Chapter 2

Keira slipped the tiny scalpel between her index and middle fingers, hiding the blade inside the wide cuff of her trench coat, and rapped her white cane hard against the dressing room doorframe.

Inside, Chasity was touching up her lipstick. Annoyed by the noise, she turned around. When she saw Keira standing there in dark sunglasses, surprise flashed across her face, quickly replaced by a nasty smirk.

Keira stood in the doorway, letting her shoulders slump and her voice tremble. "Cory? Is that you? The doorman said you were in here..."

Chasity waved the makeup artist out of the room and clicked across the floor in her four-inch heels, the heavy scent of her perfume making Keira wrinkle her nose.

"Well, well, if it isn't poor little Keira," Chasity said, her voice dripping with sweet mockery. "How did a blind girl wander all the way back here?"

Keira shrank back half a step, tapping her cane clumsily against the carpet. "Chasity? Why are you here? Where's Cory?"

Chasity laughed, reaching out to grab Keira's chin and forcing her head up. "Cory is out front greeting our VIP guests, of course. And I am in here wearing the couture wedding dress he had custom-made for me."

Keira fought the urge to slap the hand away. Behind her dark lenses, she stared straight into Chasity's smug face while forcing her own breathing to turn shallow and panicked.

"Wedding dress?" Keira's voice cracked with a believable sob, her shoulders shaking. "Aren't you two just friends?"

Chasity let go of her chin and pulled a tissue from the vanity, wiping her fingers in disgust. "Just friends? Only a blind idiot like you would buy that story."

"Cory has always loved me," Chasity said, crossing her arms and looking down at Keira's faded jeans. "You were just a cheap shield he used to stall his family's marriage arrangements. Now that he has full control of his trust fund, a defective piece of trash like you isn't needed anymore. Want me to have a waiter bring you a leftover glass of champagne before you get out?"

Keira lowered her head, her loose hair hiding the icy smirk on her lips. Taking a deep breath, she choked out, "I don't believe you... I want Cory to tell me himself!"

Acting completely unhinged, Keira dropped her cane and lunged forward, waving her hands wildly in the air as she threw herself directly at Chasity's waist.

Caught off guard, Chasity shrieked as Keira's arms wrapped around her torso. "You crazy bitch! Get your filthy hands off my couture gown! This was flown in from Paris!"

In that brief second of contact, Keira's eyes turned razor-sharp behind her glasses. The micro-scalpel between her fingers pressed directly against the hidden structural seam at the back of the gown's waist.

With a Restorer's absolute mastery of fabric tension, she did not slice the silk. Instead, she flicked her wrist and severed three load-bearing monofilament threads holding the heavy skirt to the bodice.

It took less than a second. Keira immediately let go and threw herself backward onto the carpet, sprawling out as if Chasity had shoved her down.

Chasity frantically smoothed down her skirt. Seeing no dirt on the satin, she pointed a shaking finger at Keira's face. "Security! Throw this lunatic out in the alley!"

Two burly guards rushed into the room, grabbing Keira roughly by both arms and hauling her off the floor.

Keira did not struggle. As they dragged her backward out the door, she glanced at the tiny gap already pulling apart at the back of Chasity's waist.

The guards hauled her down the service stairs and shoved her out the back door, sending her scraping her knees on the pavement next to a row of dumpsters.

As soon as the heavy metal door slammed shut, Keira stood up calmly. She brushed the dust off her trench coat and took off her sunglasses. Her clear amber eyes were completely dry.

She wiped the micro-scalpel clean with a tissue, slipped it back into her pocket, and walked across the narrow street into a corner cafe.

The cafe's floor-to-ceiling window offered a direct view of the hotel's grand second-floor terrace, where the outdoor wedding vows were about to take place.

Keira ordered a black coffee and sat by the window, folding her hands neatly on the table.

Ten minutes later, the glass doors of the terrace opened. The wedding march drifted across the street as upper-crust guests gathered around the floral arch.

Cory stood under the arch, smoothing his bow tie with a proud smile as he waited for his bride.

Chasity walked out on her father's arm, her chin held high as she stepped onto the red carpet, soaking in the envious stares of the crowd.

Keira lifted her coffee cup and blew gently on the steam, her eyes locked on Chasity's lower back, where the severed threads were straining hard with every step she took.

Chasity reached the arch and twisted her waist sharply to take the bouquet from her bridesmaid.

A faint snap echoed, followed immediately by the loud, ripping sound of tearing silk as the heavy couture skirt split wide open from her lower back all the way down to her thighs.