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He disappears into the oak tree, and I watch until his truck pulls away from the street three blocks over. Only then do I allow myself to feel the anxiety creeping in. Two hours. I can do this.

I spend the next hour and a half methodically finishing my packing. Everything I truly care about fits into two suitcases and a carry-on bag. It’s remarkable how little of this life I actually want to take with me. The jewelry Gio gave me stays. Most of the designer clothes stay. The only things that matter are my art supplies, a few photographs of my dad, and the clothes that actually feel like me.

At ten-thirty, I can’t put it off any longer. Time to face Lucille.

I find her in the breakfast room, perfectly dressed despite the early hour, reading the financial section with her usual laser focus. She looks up when I enter.

“Good morning, darling. You’re up early after such a late night.”

“I need to talk to you about something.” I don’t sit down.

“Of course. Coffee first?” She gestures to the service cart.

“No. Lucille, I’m leaving. Today. And I broke off my engagement to Gio.”

The newspaper crumples in her hands. For a moment, she just stares at me, her face cycling through shock, disbelief, and then something much colder.

“What did you just say?”

“I said, I’m leaving. The engagement is over.”

“That’s not possible.” She sets down the ruined newspaper with deliberate precision. “You’re getting married in July. The invitations have been sent.”

“Then you’ll need to send cancellations.”

Lucille stands slowly, her movements controlled, but her eyes blazing. “Audrey, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but this is not happening. You’re going to march upstairs, call Gio, and apologize for whatever foolishness?—”

“No. I’m not apologizing, and I’m not marrying Gio. I’m done.”

“Your father would never want this.” Her voice turns pleading. “He built Worthington Sports for you, for your future. This marriage secures everything he worked for.”

“My father would never want me to marry a criminal to save his company.” I cross my arms, holding my ground. “He’d want me to be happy.”

“A criminal?” Lucille’s laugh is bitter. “Gio is a successful businessman. He’s saved us from bankruptcy.”

“He’s a criminal, Lucille. We both know it. And I won’t be bought and sold like property to clean his money.”

Her facade finally cracks completely.

“You selfish, naive little girl. Do you have any idea what you’re throwing away? If Gio doesn’t save Worthington Sports, we lose everything. Your trust fund, this house, our entire way of life.”

I smile, and I know it looks smug. “I already have a home. And it isn’t this one.”

The words hit her like a slap. “What does that mean?”

“It means I’m choosing my own life. My own future. And you can’t stop me.”

I turn toward the door, but her voice follows me.

“Audrey, if you walk out that door, don’t expect to come back. I won’t clean up this mess for you.”

“Good,” I say without turning around. “I don’t want you to.”

I walk out of the breakfast room, out of the house, and into the rest of my life.

I step through the doorway without looking back, each step taking me further from the Worthington legacy and closer to my own future. My future with Reign.

The Mercedes’s engine purrs as I navigate the winding driveway away from the Worthington estate, my childhood home growing smaller in the rearview mirror with each second.