Chapter 3

Linnea's POV

The moment Ambrose's villa door clicked shut, my legs gave out. I slid down the doorframe onto the rug.

"Jesus, Linnea." Ambrose strode over and scooped me off the floor into his arms.

"He put that bitch in his bed, and then he handed her my promotion..." My tears soaked through his shirt. "I gave him three years! Why am I the one tossed out like trash?!"

"Shh, baby. Don't cry." He pressed the back of my head hard against his chest. His heart was beating dangerously fast. He cursed under his breath, "Dorian is a fool. Stomping on you for an empty shell of a whore."

He suddenly tilted my face up, his thumbs roughly wiping away my tears. In those normally refined eyes burned a manic intensity that terrified me.

"Look at me." His voice was gruff. "You're done hiding, right?"

I bit my pale lips and nodded hard. "I want them to pay."

"Good. Put away the weakness." Ambrose suddenly smiled—a strange, radiant smile. He pulled me to the bar, poured a neat bourbon, and shoved it into my hand. "Then let's raise the stakes."

"How?"

"You don't ruin a man by storming his office and slapping him." He leaned in, his gaze highly provocative. "You make him crawl back to your feet like a dog, begging to dump his ridiculous new toy for you. And when he thinks he has you back—when he's ready to die for you—that's when you kick him off the cliff."

My heart skipped a beat.

"Reborn yourself. Show up in front of him," his voice was like poisoned honey drilling into my ears. "Make those two scumbags rip each other's throats out."

"Impossible." I backed away. "Dorian told me to my face I was as flat as a dead fish and boring to look at. I don't know the first thing about seducing a man. How am I supposed to hook him?"

"You think Dorian is a smart man?" Ambrose scoffed. He pulled a manila envelope from the liquor cabinet and threw several high-res photos into my lap. "He's a shallow, lust-driven idiot. Look at this."

In the photos, Nerissa was squeezed into a tight dress, curves on full display, laughing coquettishly next to Dorian.

"He didn't betray you because she's smart. He did it because she knows how to flaunt." He tapped the photo hard. "Think about it. She used to be a nobody. Now? Big tits, fat ass, and a voice right out of a succubus playbook. She stole his pathetic soul."

I looked down at myself: a stiff business suit, a flat figure, and a dull face ruined by all-nighters. Insecurity hit me like a gut punch.

"But I can't become her." I smiled bitterly, my nails digging into my palms. "I don't have curves. I don't have that voice. If I try to act like her, I'll just look like a desperate clown."

"I have a way, Linnea." Ambrose leaned forward, holding my face, forcing me to look into his bottomless eyes. His tone dropped to a whisper, carrying a sick, absolute certainty.

"A shortcut. No time, no effort, instant results. It won't take long before you become the most intoxicating creature in Lira City. You will have all the leverage to crush Nerissa. By then, Dorian will be sick at the very sight of her."

"How could something like that even exist?"

"You are the person I care about the most. I will never let them walk all over you." He articulated every word, his eyes dark. "Just nod, and I'll take you there right now."

Dorian's mocking face, Nerissa's taunt by the elevator—they exploded in my mind on loop. Why did they get to dance on my pride?

"Take me." I grabbed his hand, gritting my teeth. "As long as it ruins them, I'll try anything."

A pale, almost eerie smile hooked Ambrose's lips. He didn't even let me grab a coat before dragging me out the door.

In the passenger seat, the night lights of Lira City blurred past. I gripped my seatbelt, my heart pounding at the thought of total transformation.

I expected a deeply satisfying revenge, to drag those two to hell personally. That was the only lifeline I had, given by the man I trusted entirely.

I thought I was walking into a new life.

I never guessed what Ambrose's "shortcut" actually entailed...