The manager’s words hung in the dead silence of the boutique.
The woman in the silver masquerade mask let out a harsh, nervous laugh. “So your daddy bought a dress shop. How cute. That doesn’t change what you are.”
Isabella didn’t flinch. She reached up, her fingers lightly tracing the three deep, bleeding scratches the woman’s diamond rings had just left on her cheek.
The timid, wounded girl was gone. In her eyes, a lethal calm ignited.
“He didn’t just buy the shop, Vivian,” Isabella said. Her voice didn’t echo, but it carried a weight that made the room’s temperature plummet.
The manager calmly flipped to the second page of his folder. “As of 9:00 AM, Vanguard Holdings acquired this boutique, the attached manufacturing warehouses, and the entirety of your husband’s outstanding collateralized debt.”
The blood instantly drained from Vivian’s face. The cruel amusement among her wealthy friends evaporated into suffocating panic.
“Collateralized debt?” Vivian stammered, her glittering mask suddenly looking pathetic, like a clown’s makeup. “My husband’s assets are secure—”
“Your husband leveraged your Aspen estate, your yacht, and your private trusts to keep this failing brand afloat,” Isabella interrupted, taking a slow, predatory step forward. “He was bankrupt. We bought the debt. Which means I don’t just own the dresses.”
Isabella looked around the sparkling showroom, then locked eyes with the trembling woman who had assaulted her just minutes ago.
A single tear cut through the fresh blood on the young bride’s cheek, but her expression was pure ice. She leaned in close, delivering her final words in a trembling, absolute whisper.
“I own your entire life. Now take off the mask, and get out of my store.”