Chapter 1

My husband's father, Warren Harrington, was in a catastrophic car accident. He was barely clinging to life.

On his deathbed, terrified that a power vacuum after his death would trigger a stock collapse, he dictated his will in front of a city's worth of media and lawyers.

Two sons. Whoever reached his bedside first—proving they had the fastest decisiveness and the iron grip to keep the boardroom wolves at bay—would seize sole control of a thirty-billion-dollar empire.

My husband's half-brother, Beckett, was overseas. My husband, the one who knew the conglomerate inside and out, was a ten-minute drive from Mount Sinai.

It should have been a foregone conclusion.

I called until my phone nearly melted. My husband shut his off.

His soulmate was having a bad day. She wanted him beside her at the top of the Ferris wheel, watching a private fireworks display. Just for her.

In my last life, I lost my mind. I took bodyguards and stormed into Six Flags. I dragged him, physically, to Warren's bedside.

He dropped to his knees. Warren took his last breath. He inherited Harrington Group without a hitch.

But his soulmate got left alone in the high-up cold. She caught a fever. She sobbed and cursed him out, said he didn't care about her, said she was done.

It wrecked him. Once his power was absolute, he had me bound to a chunk of stone and tossed into the Atlantic.

"A control freak like you, you only see transactions. All you ever do is ruin things. Ella got a fever because of you. The inheritance was mine sooner or later. You meddled for nothing."

I opened my eyes. I was back at the moment the lawyer was frantically pushing me to make the call.

On Instagram, he had just posted: *Even if the world ends, I'm watching these fireworks with my girl.* I tapped the like button without a second thought.

Then I calmly opened my chat with Beckett.

"Beckett. Want to make a deal?"

***

"Skyler! What are you waiting for? Call Kip!"

The lawyer beside me was practically vibrating with panic.

"Mr. Harrington's will is already executed. The first one to set foot in that hospital room before he passes gets Harrington Group. All of it."

"A ten-minute drive. If Mr. Kip leaves right now, this thirty-billion-dollar empire is his!"

I buried the glacial hate in my eyes.

Surrounded by a roomful of lawyers and doctors, I dialed Kip's number.

It rang for a long time. A very long time.

Long enough that Attorney Carter was sweating through his shirt. Then the line connected.

The roar of fireworks exploded through the speaker. Kip's voice came with it, dripping with irritation.

"Skyler, are you seriously still at this? How many times do I have to tell you? Ella's in a bad place today. I'm staying with her."

I forced down the laugh crawling up my throat. My voice stayed flat.

"Dad was in a bad accident. He's in the hospital. They're trying to save him."

Before I could even mention the will, a fragile, teary cough came through the line.

"Kip... are you going to leave me again?"

It sounded like Ella had grabbed the phone.

"Skyler, I genuinely felt awful today. That's the only reason I asked Kip to stay. Do you have to be this ruthless? Do you need me to have a complete breakdown? To get hauled off to the hospital before you're satisfied?"

Kip's voice turned impossibly gentle.

"Ella, baby, don't be scared. I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here."

When he spoke into the receiver again, his voice was ice.

"You hear that? Ella's always been fragile, and you're calling up to stress her out. You won't be happy until she's in a full-blown crisis, is that it?"

Attorney Carter's veins were bulging. He yanked the phone out of my hand.

"Mr. Kip Harrington, this is Carter Phillips, your father's attorney. Mrs. Harrington isn't lying to you. Mr. Warren was in a genuine accident. He's at Mount Sinai right now. You need to be here within half an hour. Mr. Warren's will states—"

"Well, well. Attorney Phillips, is it?"

A slimy, arrogant male voice cut in.

It was Kip's personal assistant. Also Ella's brother. Zander.

Zander's mockery was loud enough for the whole room. "Skyler, you really went all out today. Hired actors and everything. Too bad. You messed up one little detail."

"Kip, a buddy of mine is pulling a shift at the Mount Sinai ER tonight. That hospital's dead quiet. Your old man's faked a medical emergency before to drag you back. This is the same tired play. Skyler's just jealous, so she got some people to run a con on you."

Kip's flicker of doubt vanished. His father *had* pulled stunts like that to control him. Rage took over.

"Skyler. Using my father's health to put on a show? You're getting more disgusting by the day. You make me sick."

The call cut. No hesitation.

Attorney Carter stood there holding the dead phone, disbelief written all over his face.

"He... how can a man be this blind?"