Chapter 1 — The Call That Changed Everything
The ambulance arrived in eleven minutes.
My father arrived in nine.
He reached the penthouse before the paramedics finished treating the cuts on my hands.
For seven years, I had imagined what it would be like to see him again.
I never imagined it would be while lying on a marble floor surrounded by broken glass.
He stepped inside.
His tailored navy overcoat was still damp from the rain.
His silver hair had grown thinner.
But his eyes...
They were exactly the same.
The moment he saw the welts across my back, he stopped walking.
No dramatic outburst.
No shouting.
Only a father staring at the daughter he had failed to protect.
He knelt beside me.
Without a word, he removed his jacket and laid it gently across my shoulders.
"I'm here."
Those two words broke the last piece of pride I had left.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
He shook his head.
"You survived."
"That's all I care about."
As paramedics carefully lifted me onto the stretcher, my father turned toward his longtime attorney, Charles Henderson.
"Begin."
Henderson nodded once.
"The emergency shareholder meeting has already been called."
May you like
My father looked out at the Manhattan skyline.
"NexusCore won't open tomorrow under Matthew Hayes."
