PART FOUR: THE TRAP Panic was an ugly color on Declan Hayes. Inside the glass-walled CEO suite of Aura Dynamics, the atmosphere was toxic. The sleek modern…

PART THREE: THE ALLIANCE Morning sunlight filtered through the bulletproof floor-to-ceiling windows of Nathaniel St. James’s triplex penthouse in Knightsbridge, casting long geometric shadows across the polished…

PART TWO: THE RESCUE Isabella arrived at the V&A Museum looking like an avenging angel. She wore a backless floor-length gown of liquid silver silk that clung…

PART ONE: THE BETRAYAL The rain in London had a way of seeping into the bones, but Isabella Dubois hardly felt the chill as her black cab…

PART FIVE: THE RECKONING The developers looked utterly confused. “Lord Charles?” One of them asked, a thick French accent lacing his words. “Who is this woman? We…

PART FOUR: THE CONFRONTATION The sight of Preston Parker trudging down the two-mile gravel driveway of Oakhaven Estate, dragging a single scuffed suitcase through the mud, was…

PART THREE: THE AMBUSH To execute the plan flawlessly, we needed a calculated approach. Mr. Abernathy organized a three-pronged strike. First, asset freezing. At exactly four o’clock…

PART TWO: THE REVELATION Panic, shock, and a bizarre sense of clarity crashed over me all at once. I dug deeper into the cedar chest, tearing away…

PART ONE: THE BREAKING The grand foyer of Oakhaven Estate had always felt like a fairy tale to me. The sweeping mahogany staircase, the crystal chandeliers, the…