The crystal chandelier in the private restaurant in the Midtown Manhattan area reflected a warm, dim light, yet the atmosphere at round table number four felt as cold as ice. There, a formal dinner was taking place. Clarissa sat on her left in a laced silk gown, her face appearing cheerful. In front of them sat the absolute ruler of Valen Group, Garrick Valentino, in a three-piece charcoal suit that fit his firm body perfectly.
Valera Dawson sat with an upright back, grasping her silver fork with a constant rhythm. She tried hard to control her breath. Being at the same table with the man who last night confined her against the oak wall of the fiftieth-floor room, right beside her own biological cousin, was a most severe test of sanity.
"Daddy has truly been going too far lately," Claris
