Chapter 1 - THE SCISSORS AND THE SILK.
The sprawling living room of the Sterling estate was a monument to generational wealth and untouchable power.
Imported Italian marble covered the floor, gleaming beneath the harsh light of massive crystal chandeliers. To twenty-two-year-old Maya, however, the luxurious New York mansion had only ever been a gilded prison.
She wore a faded gray sweater and worn jeans, scrubbing the baseboards while trying to remain invisible. As the orphaned niece of the late tech billionaire, she was treated by her remaining family as nothing more than a charity case.
The oppressive silence was suddenly shattered by a terrified yowl.
Maya dropped her sponge.
Standing over the grand marble table was her aunt Vivian, dressed in an extravagant burgundy silk gown. Cornered beneath her diamond-covered hand was Jasper, Maya’s trembling tabby-and-white cat.
Around his neck rested a heavy high-tech collar with a dark gem at its center—the final possession Maya’s father had given her before his sudden death.
Vivian pinned Jasper down and raised a pair of heavy metal shears.
“Time to cut your lifeline, you little beast.”
Maya sprinted across the room and threw herself over the table, shielding Jasper with her body.
Vivian stopped the blades inches from Maya’s face.
“This million-dollar estate is mine, not some dirty stray’s!”
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The metal grazed the collar’s dark gem.
A low mechanical hum vibrated through the marble.
