Chapter 3

Sydney

“Daddy, I’m home!” I called out, letting the doors of the Carter estate swing shut behind me with a satisfying thud.

It felt strange saying it—those words, in this house—but I needed to say them aloud. I needed to hear them. I needed to remember that this moment was real. That I had been granted something most people never get: a second chance.

And I wasn’t going to waste it.

The familiar scent of mahogany polish and fresh lilies wrapped around me like a memory. This house—my home—hadn’t changed one bit. Every surface gleamed, every corner curated with the same quiet, powerful elegance my father was known for. The same elegance that made Prestige Global what it was. I stepped further in, heels clicking softly against the marble.

“Sydney?” my father’s voice rang out from the hall, warm and surprised.

I turned just as he rounded the corner, eyes lighting up the moment he saw me. “There she is,” he said, opening his arms wide with that signature grin that always crinkled the corners of his eyes.

And just like that, the dam broke.

I dropped my purse and rushed to him, arms flung tight around his neck as he lifted me off the ground slightly, just like he used to when I was little. His cologne—cedarwood and subtle spice—hit me like a punch to the chest.

“I missed you,” I whispered against his shoulder, voice catching.

He pulled back, holding me at arm’s length as his brows furrowed with concern. “Missed me? Honey, you saw me last week.”

I shook my head, blinking hard. “I know. I know, it’s just… surreal. That’s all.” I swallowed the emotion building in my throat. “You ever have one of those days where everything feels like a dream?”

He chuckled as his eyes soften as they always did with me. “At my age, every day feels like that.”

His salt-and-pepper hair was a bit more silver than I remembered, and there were deeper lines around his eyes, but they still held the same spark. The same steady, unwavering warmth. I stared at him for a beat longer, memorizing everything—the slope of his shoulders, the curve of his jaw, the slight crinkle of his nose when he smiled. I had lost him once. Not again.

He clapped a hand on my back and motioned toward his office. “Come, walk with me. You caught me just before a call, but I can move it.”

I followed him down the familiar hall, feeling like I’d stepped back in time. Everything exactly the same—and yet, everything had changed. Because I had changed.

“So,” he said as we stepped into the office with its tall bookshelves and the leather armchair I always claimed as a child. “What brings you here in the middle of the week, looking like you’ve just made a life-altering decision?”

I sat in that same armchair, hands folded in my lap.

“Because I have,” I announced, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

“Do tell.”

“I’m ready,” I said quietly, but clearly. “I want to take over Prestige.”

His eyes lit up in that proud way that always made my chest warm. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear you say that.” He leaned forward. “Sydney, I’ve always known you had it in you. You’ve got my drive and your mother’s intuition. You could run this empire blindfolded.”

I smiled, but he continued.

“But you do know that I am only signing over the place of CEO to you. Not Eric. The last time you asked a year ago, I was so disappointed that you didn’t want to take over. You wanted to give it to Eric. But I will only sign over to you Sydney. Do you understand that?”

I nodded as I heaved out a sigh. “That’s why I came.”

My father’s expression hardened slightly. “Trouble?”

I nodded.

He exhaled slowly and then leaned back. “I told you, sweetheart. I never trusted him. Never understood what you saw in that boy. All charm and ambition, but no integrity. I also don’t trust his intentions with you. He never seemed to love you the way that you loved him. But I only ever wanted your happiness.”

“I see that now,” I said softly. “Which brings me to the other reason I came today.”

His gaze sharpened, like he already knew what was coming.

“I’ve decided to divorce him.”

He didn’t even hesitate. His grin broke wide and genuine. “Thank God.”

I blinked, trying very hard to bite back my laugh.

“Dad!”

“I mean it,” he said, chuckling as he stood and moved around the desk to sit beside me. “This is perfect timing.”

“Perfect timing?” I echoed.

He nodded, eyes twinkling. “Do you remember Bryce Westin?”

My stomach flipped. “You mean the guy you tried to marry me off to straight out of college?”

He laughed. “That’s the one. Westin Enterprises has been climbing again—stronger than ever, actually now that he’s taken the reins. You remember how his older brother nearly ran it into the ground. But Bryce? That boy rebuilt it from the ashes. And now, he’s returned from England after two years abroad. And, he’s still single.”

“Dad,” I said, already groaning.

“Hear me out,” he said quickly. “He reached out last week to partner on a new logistics initiative. He wants to merge certain resources with Prestige. It’s a brilliant idea. It could reshape the sector entirely.”

I stared at him. “So you thought… ‘Hey, let’s throw my newly-divorcing daughter into an arranged marriage for business’?”

He waved a hand. “Don’t be dramatic. I’ve always liked Bryce. He’s intelligent, disciplined, powerful… and I think he’d be good for you. I also think you two together could build something unstoppable.”

“Dad—”

“I’m not forcing anything,” he interrupted, more gently this time. “I just want you to consider it. There’s a dinner tonight. Casual. Just me and him, but you’re welcome if you change your mind. No contracts. No pressure. If you want to meet him, come. If not, I’ll handle the business talk and won’t take it personally.”

I hesitated.

He rested a hand over mine. “Look, Sydney… I’ve watched you break your back trying to prove yourself to people who never deserved you. I won’t pretend to know everything that happened between you and Eric, but I do know this… whatever made you finally walk away… it was the right call.”

His words hit deeper than he realized.

“I won’t marry someone just because you think it’s convenient,” I said softly.

“You shouldn’t,” he agreed. “But maybe… maybe fate’s trying to give you something better than what you had. Just think about it, sweetheart.”

Fate.

Maybe before, I would have never given that word a second thought. But now, after what happened to me, I had reasonably doubt.

I wanted to tell my dad. I really did. But what would I say?

‘Hey Dad! So turns out, Eric killed you, then he killed me to be with his mistress and bastard child after stealing our empire. But fate gave me a second chance and I’m alive again?’

Yeah right. Daddy would tell me it was a bad dream. Hell, sometimes I thought it was, and everything that happened last night at dinner was just bad deja-vu.

But I knew this was real.

I knew, because I still had the scars from the accident.

I nodded slowly, heart beating louder than it should’ve.

“I’ll be there.”