For the next month, I barely left the office. The second hundred-billion-dollar project had officially launched, and every day was swallowed by meetings, contracts, and negotiations.
By the time things finally slowed down, I had almost forgotten the Cresswell family existed at all.
Then one afternoon, I saw Rex standing outside Carlisle Group. In barely a month, the former crown heir of Kingsport had become almost unrecognizable.
The arrogance was gone. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, his clothes hung wrinkled on his frame, and the defeated look on his face made him seem years older overnight.
The moment he spotted me, he rushed over. "Stella… no, Miss Carlisle…" For the first time, his voice carried genuine panic.
"The Cresswell family is bankrupt. My father's in the hospital now, an
