Chapter 1 - The Marble Floor
The cold marble pressed against Charlotte’s bruised cheek.
She tasted copper in her mouth as she slowly caught her breath.
Vanessa Sterling, the city's most ruthless and entitled socialite, stood over her with a vicious sneer.
Vanessa's expensive white silk gown rustled as she aggressively crossed her arms.
"I said, get this trash out of my sight!" Vanessa shrieked at the approaching security guards.
The guards hesitated for a fraction of a second, glancing nervously at the crowd of wealthy, murmuring guests.
Charlotte slowly pushed herself up from the ground.
She ignored the burning pain radiating from her scraped palms.
She refused to break eye contact with the woman who had just assaulted her.
"Are you deaf?" Vanessa barked, her face turning red with fury.
"Throw this homeless beggar out before she ruins the atmosphere of my engagement party!"
Vanessa was engaged to Julian Vance, a man who had once sworn loyalty to Charlotte's late mother.
Julian was standing near the bar, sipping a martini, watching the scene with cold indifference.
He didn't recognize the bruised woman in the simple tank top.
No one did.
They only saw a victim, a nobody who had wandered into the exclusive Solmere Hotel.
Charlotte wiped the thin streak of blood from the corner of her mouth.
She let out a low, chilling laugh that echoed through the sudden silence of the lobby.
Vanessa stepped back, unnerved by the sound.
"What is so funny, you pathetic little rat?" Vanessa demanded.
"I am just admiring your confidence, Vanessa," Charlotte said, her voice surprisingly steady and commanding.
"You speak as if you own this building."
Vanessa scoffed loudly, waving her diamond-clad hand.
"My future husband is the Vice President of Solmere Enterprises."
"We practically do own this building, and we certainly own the police who are going to arrest you."
Charlotte slowly stood up to her full height, rolling her injured shoulders.
"Julian Vance is a Vice President," Charlotte corrected her.
"But he is merely an employee."
The lobby doors suddenly swung open with a massive crash.
Five men in tailored black suits stormed into the hotel, led by an older gentleman with silver hair.
It was Elias Thorne, the legendary chief legal counsel for the Solmere Empire.
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Elias had been desperately searching for Charlotte for six months.
He locked eyes with the bruised young woman in the center of the lobby, and the blood drained from his face.
