The Laurent Group’s primary boardroom was a masterpiece of intimidation. Perched on the top floor of their Paris headquarters, it featured floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a commanding, unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower and the sprawling city below. The table was carved from a single, massi

The heavy oak doors of the boardroom shut behind Serena with a satisfying, resolute thud.

For the first time in three months, she took a full, deep breath. Her pulse was racing, thrumming against the diamond choker at her throat, but her hands were perfectly steady. She had played the scene out in

The crystal chandeliers of the Grand Palais bathed the ballroom in a warm, golden luminescence, casting fractured rainbows across the imported marble floors. A string quartet played a delicate Vivaldi piece in the corner, though the music was nearly drowned out by the clinking of champagne flutes an