ne of her jaw in the mirror. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but she h

er sister Jan slipped inside, closing it silently behind her. Jan's face

nd wrapping her thin arms around Clare. "I'm so

g back. "It's not your fault," she said, her voice softer

her voice a conspiratorial hiss. "I heard him on the phone with Arthur. Grandfather has already b

mach. This wasn't a desperate measur

tabase of Carroll Cosmetics bloomed on the screen. She pulled up the financial models for the Vance acquisition. The ruthless, int

ear. That was the fate she was fighting against. As the daughter of an outsider, she had no birthright, no safety net. She'd known since college that the dangers she faced weren'

sis of a fatal flaw in Carroll Cosmetics' core supply chain-a vulnerability she had discovered and kept

Jan asked, her voice tremb

ashed in her mind. A boy's face, years ago, i

ildhood friend. The h

ould rival the Carrolls and currently had no conflicting interests. Her childhood friendship with Egnacio was the o

rced through the cold dread.

she said, her v

wore, the uniform of her gilded cage. She pulled on a blac

ted edition she'd commissioned years ago. She sprayed it on her wrists, behind her ears. A

re solid, came from the do

do you

Your grandfather wanted you to have thi

ld relinquish her seat on the board, forfeit all her stock options, and transfer her persona

e ripped the document into shreds and le

led voice pleaded from the hallway. "Yo

him to meet her gaze. His eyes d

matched her suit. Her heels clicked with sharp, angry p

leather of the steering wheel. The engine roared to life, a low, powerful gr

urt, the betrayal. She stripped it all away until on

suffocating grandeur of the estate behind. She sped toward the glittering, mercil