The boardroom was a fortress of glass and steel, perched high above the city with windows that stretched from floor to ceiling. Below, the world moved in miniature cars like ants, people like dots, the city’s pulse faint from this height.
Zaria sat at the head of the long mahogany table, every eye fixed on her. The executives wore masks of polite smiles, but she felt the weight of their doubts pressing in. Some had worked under her father, men who believed they knew the rules of power. Others saw her as a spectacle, the heiress who had appeared out of nowhere. None of them yet knew the steel beneath her calm.
Damian sat at her right, silent but present, his very existence a reminder that she was not alone. His hand rested loosely on the table, close enough that she could draw strength fr
