The air in Milan was different. It tasted of ambition and old stone, a city that understood the art of the comeback. It was the perfect stage for a resurrection.
The Annual Fashion Industry Summit was held in a glass-and-steel monolith that scraped the Italian sky, a temple to modern capital. I walked through its marble lobby, the clicks of my Louboutin heels echoing with a precision that felt new, earned. The black suit I wore was not from my past life. It was Vanguard. Cut by their master tailor to my exact specifications, it was a minimalist statement of power, an armor of my own design. Behind me, silent and imposing, were Leo Ricci and Anya Sharma, the sharpest M&A lawyers Vanguard’s considerable fortune could buy.
We were shown to a private conference room on the top floor. Floor-t
