ISABELLA'S POV
The envelope arrives on a Tuesday morning and Isabella knows what it is before she opens it.
She's been waiting for this. Checking the mail every day. Watching her email. Waiting for the moment when the universe would finally line things up for her. The envelope is ivory cardstock. Expensive. The kind of thing people use when they want to seem important. Inside is an invitation to the Charity Gala.
James Mitchell's company is hosting.
Isabella sits at her design table and reads the invitation three times. The gala is in six weeks. It's the biggest social event of the year. Hundreds of powerful people will be there. Celebrities. Politicians. Business moguls. Cameras everywhere. Every major fashion publication will be covering it.
It's perfect.
It's exactly what she's been waiting for.
She picks up her phone and calls Grace before she can talk herself out of it.
Grace answers on the third ring sounding rushed. Isabella can hear her moving around her office.
"I got the invitation," Isabella says without preamble.
"What invitation?" Grace asks but Isabella can hear her stopping what she's doing.
"To the Charity Gala," Isabella says. "James's company is sponsoring it."
There's a long silence on the other end of the phone.
"Isabella," Grace says carefully, "what are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking I want to sponsor the event," Isabella says. "I want to debut my latest collection there. I want to walk into that gala like I own it."
"Are you sure about this?" Grace asks and her voice sounds worried.
"I'm sure," Isabella says. "I've been sure for three years. This is the moment. This is where I prove to James and to the entire world that I was never unsuitable. This is where I show him what he threw away."
Grace is quiet for a moment and then she sighs.
"Okay," she says. "I'll make the calls. I'll set up the sponsorship. But Isabella, I need you to promise me something."
"What?" Isabella asks.
"Promise me that you're doing this because it's the right move for your brand and not just because you want revenge," Grace says. "Promise me that you're thinking about what comes after."
Isabella doesn't answer because she can't promise something she doesn't believe.
"I have to go," Isabella says instead. "Call me when you've set everything up."
She hangs up and sits with her phone in her hand.
Grace is right to be worried. Isabella knows that. But she also knows that this is the moment. Everything has been leading to this. Every design. Every success. Every interview where she talked about overcoming adversity. Every magazine cover. Every triumph. It's all been pointing toward the moment when she walks into a room and James Mitchell sees exactly what he gave up.
That night, Isabella goes to her design studio and pulls out her collection from the back storage. These are the pieces she's been working on for the last six months. These are the designs that are going to change everything.
They're different from her other work. They're meaner somehow. Sharper. They're not just beautiful. They're dangerous. They're the kind of designs that make you feel powerful just wearing them. They're the kind of designs that make men like James realize they're looking at a force they can't control.
She moves through each piece like she's saying goodbye to something.
Because when she wears these designs to that gala, everything is going to change. James is going to see her. And he's going to understand in a way he's never understood before that he made the biggest mistake of his life.
Three days later, Grace calls her back.
"I've set it up," Grace says. "You're officially sponsoring the gala. The event coordinator wants to meet with you about your collection. They want it to be a surprise announcement. They're planning to unveil it right at the beginning of the evening."
"Perfect," Isabella says.
"Isabella," Grace says carefully, "I've been thinking about what you said. About walking into that gala like you own it."
"And?" Isabella asks.
"And I need you to understand something," Grace says. "When you walk into that room, you're not just walking in for you. You're walking in as a symbol. You're walking in as a woman who survived something that was supposed to destroy her. That's powerful. That's important. Don't waste that power on just hurting him."
"I'm not trying to hurt him," Isabella lies.
"Yes you are," Grace says and she says it with kindness. "But here's the thing. Hurting him isn't going to heal you. Proving him wrong isn't going to make you feel better about yourself. You already proved you're not unsuitable. You've done that. So what are you doing this for?"
Isabella walks to her mirror and looks at her reflection. The woman looking back is powerful and beautiful and completely lost.
"I'm doing it because I need to see his face," Isabella says finally. "I need to watch him understand what he lost. I need to know that the pain he caused me actually meant something."
"That's not a good reason," Grace says gently.
"It's the only reason I have," Isabella says.
That night, Isabella gets a call from a number she doesn't recognize. She almost doesn't answer but something makes her pick up.
"Isabella," a man's voice says and her entire body goes still. "It's James."
She doesn't speak. She can't speak. Her heart is doing something wrong in her chest.
"I heard that you're sponsoring the gala," James continues. "That you're going to be there. I want you to know that I'm ready to talk to you. I'm ready to explain everything. I'm ready to tell you the truth about what happened."
Isabella's grip tightens on the phone.
"I don't want to talk to you," she says but her voice sounds uncertain even to her own ears.
"I know," James says and he sounds broken. "But I need to talk to you. I've been waiting three years for you to come back and now that you are, I need you to know that I never stopped loving you. I never stopped regretting what I did. I want to make it right."
Isabella's breath is shaking.
"You can't make it right," she says.
"I know," James says. "But I can try. Please, Isabella. Just let me try."
The line goes quiet and Isabella realizes he's waiting for an answer.
Six weeks. She has six weeks to prepare for the moment when she walks into that gala and comes face to face with the man who destroyed her and the man she's never stopped loving.
Six weeks to decide if she's going to destroy him or save him.
Six weeks to figure out if revenge is still what she wants or if what she really wants is something she's been afraid to admit.
"I'll see you at the gala," she says finally.
And then she hangs up.
Isabella sits in the dark of her studio surrounded by designs that are sharp enough to cut and realizes something that terrifies her.
She's not ready for this.
She's spent three years building an empire to prove something to James. She's spent three years designing clothes that would make him see what he lost. She's spent three years becoming powerful enough that he couldn't touch her.
But now that the moment is almost here, she's realizing that the armor she built might not be strong enough.
Because when James looks at her at that gala, she might not be able to hide the fact that underneath all the power and success and revenge, she's still the girl in the basement room who loved him completely.
And if he sees that, if he knows that her entire empire was built on a foundation of wanting him back, then everything falls apart.
Isabella picks up one of the designs from the collection and holds it up to the light.
It's a gown made of white silk and gold thread. It costs more than most people's cars. It's the most beautiful thing she's ever created. And it's designed for one moment.
The moment when she walks into that gala and James sees her for the first time in three years.
The moment when he realizes that the unsuitable girl he rejected became the most suitable woman he's ever seen.
The moment when everything changes forever.
Isabella has six weeks to decide if she's ready for that moment.
She has six weeks to decide if she wants revenge or redemption.
And standing here in her studio with the most powerful weapon she's ever created, Isabella finally understands that she's been lying to herself about what this has always been about.
It was never really about hurting James.
It was always about making him hurt so badly that he'd finally realize he was the one who was unsuitable all along.