Vanessa’s POV
Vanessa had never been a patient woman.
Patience was for the powerless. Patience was for women who waited in line, who accepted scraps, who lived in the shadows of men. That wasn’t her. Not anymore.
She had clawed her way up from nothing, cut her teeth on betrayal and broken promises, learned the hard way that if you wanted something in this world, you didn’t wait for it to come to you. You reached out and took it.
And she wasn’t about to let Evelyn Carter take what was hers.
The morning sun streamed across her apartment, gilding the marble counters and the gleaming glass table where her laptop sat open. The screen showed the latest headlines, her name printed in bold across gossip columns. Vanessa Hart Glows at Society Gala — Rumors of Blackwood Heir Swirl.
Her lips cu
