“No.”
Interesting.
Elena began waking.
Her fingers suddenly closed around my wrist.
“Adrian.”
“I’m here.”
“Listen.”
“You need to rest.”
“No time.”
Her eyes moved toward Veronica.
Then upward.
Toward the ceiling.
“Cameras.”
I frowned.
“What cameras?”
“Copies…”
Her breathing became uneven.
“Copies of what?”
“The merger.”
I leaned closer.
“Offshore accounts.”
Pause.
Then:
“Death payments.”
Everything inside me became still.
Marcus Vale was scheduled to merge Vale Strategic Holdings with Cross Continental in twenty-seven days.
Veronica had championed the deal.
She said combining the companies would finally end a decade of hostility.
I agreed publicly.
Privately, my lawyers had already identified enough irregularities to delay closing.
But murder?
“Elena.”
She pulled up her sleeve.
A dark rectangular mark covered the inside of her forearm.
Harris swore.
“What is that?”
He crouched.
“Private detention identification.”
I looked at him.
“Legal?”
“Not remotely.”
Elena had been held somewhere.
Registered like property.
Veronica laughed.
“This is absurd.”
Elena’s eyes opened one final time.
“Check…”
She struggled for breath.
“…who installed your cameras.”
Then lost consciousness.
I looked upward.
Twenty-seven security cameras covered my estate.
Installed eighteen months earlier after Veronica insisted my old system was outdated.
I turned toward Harris.
“Who installed them?”
He frowned.
“Prestige Residential Security.”
“I never approved Prestige.”
Harris stared.
“I assumed you did.”
Veronica went completely still.
I looked at her.
“Did you?”
She smiled too quickly.
“Adrian, this is ridiculous.”
“Harris.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Seal the estate.”
Veronica’s expression changed.
“What?”
“No one leaves.”
“You cannot imprison people in your house.”
“I’m not.”
I looked at Harris.
“Open every gate for anyone who wants to leave.”
Then:
“But photograph every vehicle, preserve every device currently connected to my network, and call my attorney.”
Veronica stared at me.
“You’re choosing her again.”
“No.”
I looked at the unconscious woman beside the fireplace.
“I’m choosing to find out why someone nearly froze to death outside my home.”
Harris disappeared into the security room.
Seven minutes later, he called me.
When I arrived, his face was pale.
Twenty-seven cameras appeared across the monitors.
“Sir…”
“What?”
“These feeds aren’t only recording locally.”
“Where are they going?”
“External mirror server.”
“Whose?”
He traced the registration.
Then stopped.
The account holder appeared.
KANE STRATEGIC CONSULTING LLC
I slowly turned.
Veronica Kane stood in the doorway.
May you like
For the first time in three years—
my fiancée looked afraid.
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