After my brother and I were rushed into emergency surgery from the same crash, my parents slammed a forged DNR order onto my chest, demanding, 'Save him first. She’s always been expendable.'

With the Brooks family gone, the Sterling Estate became my playground and my classroom. Madeline was brilliant, a lioness in the corporate jungle. She didn't just teach me how to read a balance sheet; she taught me how to read people.

"You look for the numbers," she told me during a board meeting. "I look for the desperation. The numbers can be faked, Elena. The desperation—the need to win, the need to survive—that’s the truth."

I began to lead the audit division of Sterling Enterprises. I applied the same forensic rigor I had used to hide Julian’s gambling debts to expose corruption within our own subsidiary companies. I wasn't just keeping the books; I was cleaning them.

But the ghost of the past still haunted the corridors of the tower. I kept the pink sweater with the bloodstain in a glass case in my office. Every morning, I looked at it to remember who I was, and who I would never be again.

One day, Madeline walked into my office, looking tired but content.

"I’m stepping down, Elena," she said, sitting in the visitor’s chair.

My heart skipped a beat. "What? No. You’re the Sterling Estate."

"I’m the previous Sterling Estate," she said, smiling. "You’ve outperformed every executive we’ve had in twenty years. You’ve exposed three major corporate scandals and streamlined our logistics. You’re ready."

"I don't know if I can lead them," I said, looking at the massive desk.