Lana’s POV
The bar was warm and heady with the mix of laughter, clinking glasses, and the subtle thrum of music vibrating against the floorboards. Sheila leaned across the small table between us, her lips curved with the easy kind of smile that made her eyes glimmer under the golden lights.
“To new beginnings,” she had said earlier, raising her glass.
“To new beginnings,” I echoed, clinking mine against hers. The liquor burned its way down my throat, but the warmth that followed loosened something in me.
Sheila chuckled, swirling her drink lazily. “You’re surprisingly easy to talk to, Lana. I thought the unknown heiress of Tide Holdings would be all rigid and sharp edges.”
I laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “And I thought you’d be colder. You do have that untouchable
