inley wanted to be tonight. Instead, she ha

g against the marble hallway, her brain had shifted from reckless impulse to calculated sabotage. If Haiden wanted t

partment of her Birkin, the one even Arthur didn't know about-and called a ca

any, but she had something better: her name. The Blackwell name still carried weight with the old-guard directors, the ones who remembered her

But she didn't need p

it to the 68th floor, the executive suite where the board kept its private conference room. A late-night strategy session was scheduled. She had seen the ca

tor doors

the city lights. Finley walked straight to the walnut double doors of the boardroom.

plus two women who had clawed their way onto the board-sat around a massive oval tabl

e head of the ta

wall screen. His eyes landed on Finley, and for a fraction of a second, something flickered t

is voice flat. "This

doors swing shut behind her. "Closed? You're discussing

She understood every line of it. The valuation was aggressive, the debt structure risky, but not c

?" She pointed at Haiden, her voice rising to a dramatic pitch. "He locked me in a penthouse. He froze my accounts. He treats me l

-Sterling, head of the audit committee-cleared his

stranger sitting in my grandfather's chair, making

ry slowly, he stood up. His towering

and deadly, "you are going to le

her chin.

ne. He tapped the screen twice, then turned it to face the

club, drunk, screaming at a paparazzo, her dress halfway up he

his tone clinical. "Her grandfather has spent millions on rehab. She is not

erling looked at Finley with pity

m, not the cause. That she had been playing the fool for so long, no one believed she could be anything else. But th

ard," she

rabbed her arm, his grip like iron, a

ng on the polished floor. She grabbed the edge of

le silence as Haiden hauled her out

un her around and slammed her against the glass wa

That video is now on every board member's phone. If you ever pull a stunt

iness. She had lost this round. But she had learned something important: Haiden was prepare

compartment of her mind, next to the finan

her with disgust. "The car is waiting. You're going back to L

. Finley didn't fight this time. She let him lead her,

en shoved her into the backseat and climbed in aft

reflection stared back at her-the smeared mascara, the snarled hair, the hollow e

ndon acquisition. The frozen accounts. The video. Haiden

king. She twisted off the cap, but the pressure made the bottle erupt. The cap flew out of her grip, and the glass bottle

t was shallow but stinging. She pressed her palm against it, cursing under her breath. Ha

head against the cold window. The pain was minor, but it woul

omething to do with the little