Samantha's POVI had been planning this announcement for three weeks.The party was in ten days, which was fast approaching but not impossible when you knew the right people. The venue, the lighting, the guest list, the dress—when there is money, things move quickly.It started the night of the family dinner.I had sat at that table and watched Mr. Hayes look at his son with grief in his eyes, and I had understood something that I don't think Ethan understood yet—that the old man's patience was not unlimited, and that the company, which Ethan had always treated as a birthright so secure it required no maintenance, was quietly becoming conditional on Bella.I had driven home from that dinner with my hands perfectly steady on the wheel and my mind moving fast, the way it always did when I identified a problem that needed solving before it identified me.The problem was simple.Ethan was slipping.I had torn the photograph because I needed him to stop looking at it.I called the publicis
Last Updated : 2026-06-16 Read more