The invitation was printed on thick cream cardstock, pressed with gold lettering.
Serena left it on Malik's desk that morning, next to his coffee.
The New Horizons Gala — A Celebration of Innovation and Art.
Her handwritten note in the corner read:
Need you there. Big night for the gallery.
Malik stared at it for a moment.
It was always a gala, a launch, a "big night."
Always another layer of glitter glued over the hollow framework of their life.
He sipped his coffee slowly.
Another event. Another costume party.
Another photo opportunity for Serena to smile wide and pretend everything was perfect.
He folded the invitation neatly in half and tucked it into his jacket pocket.
He would go.
Of course he would go.
Because sometimes it was better to let people build the stage themselves—
Before you burned it down.
At lunch, Serena chattered about the event over salads and champagne.
"This is huge," she said, twirling her fork absently. "Celina's going to showcase a new piece, and a lot of major investors are flying in."
She paused just long enough to let the weight of her next words land.
"Even Sierra Thorne confirmed she's attending."
Malik arched a brow.
He had heard the name before—whispers through the city's corporate corridors.
Sierra Thorne.
CEO. Rising mogul.
A woman who moved through boardrooms and charity circuits like a queen no one dared to challenge.
Serena laughed lightly, but there was an edge under it.
"If this goes well," she said, sipping her wine,
"maybe people will start putting me in the same conversations as her."
Malik said nothing.
He only studied the way Serena's fingers tightened slightly around her glass.
She didn't want partnership.
She wanted comparison.
Approval.
A seat at a table she didn't realize Sierra had already built herself, without asking permission.
That night, while Serena went over seating charts and press packets, Malik sat in his private study, reviewing something else entirely.
Victoria Lane had emailed the preliminary draft agreements.
A clean financial severance.
A complete shielding of his assets.
He scrolled through the documents, reading every clause, every line.
Simple.
Surgical.
Devastating.
He saved the files onto an encrypted drive and tucked it back into his safe.
Not yet.
Timing mattered.
When he struck, it would be total.
Not just financial.
Not just reputational.
It would leave Serena standing in a gallery of broken mirrors—
Staring at her own ruin, and still smiling for cameras that no longer cared.
The night of the New Horizons Gala would be the next stage.
Malik would stand at Serena's side.
Smile for the flashing lights.
Toast champagne with the investors.
And he would watch—
As Serena celebrated the empire she thought she had secured.
Oblivious to the fact that the foundation was already crumbling under her heels.