My stepmother handed me a trash bag of my clothes and said, “Your father is d;ea;d, and the house is mine. Get out.” She slammed the door in my face while her kids laughed from the window. I was eighteen, broke, and alone. She thought that was the end of the story. She didn’t know my father had left a separate, secret will in a safety deposit box that only I had the key to. Ten years later, I bought the company she worked for. Today, I’m going to walk into her office and ask her the same question she asked me: “How does it feel to lose everything?”

“Buy it,” I commanded.

“Sir?”

“Hostile takeover,” I said. “Offer 20% above market value to the owner on the condition that the sale is confidential until the ink is dry. I want to inspect the assets personally on Monday.”

“Yes, Mr. Vance.”

That Sunday night, my PI sent me a recording. Victoria was shouting at her assistant on the phone.

“I don’t care about the new owners! I am the face of this company! They won’t touch me! I know where the bodies are buried!”

She hung up and poured herself a drink, her hand trembling. She stared at a photo of my father on her mantle—the only thing she hadn’t sold.

“I beat you, Robert,” she whispered to the dead man. “I’m still here.”

She had no idea that the “new owner” was the ghost she created.

Chapter 4: The CEO’s Entrance

Monday morning. The Sterling Interiors headquarters was buzzing with the nervous energy of a hive that knows a bear is coming.

The rumor mill had been working overtime. The new owner was coming. Layoffs were expected.

I walked into the lobby flanked by three lawyers and two security guards. I wasn’t wearing a hoodie today. I was wearing a bespoke Tom Ford suit, a Patek Philippe watch, and the kind of shoes that cost more than Victoria’s car.

I didn’t stop at reception. I walked straight to the elevator.

We reached the top floor. The executive suite.

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