The silence that followed Derek’s revelation was heavy, thick with a tension that seemed to vibrate against the sterile walls of the hospital room. In a city like Riverbend, where power was the only currency that truly mattered, those four pieces of cardstock were more than just invitations; they were talismans of absolute authority. The wealthiest man in Riverbend would have traded a fleet of luxury cars for just one. The privileged elite—men who controlled the shipping lanes and the real estate markets—had been reduced to begging their connections in the High Command for a chance to even stand in the back of the room.
And yet, here was Derek, a man who had been absent for years, a man the Ashford family viewed as nothing more than a lowborn drifter, holding four of them.
Patricia Hartw
