a

f place. Now, her clothes were damp, and her hair was sticking to her forehead as she paced the marble floor of the foyer. The storm outside was stil

second!" I snapped, runn

d. "I suppose if you're fucking my daughter, that

dn't believe the words as they left my lips. It was a very pathe

aybe you are really dumb!" She raked her fingers through her hair. "But more importantly

of Jasmine standing in that penthouse doorway, holding her phone with that dead, emotionle

ly a ride-share. Or some low-rent

into the pouring rain wearing a suit that costs more than you're probably gonna earn this month after this whole debacle is over. He bowed to her, and I mean bowed, better than any of the

nobody from Nowhere, Ohio. She doesn't have family. She doesn't have money. She spent three years folding my laundry and taki

said the global board of dir

Do you have any idea what this scandal has just cost me? The shareholder stream went live

is my daughter you were caught with on that live video! Her reputation is completely dragged t

o explode. The screen lit up with another call from a major shareholder, immediately followed by the chairman of the board. "The directors are calling me! The sha

e rain. I didn't care about my mother or Victoria. If Jasmine thought this pathetic little stunt was going to give

utive office of Sterling Media

s. My board members were screaming at me simultaneously via the speakerphone on my desk, their voices overlapping in a deafening chorus of blame. Standing near

silence of the room. "I don't care if she's staying at some trashy motel or walking the streets in

rritation. I expected it to go straight to voicemail. I expected her to be huddled in some cheap diner, shivering

e call actual

idea what you've done? You tanked my stock by a lot! My mother told me how you insulted her on the driveway. You are going

e cut in. It wasn't Jasmine. The tone was co

s my anger ground to a sudden halt. "Who t

cutives," the voice replied smoothly, completely unbothered by my shouting. "Any further direct communication to ou

self. "Vance Global? What kind of sick joke is this? Did

ying professional indifference. "Your ex-wife is demanding absolutely zero alimony, zero assets from the Sterli

e wall. "Zero alimony? She's a penniless orphan! She doesn't

es ago, Vance Global has officially terminated the primary supply chain and data-hosting contract with Sterling Media, citing a direct breach of

ent comple

fingers and hitting the plush carpet with a dull thud. My breathing cam

mpire. They owned the satellites, the distribution channels, and the server grids. Withou

pen. My assistant ran in, her face as white

to look at the finan

es to the large television monitor on the wa

ardroom coup, the mysterious, long-hidden sole heir to the Vance Global Empire has officially taken the reins. Her first exe

-resolution photograph taken inside t

. She was wearing a multi-thousand-dollar white pantsuit, her hair pulled back into

s Jas

refused to process the image on the screen. The quiet, submissive girl who had spent three years folding my lau

oom, a terrifying, suffocating weight crushi