Scarlett’s POV
The glass doors hissed shut behind me, sealing the room like a vault. Twenty-four of the city’s most ruthless men and women in business, power suits, cold expressions, pens ready to s***h fates, turned their heads when I entered.
I walked straight to the head of the table, my heels echoing with unapologetic confidence across the marble floor.
I didn’t wait for anyone to tell me to sit.
I didn’t need their permission anymore.
I was the permission.
A low murmur rippled across the room. The tension was thicker than the polished wood beneath my fingertips. Some recognized me. Others blinked in disbelief. And one… one stood in the far corner, arms crossed, his eyes burning into me.
Jasper Carrington.
He hadn’t taken his seat yet.
Good.
Let him stand. Let him watch.
“Go
