The world tilted.

Derek grabbed my arm hard enough to hurt. “We’re leaving.”

I looked at him, really looked at him, and saw not confusion but fear. Raw, exposed fear. Mercer’s security team had quietly moved closer. Around us, guests pretended not to stare.

Then Mercer said the one thing that broke everything open.

“When your mother died, Claire, I hired people to look again. They found sealed legal records. The Collins family had intercepted every letter I sent. Including the trust documents that named you as my heir.”

The silence after that felt louder than the orchestra.

My arm was still in Derek’s grip, but I pulled it free. He tried to recover with the same smooth smile he used in meetings, though now it twitched at the edges. “This is absurd,” he said. “A public misunderstanding. Claire, don’t let him manipulate you.”

Manipulate me.