The ballroom held its breath.
Isabella turned back, her dress catching the light like a drawn blade.
“That fifty grand you offered me?”
Alex swallowed hard.
“You don’t have it.”
A low murmur rippled through the elite crowd.
Alex forced a scoff, his face flushing dark red. “Are you insane? My company—”
“Your company,” Isabella interrupted, her voice cutting like glass, “was acquired at exactly 4:00 PM today.”
Alex froze.
“By a private firm. Named *Silver Tray Holdings*.”
She gestured toward the edge of the room. A man in a tailored suit stepped out of the shadows.
Alex’s CFO.
He refused to meet Alex’s eyes.
“Hostile takeover,” Isabella smiled. A razor coated in sugar. “You were too busy bullying my staff to check your emails.”
Panicking, Alex spun toward his fiancée.
“Elena, tell her! Your father’s trust—we have the capital!”
But Elena wasn’t looking at him.
She was looking at Isabella.
Slowly, methodically, Elena unclasped the heavy diamond necklace Alex had bought her. She dropped it onto a passing waiter’s tray with a sharp *clink*.
“Flawless performance, Elena,” Isabella said softly.
Elena smirked, stepping away from Alex. “Pleasure doing business with you, Ms. Laurent.”
Alex’s reality completely shattered.
His fiancé. His company. His entire empire.
A setup.
Isabella stepped intimately close, lowering her voice so only he could hear the final strike.
“I didn’t put on a maid’s uniform just to see what kind of man you are, Alex.”
She tapped his chest, right over his hammering heart.
“I put it on to get close enough to take everything you had.”
Isabella snapped her fingers. The orchestra instantly swelled back to life.
“Security?” she announced, her voice echoing effortlessly across the glittering room. “Please escort this man to the service exit.”
She offered one last, devastating smile.
“He’s no longer on the guest list.”