Chapter 4

I stared at my phone, reading the email from my father with a mixture of suspicion and dread. An exclusive business meeting with Westbrook Technologies' board members at their corporate retreat center? The invitation was too perfect, too convenient. Isabella's name was conspicuously absent from the email, but her fingerprints were all over it.

"This is an opportunity to showcase your talents," my father had written. "The kind of recognition you've always wanted."

Recognition. The word felt like poison. In twenty-nine years, Richard Whitmore had never once recognized my achievements. Why start now?

I called Vanessa immediately. "They're planning something."