The house was suffocatingly quiet.

Clara moved through the sprawling master bedroom of the Vance estate with the precision of a machine. She pulled two large suitcases from the back of the walk-in closet and threw them onto the king-sized bed. She didn't pack the designer dresses Julian had bought

The mahogany-paneled conference room of Diane Black & Associates smelled of lemon polish and expensive leather. It was a room designed for intimidation, perched high on the forty-second floor, offering a sweeping view of the city’s skyline. For the first time in seven years, Clara Vance sat in a cha

The towering glass facade of Sterling Architecture stood as a direct rival to Vance Development. While Julian’s company focused on flashy, aggressive skyscrapers, Sterling was known for meticulous, structural perfection. They were the second largest firm in the city, and Clara fully intended to make