By then, 5 years had passed. Sterling Group's annual M&A meeting ended at 7 p.m.
I signed the last document. My secretary placed a business magazine on the desk.
The cover line read, Sterling Group's New Chairwoman: From Anonymous Designer to the Jewelry World's Youngest Leader.
At 27, I had completed a strategic supply-chain restructuring between Sterling Group and Hale Group without either company absorbing the other.
Sterling Group still belonged to the Sterlings. Hale Group remained under Julian's control.
We were husband and wife, but we were also business partners who refused to yield an inch to each other at the negotiating table.
When I returned to Sterling Manor, the scent of chicken soup drifted from the kitchen.
Julian, once feared as a ruthless CEO, stood at the stove in
