Chapter Nineteen
The Guest List
Cassie sat at the sleek glass conference table inside the event planning suite of the Kings Grand Hotel.
A long list of names blinked back at her from the tablet screen, each one a carefully selected chess piece on the board she was preparing to flip.
She tapped the stylus against her lip, scrolling.
Elaine Sterling. Charles King. Damien’s entire executive board. The press.
Not just any press but two national lifestyle journalists, the editor-in-chief of Elite Affairs magazine, and a select team from Regal Vision, the city’s most watched social broadcast outlet. She added their names and smiled.
The renewal ceremony was being billed as a “legacy celebration.” The wording was perfect, grand, indulgent, cloaked in love. No one suspected what she had planned. Not even Damien.
Especially not Kelly.
“Looks good,” Jared said, walking over with a printed mock-up of the guest badges. “Overkill, maybe.”
“That’s the point,” Cassie murmured. “It has to feel like the most important night of our lives.”
Jared arched a brow. “So when it crashes…”
“No one forgets.”
Kelly lounged in the Sterling sunroom later that day, sunlight falling across her tanned legs as she sipped citrus-infused champagne.
Damien stood by the window, watching the garden.
“She’s up to something,” Kelly said.
He didn’t turn. “She’s always up to something. That’s Cassie.”
“No,” Kelly pressed. “This feels different. Bigger.”
Damien rubbed his temple. “You’re just paranoid.”
“I know her,” Kelly hissed. “She’s acting too calm. Too sweet. She doesn’t even look at me like she used to.”
“Maybe she’s moved on.”
Kelly scoffed. “No. She’s planning something. I can feel it.”
Damien finally turned. “And what do you want me to do about it?”
“Find out what it is.”
He sighed. “Maybe you’re the one who's slipping.”
Her jaw tightened. “If she embarrasses us in front of the press—”
“She won’t,” he said, cutting her off. “Cassie doesn’t air dirty laundry. She’s too classy for that.”
Kelly gave a dry laugh. “You’ve underestimated her before.”
He didn’t respond.
Later that night, Cassie met Harper and Delia in the hotel bar. The mood was quiet but electric.
“It’s all coming together,” Harper said.
“The guest list is finished,” Cassie added. “And the seating chart is strategic. Kelly will be beside Elaine. Damien across from me.”
Delia leaned in. “And Leo?”
Cassie smiled. “He’ll be right where he needs to be.”
They clinked glasses. The storm was brewing and every invitation sealed its inevitability.