ine'

oice measured, "your mother

the thick paper. Important. That word almost made m

Mr. Vale. A letter full of conditions and sec

by shelves of legal binders and silent authority, he just steepled

venly. "It's about your future. You'

punch. I blinked at hi

ou've got the wrong girl. I'm the scandal. The disgrace. The ou

ther believed the opposite. She wanted you

role? Heiress? CEO? Mr. Vale, I can barely mana

he didn't choose lightly. She trusted y

that what we're calling it now? I hid. I survived because

requires strength. And what you've built for yourself since leaving Crestfall... don'

ork or my ability to tear people down from the shadows? You

sourcefulness. Vision. All of whic

urcefulness, you say. I don't want it. Do you hear

air between us. "Jasmine, this is more than an inheritance. It's your chance to rec

. The one humiliated in front of everyone. The one thrown aside like I was not

at is yours," he said firmly.

ack of my neck pri

im Duvall Holdings... you'll

ted inside me l

" The syllables tasted like as

"Yes. Ares Knight is the CEO. And

"Cross? You can't be serious. You expect me to wo

sential," Vale said. "The companies are linked in ways y

e made sure I was humiliated in front of everyone that mattered. And

e," Vale replied calmly

I expected. Win. It soun

?" I shot back. "What if Ares does ev

ply. "You've already proven you can

rembled with fury, fear, something dangerously close to exc

o long letting others write your story. This time, you write it. You're

he mask I'd built, the armor that kept me alive. Co

ice was low, the question a

. "You adapt. Failure doesn

stfall, of whispers, of Ares's cold stare as he turned h

wly, "if I take this inheritan

that you're not the girl he left behind.

. I thought of every smirk, every cruel laugh, every time I'd been shoved a

do it. I'll claim my inherita

ght the smallest flicker of approval. "Good. T

forward, "I do it on m

llowing a faint smile, "is

d fell with uneven breaths as I tried to hold

m walking into,"

ard me. "This is the full breakdown of her will. The inheritance, the share

ill sat in my hand, heavy as stone. I stared at it,

they all pressed down at once, suffocating. But beneath

d for th

. "Let's go ov

epare. This won't be simple. KnightCorp has its own ag

flipping the folder

transfer into my name, the clauses binding me to KnightCorp, the power plays already at work in the ma

as my

face the boy

own every whisper t

nce to

the flame inside me wasn't

a sharp snap. "Tell me wh

ighing the girl I'd been against th

er, Jasmine... power comes with risk. If you wa

m. My voice came out steady, colder tha

velope still clutched tight, one tho

t would se

I wouldn't be