Chapter 7: The Empire Endures
Six months later, the winter snow had melted, replaced by the vibrant, blooming gardens of the Sterling estate.
I sat at the head of the massive mahogany conference table in the boardroom of Sterling Holdings, sipping a cup of Earl Grey tea. The morning sun streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a warm, golden glow over the city skyline.
The ashes of the past had finally settled.
Kenneth was currently residing in a medium-security federal prison, serving a twenty-year sentence. The physical scars from the surgery had healed, but the humiliation of his highly publicized arrest—and the grotesque nature of his emergency room visit—ensured he would be a laughingstock for the rest of his miserable life. Maya had filed for a rapid annulment from Justin and fled the state, completely disgraced and cut off from any family money.
Justin’s trial was still ongoing, but with the mountain of digital evidence Elias Vance had secured, his high-priced lawyers were desperately trying to negotiate a plea deal. He was looking at a decade behind bars, at minimum.
I had absorbed the Blackwood Syndicate’s assets, aggressively restructuring my family’s empire and expanding our holdings by thirty percent. I didn’t just survive the hostile takeover; I weaponized it.
I looked down at the medical file resting on my desk. It wasn’t the fake logs Kenneth had kept. It was a new file, from a new doctor. My body was healing. The poisons were out of my system, and the doctors had assured me that, in time, my chances of becoming a mother were completely restored.
I didn’t need a husband to build a family. I didn’t need a brother to build an empire. I only needed the cold, unyielding iron in my own spine.
I signed the final page of a massive international acquisition contract, capping my pen with a satisfying click.
They thought they could lock me in a cage of my own grief. They thought my tears were a sign of weakness. But they forgot one crucial detail about the women in my family.
We don’t just burn. We forge.
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