Chapter 5

"Ma'am, the transfer has been processed. It should arrive within one to two business days." The teller handed her the receipt.

Victoria took it, folded it carefully, and slipped it into her pocket before walking out of the bank.

The autumn wind slipped into her collar, cool against her skin. She stood on the steps and watched the people moving along the street, and for the first time, the city felt strangely unfamiliar. In her last life, she had lived here for three years, but her whole world had been limited to Foster Villa, shopping malls, and the handful of restaurants Stephen had taken her to. She'd thought it was her city. It wasn't. It had been Stephen's city. She'd only ever been a temporary visitor.

Her phone buzzed.

She looked down. It was a message from Stephen: [Where are you?]

Victoria stared at those three words for two seconds and didn't reply.

She put her phone back in her bag and flagged down a cab.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"Lane Trading Co."

"Which district?"

Victoria froze for a second. It suddenly hit her that she hadn't been to her own family's company in a very long time. Even the address had gone fuzzy in her mind.

"88 Commerce Avenue," she said.

The cab merged into traffic. Victoria leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. The noise from outside came through the windows in a dull blur, like it had to pass through some thick layer before reaching her.

Her phone buzzed again.

Still Stephen: [Did you transfer out all your funds and investment accounts?]

Victoria thought about it, then replied: [Those were my premarital assets to begin with.]

There was a short silence on the other end before another message came in: [Victoria, what the hell are you trying to do?]

Victoria looked at the message, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly. She couldn't even tell whether she was smiling or making some other expression.

What was she trying to do?

She wanted to live. To really live. And she wanted everyone who had wronged her in her last life to pay, one by one.

But there was no point telling Stephen any of that.

She turned off her phone completely and shoved it deep into her pocket.

When the car turned onto Commerce Avenue, Victoria opened her eyes and looked through the window at the gray-and-white office building. The top floor still had the lit-up words Lane Trading on it. The sign looked old, but the lights were still on.

Her father should still be in his office.

In her last life, the last time she saw her father was in the hospital morgue. He had jumped from the twentieth floor. His body had been too badly damaged to recognize. She had knelt on the floor and cried all night, until her voice was gone, until her tears ran dry, until in the end she forgot how to cry at all.

This time, she wouldn't let that day come.

"Pull over here, please."

Victoria paid the fare, got out, and stood beneath the building, looking up at the lit window on the top floor.

The wind came again, blowing loose strands of hair across her face. She brushed them aside, took a deep breath, and pushed open the front doors.

The elevator stopped on the top floor. The doors opened onto a silent hallway.

Victoria walked to the door of the chairman's office. It wasn't fully shut, and a sliver of light spilled out. She could hear someone speaking inside, her father's voice, low and subdued, like he was on the phone.

"...Give me one more month. I'll pull that money together before the end of the month... I know, I know, but Lane Trading has been in business for twenty years. We've always had a good reputation. Please, just cut us a little slack..."

Victoria stood outside the door, listening to her father's humbled pleading, and her nose suddenly stung.

In her last life, she had known none of this. Back then, she was too busy trying to please Stephen, too busy playing the role of the perfect wife in the Foster family, too busy sparring with Claire. It had never occurred to her that her own family was already in this bad of a state.

She pushed the door open.

Edward Lane looked up and froze when he saw his daughter standing there. Then he quickly hung up and pasted on a smile. "Vicky? What are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to sign some agreement today?"