Sera's POV
"I can't do this."
I'm standing outside Ashford Empire headquarters at 8 AM, looking up at the building that should be mine. My legs won't move.
"Yes, you can." Damien's hand touches my lower back gently. "You're Sera Ashford. This is your company. Your legacy."
"I'm a fraud." My voice shakes. "I worked at Thornton Industries for four years doing general assistant work. These people ran my parents' billion-dollar business. They'll see right through me."
"Good." Damien's smile is sharp. "Let them underestimate you. Makes it easier to destroy them later."
"Destroy them? I thought they were on our side—"
"Nobody's on our side until we prove we're worth following." He opens the door. "Now come on. We're late, and that's a power move I taught you."
Right. The teaching session last night. Show up late to your own meeting. Make them wait. Establish control from the start.
I'm going to throw up.
The boardroom is on the top floor. Floor-to-ceiling windows. A table that probably costs more than a car. Twelve people in expensive suits, all looking at me like I'm a ghost. "Good morning." Damien's voice cuts through the shocked quiet. "I believe you all know my wife, Sera Ashford. Sole heir to this company."
An older man at the head of the table stands up suddenly. "This is outrageous. We were told this meeting was about restructuring—"
"It is about restructuring," I say, finding my voice. "Starting with new leadership. Me."
The room bursts.
"She's been gone six years!"
"She has no experience running a company!"
"The Thorntons have been managing her shares—"
"The Thorntons are in federal custody facing criminal charges," Damien interrupts coldly. "Any management agreements they made are void due to fraud. Ms. Ashford is the formal owner of seventy percent of this company. Which means she can fire every single one of you before lunch."
Silence falls like a hammer.
I walk to the head of the table where the old man is standing. "Please sit down, Mr.—" "Harrison. James Harrison. I was your father's CFO." His eyes are cold. "I've been running this company since Jonathan died."
"And I'm grateful for your service." I keep my voice calm even though my heart is racing. "But my father's will was clear. Control goes to me at age twenty-six. I turned twenty-six last month."
"You disappeared for six years," a woman with sharp features says. "We had to assume you were dead. We made decisions in the company's best interest—"
"You mean in YOUR best interest." Damien slides a box across the table. "These are records of unauthorized bonuses, expense accounts, and salary raises you all approved for yourselves over the past six years. Totaling approximately forty million dollars."
The woman goes pale.
"That money came from the company's profits," Harrison says. "Perfectly legal—"
"Without the owner's approval?" I raise an eyebrow, projecting every bit of confidence I don't feel. "I think my lawyers would disagree."
"You can't just walk in here after six years and—"
"I can," I cut him off. "Because this is MY company. My name on the property. My fortune. My choice." I look around the table. "But I'm not here to fire everyone. I'm here to learn. To take my rightful place as CEO-in-training."
"CEO-in-training?" Harrison laughs. "You don't know the first thing about running a business."
"Then teach me." I sit down in the head chair—my father's chair. It feels too big. Too important. But I don't let that show. "That's what a good board does. They back the owner. Or they find themselves replaced by people who will."
The danger hangs in the air.
One by one, the board members sit back down.
"Fine," Harrison says through gritted teeth. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything." I open the folder Damien prepared for me. "Starting with where my company's money has actually been going for the past six years."
The meeting lasts four hours. They throw numbers at me, try to confuse me with financial terms, test whether I'm actually smart enough to lead.
But I took business classes in college. I worked at Thornton Industries for four years. And more importantly, I have Damien beside me, gently pointing out when someone's lying.
By noon, I've learned several things:
One: The board has been taking from me, just smaller amounts than the Thorntons.
Two: Several board members were friends with Richard Thornton. Close friends.
Three: They're afraid I'm going to fire them all.
"This meeting is adjourned," I finally say. "We'll meet next week. I expect full financial reports from each area by Friday."
The board members file out quickly, talking to each other.
All except Harrison, who stays by the door.
"Ms. Ashford," he says quietly. "A word of advice?"
"I'm listening."
"The Thorntons have powerful friends. People who benefited from their deal with this company." His eyes flick to the remaining board members leaving. "People in this room. They won't let you take control easily."
"Is that a threat?"
"It's a warning." Harrison's face is unreadable. "Your father trusted the wrong people, and it got him killed. Don't make the same mistake."
He leaves before I can reply.
I look at Damien. "Did he just say the board was involved in my parents' murder?" "He implied it. " Damien's jaw tightens. "Which means we need to move faster than planned."
My phone buzzes. Text from Maya: "Adrian's here at the coffee shop. Says it's important. About Damien. You need to hear this. NOW."
"I have to go," I tell Damien.
"Go where?"
I hesitate. Should I tell him about meeting Adrian? About the claims in those anonymous texts? "Maya needs me. Girl emergency."
Damien studies my face like he's trying to read my thoughts. "Be careful. The Thorntons may be in custody, but they still have friends on the outside."
"I will."
As I leave the building, my phone buzzes again. Another text from that "Friend": "Good job in there. Very believable. But you forgot to ask Harrison about his daughter. You know, the one Damien dated right before she suddenly fell from her apartment balcony. Suicide, they said. Sure it was. Ask Adrian about it. He has proof. - Friend "
My hands start shaking.
Damien dated Harrison's daughter? She died by jumping from her balcony?
How many dead women are linked to the man I just married?
I get in the car Damien assigned me—complete with driver and security guard. As we pull away, I see Damien standing in front of Ashford Empire offices, watching me leave.
His face is cold. Calculating.
Like he knows exactly where I'm going and who I'm meeting.
My phone rings. Unknown number.
Against my better sense, I answer.
"Hello?"
"Sera." Richard Thornton's voice makes my blood run cold. "We need to talk about your new husband. Unless you want to end up like his first wife. Or his girlfriend. Or your parents."
"How are you calling me? You're in custody—"
"Money buys everything, dear girl. Even phone calls from government holding." His laugh is wicked. "Meet me. One hour. The parking garage where your parents died. Come alone, or I'll make sure those mysterious texts about Damien go straight to the FBI."
The line goes dead.
I stare at my phone, my heart racing.
Richard wants me to go to the place where my parents were killed. Alone.
It's clearly a trap.
But what if he really does have proof about Damien? What if everything the mysterious texts have been saying is true?
"Change of plans," I tell my driver. "Take me to Fifth Street. The coffee shop."
I need to hear what Adrian knows.
And then I need to decide if the man I married to get payback is actually the man I should be getting revenge on.