“You see,” Ethan continued, his voice calm. “Loretta once made a very bold declaration. She swore that the day Emma succeeded, she would stand before her classmates and acknowledge Emma as the true beauty queen during their time in high school. Not only that, she also promised she would confess to all the cruel things she did back in school. The taunts, the lies, the sabotage… all of it.”Gasps spread across the hall like wildfire, rippling through the crowd until even those at the far end of the venue leaned in, whispering furiously. Heads turned toward Loretta, eyes narrowing with sudden recognition, as if the collective memory of her past cruelty had been jolted awake.“Wait,” one of the girls, Danielle, said slowly, her expression darkening. “I remember that. She said it at our graduation dinner, didn’t she? After Emma presented her project and you—” she pointed at Loretta, her finger trembling with indignation, “—mocked her in front of everyone.”Loretta’s tears threatened to spi

The following morning, just before Emma could even set her handbag down on the desk, she noticed Jennifer lingering by the door of her office, shifting uncomfortably on her feet.Jennifer’s shoulders were stiff, her face pale, her lips pressed together in a thin, nervous line. It was the kind of look Emma had come to dread over the years—a look that always carried bad news.Emma froze, her instincts pricking at once. It was the silence that made her certain—Jennifer wasn’t just waiting to say “good morning.” Something had happened. Something that didn’t belong in the rhythm of an ordinary workday.Her pulse quickened. “What is it?” she asked, her voice sharper than she intended, betraying the anxiety that rushed to the surface.Jennifer’s gaze dropped briefly to the folder in her arms, then back to Emma. She opened her mouth, closed it, swallowed hard as though words might burn her throat if she released them too quickly. “It’s Enzogrande,” she finally said.Emma’s heart skipped. The

Chloe didn’t even give Ethan a heartbeat to recover from his question. She pounced on it with all the venom she could muster. Folding her arms, she tilted her head, her lips curling into a mockery of sweetness that fooled no one.“What’s going on?” she repeated, her tone laced with disdain. “If you were even a bit useful, Ethan, you’d already know. Maybe then Enzogrande’s contract would still be in our grip instead of slipping through our fingers—just like everything else you touch.”The room seemed to bristle at her scorn, the venom coiling out like a snake ready to strike. Emma flinched as if the words themselves had claws, wishing desperately that the ground would split beneath her feet and swallow her whole before Chloe’s bitterness could reach her too.“Enough!” Grandfather Robbins’ voice detonated across the room, again. His eyes blazed like storm clouds as they locked onto Chloe, daring her to test his patience again.“Keep your mouth shut,” he commanded, his tone weighted with

Ethan’s hand tightened around his phone as he paced the length of the balcony, the late afternoon sun bleeding orange across the wide glass windows. He had given clear instructions, made sure every loophole had been sealed, every approval stamped. The Robbins had been secure with Enzogrande. So why had the deal suddenly collapsed overnight?With a flick of his thumb, he pulled up a contact and pressed call. The line rang once, twice, before a familiar professional voice answered.“Mr. Ethan,” Jules Thunder said crisply. Acting CEO of Enzogrande Corporation, she was efficient, well-spoken, and the one Ethan had entrusted to ensure Emma’s success.“Jules,” Ethan said, his voice calm but firm. “I need clarity. I instructed you personally to see that Emma Robbins was awarded the Enzogrande contract. Yet, in less than twenty four hours, the contract has been rescinded.There was a pause on the other end, the faint sound of Jules shifting, gathering her words. “It wasn’t me, Sir. I would n

Matthew eased himself into the high-backed chair near the glass wall, his eyes narrowing as he studied Ethan with the scrutiny of a chess master examining the board. The city’s skyline glittered behind him, but it was clear all of Matthew’s focus was on the man before him.When he received Ethan's call that he was now agreeing to step in and take over Wirtkov's Empire, his heart had welled with satisfaction, knowing that the answers to his long years of prayers had eventually been given to him.But even with that, he wanted to be sure why exactly Ethan had changed his mind all of a sudden to take over the Empire. He knew he had said something about the Enzogrande contract while they spoke on the phone that day, but he just wanted to be sure they were even on the same page before getting too excited.“So, what could have gone so badly with Enzogrande,” Matthew asked at last, his gravelly voice both curious and amused, “that it forced the Almighty Ethan Northsrum—a man I once thought