Chapter 1 Gone Girl Gone Bad

Clairessa’s POV The night couldn’t have been better. I had just graduated at the top of my class in software engineering and landed my dream job at Storm Innovations—the company owned by my boyfriend Adrian’s father. Everything in my life was finally coming together. I stood outside Adrian’s apartment, holding a bottle of champagne, excited to tell him the good news and celebrate. I had planned every detail of the night in my head. We would toast to our future, laugh about the struggles of the past few years, and maybe even talk about taking the next big step in our relationship. I had been dreaming of this moment for weeks, and now that it was finally here, I felt like nothing could ruin it. But as I reached for the door, my excitement shifted. The door was unlocked. Adrian was always so careful about security. He’d warned me so many times about locking up and double-checking the door whenever I left. It was one of the things I teased him about, calling him “paranoid.” So why was the door wide open now? “Adrian?” I called out, stepping inside. Silence. Something felt wrong. The living room was tidy, as usual, but the air felt heavy, like the calm before a storm. My heart began to beat faster, but I told myself I was overreacting. Maybe he’d just forgotten to lock up in his rush to get ready for our celebration. Still holding the champagne, I made my way down the hallway toward his bedroom. My heels clicked softly against the hardwood floor, the only sound in the quiet apartment. That’s when I heard it. A woman’s soft moans. At first, I thought I was imagining things, but then Adrian’s voice followed. It was low and rough, almost unrecognizable. “Do you like that, baby?” I froze, my entire body going cold. This couldn’t be happening. For a moment, I just stood there, my mind racing to make sense of what I was hearing. Maybe it wasn’t what it sounded like. Maybe I was jumping to conclusions. I wanted to believe that more than anything. But I had to know. With shaky hands, I pushed the door open. What I saw knocked the breath out of me. Adrian was on top of a woman, his body moving against hers in a way that left no doubt about what they were doing. Her bright red nails dug into his back as she moaned his name, her fiery red hair spread across the pillow. I couldn’t see her face, but it didn’t matter. The truth was right in front of me. The bottle of champagne slipped from my hands, crashing to the floor. The sound was deafening in the silence that followed. Adrian’s head snapped up. “Clairessa!” He scrambled off the bed, grabbing for something to cover himself, but I couldn’t bear to look at him. My chest felt like it was caving in, and my legs felt weak. I couldn’t stay there. I couldn’t face him or the woman he was with. Without saying a word, I turned and ran. “Claire, wait!” Adrian’s voice was desperate, but I didn’t stop. Tears blurred my vision as I stumbled down the stairs, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. I didn’t know where I was going. I just knew I had to get out. When I finally stopped running, I found myself standing at Jessica’s door. My hands were shaking as I knocked, my breath coming in ragged gasps. The door opened, and Jessica’s face immediately filled with concern. “Claire? What’s wrong?” I couldn’t hold it in anymore. The tears I had been holding back came flooding out as I stepped inside and threw my arms around her. “Adrian…” My voice cracked. “I caught him with someone else.” Jessica stiffened, her arms tightening around me. “What? That bastard!” “He was in bed with another woman,” I sobbed. “I saw him... with her.” Jessica guided me to the couch and sat me down, holding me close as I cried. “I’m so sorry, Claire,” she said softly, her voice full of anger and sadness. “You didn’t deserve this.” “I thought he loved me,” I whispered. “I thought we were happy.” Jessica pulled back to look at me, her expression fierce. “Listen to me. This isn’t your fault. Adrian is an idiot who doesn’t know what he’s losing. You’ve always been too good for him.” “But I don’t know what to do now,” I said, my voice breaking again. Jessica wiped a tear from my cheek. “What you’re not going to do is sit here crying over him. He doesn’t deserve your tears.” “I can’t help it,” I said. “I loved him. I built my whole world around him.” “And now it’s time to build a new world—one without him,” Jessica said firmly. “You’ve spent too much time putting him first, Claire. It’s time to put yourself first.” Her words stirred something inside me. I didn’t want to feel this way—weak, broken, powerless. I wanted to feel strong again. Jessica stood up and grabbed my hands, pulling me to my feet. “We’re going out tonight. No rules, no regrets. Just you and me, having fun and forgetting about him.” “I don’t know if I can,” I admitted. “You can,” she said with a determined look. “And you will. Trust me, Claire. This is what you need.” I hesitated but then nodded. “Okay. Let’s do it.” Jessica’s face lit up with a grin. “That’s my girl. And I know just the place—the private billionaire’s club I’ve been telling you about. It’s perfect.” “Are you sure?” I asked. “That doesn’t really sound like my kind of place.” “It’s not,” she said, laughing. “But maybe that’s exactly why you need to go. Step out of your comfort zone, Claire. Show the world—and Adrian—that you’re not the kind of woman who stays down.” I didn’t have the energy to argue. Within minutes, Jessica had transformed me into someone I barely recognized. The dress she picked was tight and black, with red velvet laces on the sides that clung to my body. It was shorter than anything I’d ever worn, stopping just above my thighs. My makeup was bold, with smoky eyes and bright red lips, and my hair hung in soft waves around my face. When I looked in the mirror, I barely recognized the woman staring back at me. She looked confident, daring, and fearless—everything I didn’t feel but wanted to be. The old me was gone. And for the first time, I wasn’t sure I wanted her back.