5: The L

ke a high-stakes internship. I was eighteen years old, but I carri

the daughter my father wanted. I wasn't doing it for his appr

Foundation. He wanted a woman who could negotiate against

e him

n't just a wound. It became a constant, burning drive. I poured th

lking about valuation. I put down Debussy

y report with a highlighter, "you are finally demonstrating the necessa

ng up. "Sentimentality creates weak

eates leverage, I thought. You

s as the successful eradication of my "downtown p

plan was to gain power, not out of ambition, but so I could

s, knowledge, and, most of all, power. I had to learn how my father built his empire so I

ask tough questions. I learned the complicated language of offshore funds and trust law. I found out which banks

wasn't built on genius, but on arrogance and money. My father expected people t

tion of respec

rebellious grandmother would become mine alone. It wasn't enough to buy out my father, but it was enough to

ifts. I went to operas and charity balls. I was the polished f

couldn't play Chopin's romantic, aching notes. Instead, I taught myself sharp, clashing jazz chor

in the Fu

culations of high finance, Kai was be

e; he saw a girl who chose her comfortable future over his struggle. The theatrical kiss on Jameson's cheek was no

d anger. It fueled Kai's drive to succeed so he could protect himself a

ai and became Kai Reyes, ow

r. Reynolds, the elderly owner, struck a deal: Kai would invest his time, energy, and

etting up regular service schedules for local bands, recording studios, and even school music departments. He di

and turned it into a small, climate-controlled space. With careful skill and hours of focus, he turned cheap, batter

y. Local musicians started talking. Kai Reyes

making sure to remove every possible point

l engineering scholarship. It was a massive weight li

ewal with an option to buy. He used his profits for the down payment, making su

for fear. His hands were dusty, his shirts stained with lacquer, his mind focused on

e Vance Foundation's gala, he gave a blank look and went back to sanding. She

Near

times, their two separate worlds still crosse

She was there as my father's "assistant," but her real job was to quietly check their finances before my father thought about

ded in a small, noisy studio above a coffee shop. He wore his usual work clothes: faded jeans, a worn T-shirt, and a

terse goodbyes with a Sterling executive. The sun glinte

ad in the midd

ture. She was everything he had turned away from, and everything he thought

e a single, painful thump in his chest. The pain was duller now, more like a scar than a fresh wound, b

as. He couldn't risk looking at her again. Seeing her, realizing that his

fleeting glimpse of a familiar dark profile. A shape in the cro

n't call out. She didn't

d the way he moved toward the shadows. He looked like s

relief, as cold as the

He's movi

canvas bag full of tools. He wasn't begging or struggling. He w

into the waiting car. She didn't look back. She couldn'

ng her back to her world

ounter believing the same, necessary

a keep climbing toward power on her own, and let Kai keep buildin

Coun

into one long, exhaustin

lease, celebrating the victory with Maya over cheap takeout. The

found a small, hidden clause. If she used it on the day she got her full trust fund, it would let her move a set, legall

y who that thir

t birthday was

as coming soon. Elara was ready to tear down the perfect life she had built to get ba