All Chapters of Craving Their Touch : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

The shelter opened on the first day of spring.I had chosen the date deliberately. Spring meant new beginnings. It meant things that had been frozen finally thawing. It meant hope, even for people who had forgotten what hope felt like.The building was a renovated Victorian mansion on a quiet street, the kind of place that had once been someone's home. Now it would be home to women who had nowhere else to go. I had named it after my mother. Elena's House. The woman I had never known but whose choices had shaped my entire life. The woman who ran from Arthur Sterling because she was young and terrified and believed she had no other option. I wanted this place to be for women like her. Women like me. Women who needed a door that would open when they knocked.The ceremony was small. Arthur came, though he had been quiet all morning. Marcus stood beside me. Harold had arranged the chairs and the flowers and the podium where the speakers would stand. Anna h

The year began with a punishing schedule and the quiet fear that I was not ready for any of it.Finance was my first rotation. The department head, Cecilia Moreau, was a sharp-eyed woman in her late fifties who had survived three regime changes, two recessions, and one hostile takeover attempt. She had worked for Sterling Global since before I was born, and she trusted no one. Especially not the founder's long-lost daughter who had appeared out of nowhere with a tragic backstory and a black credit card."You have no formal business education," she said on my first day. "You have never managed a team larger than a household staff. You have never read a quarterly earnings report, let alone written one. Convince me you belong here.""I cannot convince you with words," I said. "Give me the hardest problem you have right now. Something none of your analysts have been able to solve. If I figure it out, I stay. If I fail, I will walk out of your department a

Julian arrived at Sterling Estate on a cold December morning, two days before the board was scheduled to reconvene.I was in the library, reviewing the final pieces of the trap we were setting for Leo. Anna was feeding him false information. Marcus was coordinating with security. Arthur's legal team was preparing a counter-filing that would expose every one of Leo's fabrications. The net was closing.Then Harold appeared in the doorway. "Miss Sterling, Mr. Julian is here. He is not alone.""Julian? He was not supposed to arrive until tonight.""He said it could not wait. He is in the foyer. And Miss Sterling." Harold paused. His expression was strange, almost unsettled, which was unsettling in itself because Harold was never unsettled. "There is a woman with him. He says her name is Elena Marchetti."I dropped my pen.Elena Marchetti. The name I had first read on an adoption record in David's hidden drawer. The woman Arthur

The resignations began on a Monday.I was in my new office on the top floor of Sterling Tower, the one that had belonged to my father for thirty years. The view was spectacular. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the entire city, the skyline Arthur had built with his own hands. I had been in this office for three weeks, and I still was not used to it.Harold buzzed in on the intercom. He had transferred from the estate to the corporate headquarters at my request. I needed someone I could trust absolutely, and Harold had never failed me."Miss Sterling, you need to see the news.""I am looking at quarterly reports, Harold. Can it wait?""No, miss. It cannot."I turned on the television mounted on the far wall. The screen flickered to life, and I felt my stomach drop.The press conference was already in progress. Six people stood behind a podium. I recognized every single one of them. Board members. All of them. The

The first crack appeared on a rainy Tuesday morning.I was in my office, reviewing the weekly financial reports, when Cecilia knocked on the door and let herself in. She was carrying two cups of coffee, one of which she set on my desk without asking if I wanted it. She knew I did. She always knew."You have the Henderson meeting at eleven," she said. "I took the liberty of preparing talking points for you. They are going to ask about the European division's quarterly dip. I would recommend steering the conversation toward the Asian market gains instead."I looked up from my reports. "How did you know about the Henderson meeting? I only confirmed it late last night."She hesitated. Just for a fraction of a second. "Harold mentioned it when I came in this morning. He said you had added it to the calendar.""Harold does not start until eight. You were here at seven.""Maybe I saw it on the shared calendar. I do not remember exa