From Public Shame To Power Play

rs, I loved

om nothing. My father groomed them, treated them like sons, and planned for one of them

to Ethan. He was the most brilliant, the most ambitio

ef shatte

, planning to surprise Ethan with lunch, when I heard his

sweet-faced intern from

ose you?" Maria's voice was sof

obsessed with me for a decade. Once we're married, I'll have control. I'll send her off to manage some forgotten

lunchbox in my hand sudde

ld-it was all just a stepping stone in his gra

my heart a cold, hea

three of them were there-Ethan Scott, Andrew Morris, and Bri

I've watched these men for years. They are all capable. But the future of thi

s, so sure of my answer. Andrew looked impatient, B

air in the room thi

I said, my voice

, replaced by a flicker of disbelief. An

this is not a game. I rais

m. "But marrying one of them would create instability. The other two would fe

, not an internal promotion. The Lesters of Texas. Their oil dynasty is old money, j

of a businessman considering a merger. "The Lesters? Their hei

condition is irrelevant. An alliance with the Lesters is a statement of strength

is eyes sharp. He saw not his emotional d

"You're right. It's a brilliant

hing that didn't reach my

a mixture of shock and fury. They had come here e

to make the call

selves out," I sa

ve were over. It wa