~ Audrey ~ When Audrey opened her eyes next, she saw the warm sunlight streaming through her window. Her hands reached around the bed, but she caught nothing but air. She remembered falling asleep with Caspian and Killian next to her, but now her bed was empty. She was butt naked, absolutely sore, and the sheets were a mess, so last night couldn’t possibly be a dream. Where did they go? Audrey groaned as she pulled herself off the bed. With her entire body sore and tired, getting up from bed was an exercise on its own. She walked over to the closet and grabbed the first sweater she saw before draping it lazily over her body. She noticed the marks on her skin and it reminded her again that last night was, in fact, real. Walking out of her room, Audrey rubbed her pounding head with her hand and promised herself she would never touch another glass of champagne. H

- - - - - ONE MONTH LATER - - - - - ~ Caspian ~ Caspian was never a fan of the annual Thanksgiving dinner at the Vanderbilt house. He always thought it was a stupid and archaic event. His family wasn’t like most families where they’d sit around the table, thank the Lord for the provision, and maybe watch the game when it was on. No. Thanksgiving at the Vanderbilt house was more like an internal family meeting where everyone had to be on their best behavior and talk about this year’s achievement. “So, I heard a lot of buzz about the club you two are managing downtown,” His mother said in a cheerful tone. “People are saying great things about it,” “Well, if the people said it then it must be true,” Caspian replied. “How are the projections at the company overall?” H

~ Audrey ~ “I love the holidays this year,” Olivia beamed. “It’s one of my favorite Christmases, if not my favorite Christmas ever!” “Me too,” Mikey chimed in. “Oh girl, you two should’ve come with me to Italy. It was beautiful out there,” “No, I’m sure Audrey’s got plenty of beautiful things to do in the city,” Liv answered and nudged Audrey’s elbow playfully. “Shut up,” Audrey glared at her friends, who were grinning mischievously. It was the first Sunday of the New Year and the three best friends were enjoying their routine Sunday brunch. Liv was telling Audrey of her Christmas trip with her family to Martinique, and Mikey was telling them of his adventures in Italy. Meanwhile, Audrey didn’t have to say much and her friends alread

- - - - - ONE MONTH LATER - - - - - ~ Audrey ~ “Get ready, bitch, we’re gonna paint the town tonight!” Mikey hollered over the phone, and Audrey couldn’t help but laugh. It was Friday night tonight, and Audrey was on a three-way Facetime call with her two best friends, Mikey and Liv. “Okay, what’s the plan?” she asked. “There’s a huge V-day weekend blowout at Culture tonight. I heard Calvin Harris is gonna perform, we have to go!” Olivia exclaimed. “No!” Audrey responded immediately. “I can’t go to Culture,” “What do you mean you can’t go?” Audrey let out a sigh. “As of last month, I’m the new face of the Huntington Empire. My dad’s watching my every move, and so

~ Killian ~ Killian didn’t think Caspian was serious when he said he was taking over business for today, but he was. Everything in his schedule was suddenly cleared as Caspian was doing everything. Killian was left with nothing to do. He just lingered in his office, feeling confused and perplexed. By 3 PM, Killian wondered if he should just go home. He felt weird being in the office and having done nothing. Meanwhile, Caspian was still busy in the meeting room. Killian saw from the office CCTV that the meeting was going well. Caspian did a great job convincing the investors. It was only a matter of time before they’d sign with the Vanderbilt Enterprises. Killian ended up spending his time watching his brother from the CCTV camera. He saw how good of a job Caspian was doing. It was shocking, yet impressive. Killian was so engrossed with watching everything from his laptop that he didn