At my birthday party, my husband tied me to a ceiling beam and whipped me thirty times because I had stained his mistress’s dress. “Maybe now you’ll learn your place,” he laughed while everyone watched. I didn’t cry. When they finally cut me down, I picked up my phone and called my five gangster brothers. “Make his entire family beg for mercy,” I whispered. Then the front gates suddenly slammed shut.

Clover realized the ship was completely submerged. She didn't look at Isaac with adoration anymore; she looked at him with utter disgust.

"You lied to me!" Clover shrieked at Isaac, snatching her designer purse from the sofa. "You told me your family owned half of California! You told me you were going to make me the queen of high society! You're nothing but a pathetic fraud in debt to your wife!"

She turned on her heel, attempting to march toward the exit. "I'm leaving. None of this has anything to do with me."

"Hold on, Miss Miller," Caleb’s smooth voice cut through the air.

Clover stopped in her tracks, her hand hovering over the door handle.

Caleb walked casually toward her, flipping through pages on his tablet. "Clover Miller. Age twenty-eight. Former escort in Las Vegas, currently posing as an interior designer. Did you really think Isaac was your only client?"

Isaac blinked, his eyes snapping to Clover. "What?"

"Six months ago," Caleb read aloud from his report, "while Isaac was paying for your Los Angeles penthouse, you were also receiving monthly transfers of fifteen thousand dollars from Richard Vance—Isaac’s uncle."

Arthur Vance’s head snapped up. "What?! Richard?!"

"That's right," Caleb smiled wickedly. "Clover wasn't just sleeping with Isaac. She was sleeping with his uncle Richard, and two weeks ago, she met with a representative from Apex Construction—Vance Construction’s primary corporate rival—to sell them the blueprint schematics for the new municipal stadium project."

Isaac’s jaw dropped. He looked at Clover as if he were seeing a demon. "You... you passed our corporate schematics to Apex?!"

"She sold them for eight hundred thousand dollars," Caleb added. "The wire transfer hit her offshore account yesterday morning."

Clover’s face went dead white. She clutched her handbag tightly to her chest, her breathing frantic. "You... you've been spying on me?!"

"I don't spy on nobodies, Miss Miller," Caleb said coldly. "I investigate threats to my sister. The moment Isaac brought you into Flora's life, my team cataloged every text message, every bank transaction, and every hotel reservation you ever made."

Isaac lunged forward, grabbing Clover by her shoulders and shaking her violently. "You dirty snake! I gave you everything! I humiliated my wife for you! I whipped her in front of fifty people to make you happy!"

"Let go of me, you poor pathetic bastard!" Clover screamed, slapping Isaac across the face with all her strength. "You're broke! Your father is broke! Your company is dead! Why would I stay with a loser like you?!"

Wendy Vance gasped, slumping onto the sofa in tears, while Arthur put his head in his hands and began to weep silently.