Chapter 2 - The Stolen Sketchbook
Three hours before the gala, Nora had almost stayed home. Their six-year-old son, Eli, had been sitting cross-legged on his bed in dinosaur pajamas while Nora stood in the doorway wearing a midnight-blue gown.
"Is Dad coming to get us?" Eli had asked.
"Grandma Teresa is staying with you tonight, remember?" Nora had replied gently.
"I know. But is Dad coming to get you?"
Nora had checked her phone—two unanswered calls, one curt message: Meet me there.
As if his wife were a delivery he wanted routed to the correct entrance.
When Nora arrived at the hotel, she had picked up the event invitation booklet. The event wasn't merely an anniversary gala; it launched the winter bridal collection for Caruso Design Group, the fashion empire Dominic had built. But as Nora flipped through the pages, her heart had stopped.
Three dresses in the booklet were her designs. One in particular made her hands go cold—a narrow-backed wedding gown with a folded shoulder and a visible ivory seam running from collarbone to waist. Nora had drawn it four years earlier in her private sketchbook, before Dominic convinced her to put her career on hold for "stability." She had shown it to only one person: Dominic.
He had stolen her work. He had taken her signature collection, scrubbed her name from the credits, and handed it to Vanessa Moretti, who was now listed as the lead creative director for Caruso Design.
Sitting in the back of a yellow cab as rain streaked the window, Nora wiped the dried blood from her cheek. Dominic thought he had taken her youth, her ambition, and her designs. He thought her quiet nature meant she was weak. He believed that holding the power of the Caruso family meant he could command her loyalty even while destroying her dignity.
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He didn't know that three weeks ago, Nora had found the original blueprints of the Caruso holding companies. She knew where every legitimate and illegitimate asset was registered. She had spent five years being the invisible wife in the shadows, observing everything.
And by sunrise, she was going to burn his sanctuary to the ground.
