Chapter 4
Andrew Sterling had one brother.
Michael.
Officially dead at thirty-one after a private boating accident.
No body was ever shown to me because I married Andrew years later and never had reason to question a family tragedy that had already become history.
Eleanor did not look surprised when I said his name.
That mattered more than anything else.
“He’s alive.”
She said nothing.
Richard looked at her.
Another mistake.
I turned to him.
“You’ve seen him.”
“No.”
Too fast.
I almost smiled.
“You’re both terrible liars when you’re scared.”
Eleanor’s face hardened.
“Michael has nothing to do with Lily.”
“Then why provoke a succession challenge?”
No answer.
I stepped closer.
“Why tonight?”
Still nothing.
Dominic spoke from behind me. “Because the reserve matures tonight.”
I turned.
He looked apologetic.
“Midnight. Founder’s anniversary.”
Of course.
Old families loved dead men enough to keep giving them power over living people.
I looked at the clock.
10:42 p.m.
Eleanor had nearly two hours.
“Meaning?”
“If a formal challenge is recognized before midnight, reserve authority freezes until bloodline control is resolved.”
I stared at her.
“You needed the room to see me choose Lily.”
Eleanor finally answered.
“I needed them to see you choose Moretti softness over Sterling blood.”
There it was.
My maiden name.
The insult she had never stopped thinking.
I might control the Sterling organization, but to Eleanor, I was still the outsider who married in.
A woman.
A Moretti.
A mother willing to protect a child instead of proving herself cruel enough to belong.
Richard leaned forward. “You have no idea what this family was before you.”
“No.”
I looked at Eleanor.
“But I know what it became under me.”
That angered her more than anything else.
She had spent years watching men who once asked her permission start asking mine.
Lily was only the most vulnerable place to strike back.
Then Dominic’s phone vibrated.
He read the message and looked up sharply.
“What?”
“The private reserve vault was opened.”
I turned toward Eleanor.
She looked genuinely surprised.
Not pleased.
Surprised.
May you like
Someone had moved before she expected.
And if neither Eleanor nor Richard had opened it, then the person holding the founder’s key was already inside my house.
