Elizabeth's stepsister set the trap: a blind date with a notorious chauvinist, dressed and coached to make Elizabeth look cheap. Elizabeth shows up playing the role, because refusing means another round of punishment at home. She picks the wrong table, and the man sitting there isn't the date — he's the wealthiest man in the city, and he's amused.
Instead of exposing her, he offers a deal that sounds like an insult and pays like a lifeline. Elizabeth takes it, and the arrangement pulls her into a world her stepsister has been clawing toward for years. Every favor she accepts buys her leverage and costs her pride, and the man writing the checks is starting to want more than a transaction.
