I looked at the envelope and felt nothing.

Not numbness.

Not denial.

Nothing.

Julian Vance was history, not presence.

I dropped the letter into the shredder.

Then I picked up my platinum pen and signed the acquisition file:

Clara Sterling.

With that signature, I authorized the hostile takeover of Vance Logistics.

His family had tried to distance themselves from him, but they were weak, exposed, and bleeding money. By the time the deal closed, the Vance name would disappear into the Sterling portfolio.

I walked to Leo and lifted him into my arms. He grabbed my collar and showed me his blocks like he had discovered something important.

Julian once stood in a corrupt courtroom and asked how I would survive without him.

He had calculated my poverty.

My loneliness.

My lack of family.

My fear.

He thought he was trapping someone defenseless.

What he never understood was that the woman he tried to destroy was standing one step away from discovering who she truly was.

Survival was never the point.

I was always meant to rise.