The champagne bottle slipped from Victoria Sterling's manicured fingers, crystal shards scattering across Italian marble like her shattered world.
"Did you really think I could ever love someone like you?"
The words cut deeper than any hostile takeover, any boardroom betrayal she'd faced climbing to the top of the business world.
Victoria Sterling, the woman who'd built a tech empire worth sixty billion dollars, who'd been featured on every magazine cover, who commanded respect from world leaders, stood frozen in her own penthouse doorway.
Her husband of five years, Marcus, didn't even bother to cover himself as the blonde scrambled to gather her clothes. Instead, he laughed.
That same laugh that had once made her teenage heart flutter now sounded like breaking glass.
"Marcus." Her voice came out steadier than she felt. "Get out."
"Get out?" He stood, completely naked and completely shameless. "From the house I've lived in for five years? I don't think so, darling."
Victoria's jaw tightened. She'd faced down Fortune 500 CEOs and had stared down hostile shareholders, but nothing had prepared her for this moment.
"This is my house. My money. My—"
"Your money?" Marcus's eyes glittered with something ugly. "You mean the money you only have because you got lucky with a lottery ticket? Face it, Victoria. Without that lucky break, you'd still be the pathetic little nerd doing everyone's homework for free."
She remembered those days, staying up all night writing his essays, solving his math problems, desperately hoping that maybe, just maybe, he'd notice her as more than a convenience.
Looking back at it, she had truly been blinded by love.
"I built Sterling Industries from nothing," she said quietly, her voice deadly calm. "I turned that lottery money into an empire."
Marcus crossed his hands, a smirk plastered on his face. "With my support, who do you think encouraged you? Who do you think stood by your side at all those boring business dinners? I earned every penny of your success."
The blonde had slipped out during their argument, but Marcus seemed to have forgotten she ever existed. His focus was entirely on Victoria now, and she realized with crystalline clarity that this was the real him. This was who he'd always been.
"You're right," Victoria said, her voice eerily calm. "You did stand by my side. You stood there while I worked eighteen-hour days. You stood there while I made the decisions that built our fortune. You stood there and took everything I gave you, like a good boy."
"Finally, some gratitude—"
"While plotting to betray me the entire time." Victoria pulled out her phone. "I want you out of this house within the hour. My lawyers will contact you about the divorce."
Marcus's face twisted with rage. "You think you can just dismiss me? Like I'm some employee you can fire?"
"Yes," Victoria said simply. "That's exactly what I think. You are nothing but a scummy rat that I've raised with my hands. Without me...you are nothing, and I will prove it to you."
The Marcus in front of her was not the same man with the charming smile, easy laugh and gentle touches she treasured more than anything.
What stood before her was a stranger—a stranger who'd been wearing her husband's face for five years.
"You sanctimonious bitch," he snarled, lunging forward. "You think you're so high and mighty with your billions? You're still the same desperate little girl who'd do anything for my attention!"
His hands slammed into her shoulders, and Victoria stumbled backwards.
Time seemed to slow as she felt herself falling, her head rushing toward the sharp corner of the glass coffee table she'd imported from Switzerland.
The last thing she saw was Marcus's face—not shocked, not apologetic, but satisfied.
The last thing she thought was that she'd wasted her entire life loving someone who had never existed.
Darkness claimed Victoria Sterling, the richest woman in the world, as champagne and blood pooled together on marble that cost more than most people's houses.
But death, it seemed, had other plans.
Victoria's eyes snapped open to fluorescent lights and the sound of teenagers chattering.
Ugh! Where...am I?
"Victoria! Victoria! Can you hear me?" Charlotte's hands moved across her face in an attempt to catch her attention.
Victoria's eyes widened at the sight in front of her.
How! I'm back to...the time I was in high school!