Chapter 1

My best friend, Mia, and I were the ultimate "pocket princesses" of Manhattan’s elite—kept by the city's top tech tycoon and its most ruthless hedge-fund billionaire.

I was Chloe Miller, the always-on-call, hyper-efficient personal assistant and secret lover to Julian Thorne.

She was Mia Higgins, the breathtakingly gorgeous, trophy fiancée to Ryder Vance.

For three years, we played the role of lovesick, brainless women perfectly. But behind their backs, we had already quietly hoarded enough cash to buy our freedom.

Until the legendary "one that got away" returned to the country.

Julian canceled a multi-billion-dollar merger just to pick her up from JFK.

Ryder maxed out his credit cards at an elite auction house just to buy her a welcome-back gift.

Oh, look. The main character is back.

Time for the stand-ins to clock out.

When my phone buzzed, I was meticulously tying Julian Thorne’s tie for tonight's charity gala.

A pop-up notification flashed on my screen: "Prodigy cellist Seraphina Sterling returns to New York; JFK airport swarmed by paparazzi as she gets into a mysterious luxury ride."

My hand slipped. The deep blue Windsor knot went crooked.

Julian frowned, his tone dripping with impatience. "Can't you even do a simple thing like this right?"

I immediately lowered my eyelashes, putting on my signature terrified, submissive face.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Thorne. Let me redo it."

He let out a cold sneer and checked his Rolex. His face was tighter than I had ever seen it.

I knew exactly why he was anxious.

The mysterious luxury car waiting at JFK was his prized, custom Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

His chauffeur, Marcus, had texted me ten minutes ago saying Julian ordered him to pick someone up and that I wasn't needed.

I finished the knot flawlessly and smoothed out the wrinkles on his designer suit jacket.

"Mr. Thorne, do you still need me to accompany you to the charity gala tonight?"

Julian paused as he adjusted his cuffs.

He looked at me through the mirror, his gaze analyzing me with a hint of thinly veiled disgust.

"No. I have a date tonight."

I nodded submissively. "Understood. Should I clear your schedule for the next three days?"

He seemed slightly surprised by how cooperative I was. Usually, the moment I heard about him having another woman, I would cling to his arm with teary eyes, begging him to take me with him.

"Yes. Glad you're finally showing some common sense."

He grabbed his car keys and walked out without another word of explanation.

The second the door clicked shut, the heartbreakingly pitiful look on my face vanished instantly.

I pulled out my phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Hey, Mia. The cello girl is finally back."

Loud music blared from the other end. Mia’s voice sounded incredibly relaxed.

"I know. Ryder, that absolute clown, just froze my authorized credit card to buy her some antique cello."

I walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, watching Julian’s car speed away into the New York traffic.

"Our chance is here."

"Ugh, thank god. I couldn't stand playing this pathetic 'substitute' drama for another second."

Mia and I met in a foster home.

In this city where money is everything, our only religion was cash.

Three years ago, I started working at the Thorne Group.

Because my side profile looked about thirty percent like Seraphina's, I became Julian’s personal assistant—and eventually, his bedmate.

Mia’s story was even crazier.

She wore white silk dresses just like Seraphina, making her the perfect contract fiancée for Ryder Vance, the second heir of the Vance family.

For three years, we didn't just serve them in bed; we cleaned up their messy lives outside of it too.

When Julian’s chronic stomach ulcers flared up, I’d wake up at 3:00 AM to brew him soothing herbal soup and drive it to the hospital.

When Ryder wanted to spite Seraphina for moving abroad, he dragged Mia out into a torrential downpour to play out a dramatic lovers' spat all night.

Everyone in their high-society circle said Chloe Miller and Mia Higgins were the two most loyal dogs they owned.

Kick them, insult them, they'd still wag their tails for a bone.

But what they didn't know was that we had been collecting those bones for three whole years.

I opened my hidden wall safe and pulled out a thick stack of documents.

These were backups of all the Thorne Group's shady financial transactions over the past three years. Of course, that was just my shield.

What really mattered was the black card in my hand.

It held all the "severance pay," "holiday bonuses," and the millions I made investing using insider tips Julian casually dropped.

A total of twelve million dollars.

"Ping."

Mia sent me a screenshot of a wire transfer from Ryder. The memo read: "Don't bother me for the next few days."

Mia: "Two hundred and fifty grand. How generous. But guess what? It pushed us right over our $10 million goal!"

I replied with a meme: "Time to pull the net."

For three years, we were like hard-working hamsters.

We didn't just hoard cash; we built networks and gathered resources.

We even co-purchased a commercial building in a newly developed district upstate.

We already named our new firm: Gemini PR.

Everything was set. All we needed was Seraphina Sterling’s return.