Chapter 2

The Fowler estate in Lexington was like something from a movie. A massive white mansion sat at the end of a long, winding driveway, surrounded by perfectly manicured lawns and white fences that stretched for miles.

My beat-up pickup truck felt like a piece of trash parked on their pristine gravel.

A housekeeper named Maria, a kind woman with tired eyes, let me in.

"Mr. Fowler is on his way back from a meeting in Louisville," she said, her voice soft. "He asked you to please wait in the sitting room."

I sat on a velvet couch that was probably worth more than my entire house, my hands clasped nervously in my lap. I felt small and out of place, like a stray dog that had wandered into a palace.

The quiet didn't last long.

The door burst open and a young woman stormed in, followed by two others who looked like her clones. She was beautiful, dressed in expensive riding pants and a silk blouse, but her face was twisted with rage.

This was Madisyn Fowler, the patriarch' s daughter. I recognized her from the society pages.

Her eyes locked onto me.

"So you' re the white trash homewrecker."

I stood up, confused. "I... I don' t know what you mean."

"Don' t play dumb with me," she sneered, her voice sharp and cruel. "I saw you with Anthony. My fiancé. Meeting him in secret. You think you can climb your way out of the gutter by latching onto him?"

Anthony Scott. The charismatic executive from her father' s company. He was the one Mr. Fowler sent to meet me, to persuade me to come here.

"No, that' s not what happened," I tried to explain. "Your father sent him. It was about business."

Madisyn laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "Business? What kind of business would my father have with someone like you? Unless it' s the oldest business in the world."

Her friends giggled, their eyes full of contempt.

"Get her," Madisyn ordered.