Novels by Micky Bliss

Ethan's POV"Round two. Ready?"Marcus Zhou cracked his knuckles, grinning at me like a kid about to destroy me at video games, which, essentially, he was."Ready," I lied.The simulation loaded again, different variables this time. New market conditions, but the same objective: build a company that crushes the competition.My company, his company. A virtual decade and winner takes all."Go!" Marcus shouted.His fingers flew across the keyboard. Decisions made in seconds. Hire, expand and acquire. His company exploded out of the gate.Mine stumbled. I was thinking too much, tried analysing. By the time I made my first major move, he'd already captured twenty percent of the market."You're too slow," Marcus said, not looking away from his screen. "In business, hesitation kills.""I'm being careful.""Careful is just another word for scared."He was right though, I was scared of making the wrong choice and afraid of losing, above all, I was scared of going back to Amanda and admitting I

Ethan's POV"You're that guy from the hospital."I looked up from my phone. The SEC emergency had been resolved in two hours. Douglas's accusations were baseless. Amanda had watched me handle it without help, said nothing, and left. Now I was back at another charity event, this one outdoors in a garden pavilion.And Elena was standing in front of me."I'm sorry?" I said, trying to sound casual."A few weeks ago. I collapsed at work and you came into my hospital room by accident." She tilted her head. "You said you had the wrong room, but I remember your face. You looked terrified.""I was in the wrong room.""Were you?" She studied me with those eyes. My mother's eyes. "Because you looked at me like you'd seen a ghost, then you ran away."I had no response. She'd remembered. Of course she'd remembered."I'm Elena," she said, extending her hand."Ethan." I shook it. That same warmth. That same strange feeling of holding my sister's hand."I know who you are. We met at the art auction l

Ethan's POV"I'm staying in the city for a month."Amanda Sterling sat across from me in my office, her cane resting against the desk. She'd shown up unannounced at eight in the morning, demanding coffee and conversation."A month?" I set down my cup. "Why?""To observe you, obviously." She sipped her coffee, made a face. "This is terrible. Don't you people have decent espresso?""I'll have someone bring you something better.""Don't bother. I've survived worse." She set down the cup. "Now, about this month. I saved your chairmanship yesterday. That doesn't mean I trust you. It means I gave you a chance.""I appreciate that.""You shouldn't. Because if you fail, if you prove Douglas Crane right, I'll sell my two percent to him personally." Her eyes were sharp. Cold. "And with my shares, he'll have enough power to remove you. Permanently."My stomach tightened. "You'd do that to family?""Family means earning your place, not coasting on blood." She stood, moving to the window. "I built

Ethan's POV"I move for a vote of no confidence in Chairman Ethan Sterling."Douglas Crane's voice filled the boardroom with confidence like he'd already won."Second," said a shareholder I didn't recognize."Before we vote," I said, standing. "I'd like to say something."Douglas sighed. "We've heard enough speeches, Ethan. Let's just…""Sit down, Mr. Crane." Amanda Sterling's voice cut through the room like a blade. "The chairman has the floor. Common courtesy dictates we listen."Douglas sat. His jaw was tight.I looked around the room. Thirty faces, some were hostile while some were curious. Some already decided. These people held my future in their hands."I'm not going to bore you with corporate strategy," I began. "Or projected earnings, or five-year plans because honestly, I don't know enough about any of that yet to sound convincing."Murmurs rippled through the room. Sophia looked like she wanted to stop me."What I do know is this." I held up my hands with my palms out. The

Ethan's POV"The vote is scheduled for Friday at noon."Sophia dropped a stack of documents on my desk. I'd been back at Zenith for twenty minutes and already wanted to leave."That's in six days," I said."Five days now and it's already Tuesday." She sat across from me, exhausted. "Douglas moved fast while we were at the hospital. He contacted every minority shareholder personally. Made his case that you're unfit to lead.""What's his case?""That you're emotionally unstable, distracted by personal vendettas, making reckless decisions that put the company at risk." She pulled out a tablet. "He's compiled a list of everything that's gone wrong since you took over. The Cross family scandal, the Lena Martinez disaster and the press conference chaos. Stock volatility plus lost sponsors.""All of that was the Blackwells.""That doesn't matter because the optics are terrible." She scrolled through more notes. "Douglas has secured proxy votes from shareholders representing twenty-eight perc

Ethan's POV"She's leaving her apartment now."The voice broke through my earpiece. I sat in the back of a black sedan parked three blocks away, watching a tablet screen showing live surveillance footage.Elena stepped out of a run-down building, wearing jeans and a jacket that had seen better days. She locked the door behind her and started walking toward the bus stop."Follow her," I said. "Keep your distance.""Copy that."This was the fourth day I'd watched her. It's been four days of surveillance and tracking every move my sister made while she had no idea I existed."This is obsessive," Sophia said from the driver's seat. "You know that, right?""I need to understand her life before I destroy it.""You're not destroying it. You're giving her the truth.""Same thing." I zoomed in on Elena's face. Even through the grainy camera, I could see she looked tired. Dark circles under her eyes. "Where's she going?""Probably to her second job. She works at a diner during the day, and the