“My passport is locked in a high-security safe inside Wesley’s penthouse, and he will never let me get anywhere near it,” she explained. “We have already anticipated that obstacle and have coordinated with the local consulate to issue you emergency travel documents,” Hans replied.
He told her that a private legal team was already waiting for her and that a vehicle would be arriving at her motel in exactly two minutes. “Do not worry about packing any bags or bringing anything from that room because everything you need will be provided for you,” he instructed.
Cassie ran to the window and pulled back the thin, dusty curtains to look down at the rain-soaked parking lot. Among the rusted trucks and broken-down sedans, a sleek black armored SUV was idling near the entrance with its lights cutting through the darkness.
At that exact moment, a text message from Wesley appeared on her phone screen, mocking her once again. “I truly hope you have learned what it feels like to be a nobody without my name to protect you,” the message read.
Cassie looked at the high-end vehicle waiting for her and then back at the cruel words from the man she used to love. For the first time in weeks, a genuine, predatory smile spread across her face as she grabbed her jacket and walked out the door.
Three months passed, and the social circles of Philadelphia had almost entirely forgotten about the existence of Cassie Miller. The gossip columns claimed she had fled the city in a state of total mental collapse, and Wesley had even done a televised interview pretending to be saddened by her disappearance.
He told the cameras that he hoped she was finding the professional help she so clearly needed while his new fiancée posed for photos in the background. In reality, Cassie was thousands of miles away in a high-security office in Switzerland, undergoing a total transformation of her mind and body.
She spent sixteen hours a day studying international trade law, corporate mergers, and the intricate details of the global logistics market. She worked with the best image consultants in Europe to reclaim a sense of power and elegance that Wesley had spent a decade trying to suppress.