Chapter 4

The Sterling Enterprises boardroom fell silent as I entered. Twelve pairs of eyes tracked my movement—some widening in shock, others narrowing with calculation. The massive mahogany table gleamed under the morning light streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a commanding view of Manhattan's skyline. My skyline.

"Ms. Sterling," Eleanor Vance said, her voice carrying the crisp authority of someone who had navigated corporate waters for four decades. "What an unexpected... resurrection."

I met her gaze without flinching. Eleanor had been my father's most trusted advisor, a woman who had helped build Sterling Enterprises into the behemoth it was today. She…