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If there was one thing Nadia Whitmore hated, it was waiting.
She hated the feeling of sitting still while time moved without her.
For forty-three minutes, she had been sitting in the corridor outside her father’s office, anxiously tapping her foot against the marble floor and watching the second hand of the clock complete its endless circles.
Her father had been in that room for forty-three minutes.
He hadn’t said a word since they arrived.
That was unlike him.
Conrad Whitmore could talk his way through anything.
Board meetings. Lawsuits. Political scandals. Even funerals.
Talking was almost a weapon in his hands. He could walk into a room full of angry investors and walk out with them believing everything was under control.
He had built an empire on one simple belief:
There was always a way out.
But today, when Nadia had looked at him and asked what was wrong, he had only stared at her.
“Wait here.”
So she waited.
Her phone vibrated in her hand.
Mali: Are you coming to lunch?
Nadia stared at the message.
Her thumbs hovered over the keyboard.
Can’t make it. Something came up.
She deleted it.
She tried again.
Dad’s not okay.
Deleted.
She locked her phone.
Whatever was happening behind that door, Nadia didn’t know how to put it into words.
And that scared her.
The door finally opened.
Nadia looked up.
Mr. Bennett stepped out first.
Her father’s lawyer was usually irritatingly composed. His suits were always perfectly pressed, his tie always straight, his expression almost annoyingly unreadable.
Today, his tie was crooked.
There were dark circles beneath his eyes.
And he wouldn’t look at her.
Nadia’s stomach tightened.
“Mr. Bennett?”
He stopped.
For a second, he seemed to consider saying something.
Instead, his jaw tightened.
“Your father will explain.”
“Explain what?”
Before he could answer, Conrad’s voice came from inside the office.
“Send her in.”
Nadia’s stomach dropped.
She pushed the door open.
Her father sat behind his enormous mahogany desk.
The man who had always looked untouchable suddenly looked anything but.
His usually immaculate silver hair was disheveled. Several documents were scattered across the desk, some folded, others covered in handwritten notes.
“Dad?”
Conrad looked at her.
For a brief moment, he said nothing.
Then he gestured toward the chair opposite him.
“Sit.”
Nadia remained standing.
“I don’t like it when you do that.”
His eyebrows pulled together.
“Do what?”
“Talk to me like I’m one of your employees.”
Something almost resembling a smile touched his face.
Almost.
“Sit down, Nadia.”
This time, she did.
Her eyes immediately fell to the papers covering his desk.
Numbers.
Bank statements.
Monthly reports dating back to the previous year.
Legal documents.
And one letter with a red stamp across the top.
Her eyes narrowed.
“What’s going on?”
Conrad folded his arms.
“The company is having financial issues.”
Nadia blinked.
“What kind of issues?”
“Temporary ones.”
“Dad.”
He looked away.
She leaned forward.
“How bad?”
Conrad didn’t answer immediately.
Then he said quietly,
“Bad enough that we may have to sell the company.”
Nadia stared at him.
For several seconds, she was convinced she’d heard him wrong.
“Sell…”
She let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
“You’re joking.”
“I wish I were.”
Nadia looked down at the documents again.
“These dates go all the way back to June of last year.”
Her eyes snapped back to him.
“It’s September. Why are we just beginning to panic?”
“We’re not just beginning to panic.”
“Then why didn’t I know?”
Conrad sighed.
“Because I thought I’d find a way.”
Nadia’s expression hardened.
“I wasn’t expecting things to get this bad. I’ve tried everything, Nadia. New stocks. Investor pitches. Cost-cutting. The expansion last month was my last shot.”
“And?”
“It failed.”
The room went quiet.
“The London branch?”
Conrad nodded.
“That went downhill quite a while ago. We lost it.”
Nadia stared at him.
“The investors are getting scared. They’re pulling out of the company one by one.”
He paused.
“It’s only a matter of time before the press finds out.”
Nadia’s pulse quickened.
“How much?”
Conrad said nothing.
“How much do we owe?”
He pushed a document across the desk.
Nadia picked it up.
Her eyes moved down the page.
Once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
Her breath caught.
She slowly looked up.
“Twelve million?”
“Yes.”
She looked back at the document.
“Is this part of the debt?”
“No.”
Her eyes widened.
“Or is this the whole thing?”
“That’s everything.”
For a moment, Nadia simply stared at him.
Then she laughed.
Not quietly.
Conrad looked genuinely puzzled.
“Nadia—”
“You’re telling me Whitmore Co owes twelve million dollars…”
She placed the document on the desk.
“…and we’re sitting here like it’s the greatest tragedy that has ever befallen mankind?”
Conrad frowned.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it to me.”
“We have assets.”
“Then sell them.”
“We can’t.”
“Why?”
His expression changed.
“Because they’re already collateral.”
Nadia’s smile disappeared.
Suddenly, the office felt smaller.
The twelve million dollars didn’t seem so funny anymore.
She looked at the documents again.
Then at her father.
Then back at the documents.
“Let me handle it.”
Conrad stared at her.
“How do you intend on doing that?”
“Give me the company.”
Silence.
“I’ll save it.”
“Nadia—”
“By myself.”
She glanced toward the door.
“With Mr. Bennett, obviously.”
Conrad leaned back in his chair.
“I’ve been running this company since before I met your mother. I’ve checked everything. There are no loopholes.”
“Who said I’m looking for loopholes?”
“Nadia.”
“Dad, I studied business at HEC.”
She leaned forward.
“That is one of the best business schools in Europe.”
Conrad watched her carefully.
“Let me prove myself.”
He said nothing.
“I can do this.”
There weren’t many options left.
Conrad could sell the company he’d built from nothing and lose everything he’d spent his life creating.
Or he could gamble on his daughter.
His daughter, who had walked into his office expecting an explanation and was now asking him to hand her an empire drowning in twelve million dollars of debt.
He exhaled slowly.
“You don’t leave me much of a choice, do you?”
Nadia’s face lit up.
She stood so quickly the chair scraped against the floor.
Then she walked around the desk and threw her arms around him.
“You won’t be disappointed. I swear.”
For the first time that morning, Conrad smiled.
“I hope you’re right.”
Nadia pulled away, grinning.
She walked out of the office beaming.
She had walked in expecting to hear how badly everything had gone wrong.
Instead, she had walked out with a company to save.
Twelve million dollars in debt.
A collapsing empire.
And absolutely no idea what was waiting for her on the other side of it.
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