Adrian’s POV
Control was supposed to be an armor.
Predictable. Impenetrable.
But lately, it felt like smoke — slipping through my fingers faster than I could gather it.
The morning started like a siege.
Three phones buzzing. Two notifications flashing the same headline. One truth pulsing through all of it:
> HART COUTURE SECURES FULL PARTNERSHIP WITH KINGSTON CAPITAL.
SOPHIE HART, THE FACE OF MODERN REVIVAL.
BLACKWOOD HOLDINGS UNDER PRESSURE TO RESPOND.
The media always smelled blood.
And this time, Sophie had handed them the scent.
She’d turned a single relaunch into a movement.
#Rebirth trended for hours. Her interview clip — that calm, sharp voice saying “Hart Couture belongs to no one but itself” — replayed on every financial network.
For the first time in a decade, I w
