In the hallway that evening, as I passed Edward’s office, I heard raised voices.
“Why is she even here, Edward?” Camilla hissed from inside. “You think she can compete?”
“She’s doing better than you expected,” Edward said coldly.
“She’s going to humiliate you, us if she crashes and burns.”
Silence.
Then Edward’s voice dropped, low and tense.
“She won’t crash. You just don’t know who she is yet.”
**
There’s a certain high that comes with power.
Not the kind that’s handed to you. But the kind you earn, claw for, bleed for. The kind that hums in your veins when you walk into a room full of people who once underestimated you… and now can’t stop watching.
That was how I felt walking into the boardroom that morning.
Eyes turned.
Some curious.
Some resentful.
But none indifferent.
