The heavy silence in the living room of the Harborview Penthouses was shattered by the rhythmic clicking of heels. Vanessa Sterling marched into the foyer, her sharp eyes immediately cataloging the scene: her daughter looking faint, her best friend looking like she’d seen a ghost, and her son-in-law leaning against the doorframe with an insufferable smirk.
"What on earth is going on in here?" Vanessa demanded, her voice cutting through the tension. She walked toward the coffee table, her gaze dropping to the glowing screen of the Card Reader.
She froze. The sheer number of zeros on the display acted like a physical weight, forcing her to stop mid-stride. Vanessa was a woman who measured the world in assets and liabilities, and the figure on that screen was a massive, unexpected asset.
"
