Chapter 1

I was sitting on the lobby couch, waiting for my dad—the bank's president—to finish work. In my hands, I was quietly playing with a collectible model sports car.

Out of nowhere, the floor manager stormed over. With one violent smack, she knocked the car model right out of my hands, pointing a manicured finger directly in my face.

"This is a bank, not a daycare! It’s because of trash like you that our thirty-million-dollar VIP client just walked out in disgust!"

I held my stinging hand, shaking my head in tears. "I’ve been quiet the whole time. I didn't do anything..."

"Still playing the innocent victim?"

She let out a harsh scoff, grabbing my collar with a cruel twist.

"Look at you, dressed in fancy clothes like some high-end escort trying to land a Wall Street sugar daddy! I should call the cops and find out which escort agency you crawled out of!"

Tears welled up in my eyes from the pain. Shaking, I dialed my dad's number.

"Dad... your employee just hit me."

My dad was in a board meeting and didn’t pick up.

The floor manager, Naomi Perez, sneered. Before I could hit redial, she snatched the phone right out of my hand.

Her long, razor-sharp acrylic nails scraped across the back of my hand, leaving a deep, bloody scratch.

"Smash!"

She hurled my phone straight onto the hard marble floor, shattering it into pieces.

I bit my lip so hard I could taste blood, forcing my tears back.

This was the first flagship branch my dad had opened in New York. If I made a scene and cried in the lobby, it would bring bad luck to the grand opening.

My dad loved me so much. I couldn’t ruin his big day.

Suppressing the pain, I whispered, "Ma'am, I really wasn't being loud..."

"'Ma'am'?!"

The word set her off like a bomb. Naomi's face twisted into an ugly mask, her heavy foundation cracking with rage.

"Who the hell are you calling 'Ma'am', you little brat?! Do I look old to you?! Are you trying to piss me off on purpose?!"

She raised her stiletto heel, aiming straight for the model car on the floor.

"No! Stop!" I screamed.

Last month was my fifteenth birthday. My dad knew how much I loved sports cars, so he had pulled strings overseas to get this for me.

It was a limited edition—only ten existed in the world.

"Crunch!"

Under her heel, the delicate car model shattered into tiny, irreparable fragments.

My heart shattered with it. I lunged forward and shoved her away. "That was my birthday gift! It's irreplaceable!"

Stumbling back two steps, Naomi flared with humiliation. She swung her foot and kicked me straight in the chest.

"A piece of cheap plastic! How precious could it possibly be?!"

I collapsed onto the floor, the wind knocked out of me. The pain was so intense I couldn't sit up.

The noise drew the attention of clients in the lobby. A crowd quickly gathered.

"What's going on? Why is she hitting that girl?"

Instantly, Naomi put on a show of tears and righteous fury, pointing accusingly at me.

"Don't blame me! We had a massive high-net-worth client ready to deposit thirty million dollars!"

"Then this little tramp, dressed like a club girl, started posing and flirting with him!"

"Our VIP saw this cheap circus, thought our bank had zero standards, and walked right out!"

The whispers in the crowd instantly flipped.

"Unbelievable. Girls these days will do anything for money..."

"She looks so young and innocent, but she's completely rotten inside."

The murmurs crashed over me like tidal waves. The pity in their eyes turned into pure disgust and cold disdain.

Just then, the crowd parted. Ryan Scott, the vice president, walked over with a storm on his face. He had heard the commotion from upstairs.

"What is all this shouting about?! Do you think this is a flea market?!"

Seeing him, Naomi acted as if her savior had arrived. She rushed over, wiping fake tears. "Ryan, you have to help me! Marcus Vance from the Vance Group was about to sign a thirty-million deposit! But because this little slut tried to seduce him, he stormed off furious! We just lost our biggest deal of the quarter!"

The Vance Group?

I gasped, struggling to push myself up from the cold floor. "Marcus Vance is my uncle! Why would I ever seduce him?!"