Not even college had offered the escape she had so dreamed it would. After her pictures had been sold to gossip magazines, her credit cards stolen, and her “best friend” had tried to film her having sex with her then boyfriend, she had given up on ever believing anyone would ever like her. Everyone, she had thought, had a motive for wanting to be in her life, and she had grown sick of it. She had become closed off, cold, and she’d refused to socialize with anyone outside of work.

This had suited her father just fine. After all, he had lectured her many times in the past about safety being her primary concern in any relationship. After three attempted kidnappings and her previous traumas, she had agreed with him. The only time she had ever deviated from her solitude was when she had met Bradley, the handsome lawyer her father’s attorneys had hired not long before that.

His pretentious name alone should have warned her. Still, she had fallen for his good looks and, most importantly, his apparent lack of interest in her wealth. He had blown past all the guards she’d had in place, and though she would never have admitted it, it had barely taken one date before he had cajoled her into his bed. Six months later, ignoring her father’s misgivings, Scarlet had happily accepted when Bradley proposed and begun to plan the biggest wedding anyone had seen in years.

Skipping out on work for the first time in years, Scarlet, at Bradley’s urging, had bought them a beautiful penthouse not too far from her father’s own West Village home. She began decorating it during the wedding planning, picturing the children they would have and growing old together with the man of her dreams.

That dream had been shattered the same day her father had given her a gorgeous clear and red heart-shaped glass sculpture. He’d had it commissioned as a sign of his grudging blessing and as an early wedding present. Since it was nothing short of an amazing work of art, he had encouraged her to go ahead and take it to her new home and allowed her a rare but brief hug before she left. She had hardly been able to contain her excitement. Then, walking inside, she had stopped to find Bradley fucking some woman on the couch they had picked out together.

Shocked, she had dropped the sculpture, which shattered into a million pieces, alerting Bradley and the woman to her presence. She had realized then that he had faked any emotion he’d had for her and thought bitterly that the only way he had even been able to be with her was to probably think about the money he would have once they were married.

She dumped him on the spot and, in the ensuing argument, he had said he was surprised she had expected him to be faithful, that she should have been grateful he had even deigned to be with her. As he had glared at her, she couldn’t help thinking it had probably taken more than money to get him excited enough to sleep with her. She knew she wasn’t beautiful like her mother—no one seemed shy about saying it.

The breakup had devastated her, and she had become more withdrawn than before. Her only consolation had been that her father had fired Bradley and made it impossible for him to ever find a job anywhere again. That was his one hard rule: you don’t fuck with a Daniels. She had immediately sold the penthouse and moved back in with her father.

It had only been a month since she’d broken off her engagement and, tired of the manipulative and underhanded tactics people used to get to her birthright, she was afraid it would only get worse after her father’s newest announcement.

“Scarlet,” her father called in a raspy voice from the other end of the large boardroom table, pulling her out of her memories and back to the present.

Blushing as the whole table turned to look at her, she met her father’s eyes.

“Are you listening?” he asked.

“Of course, sir.” It was always “sir” while they were at work. “Collins was just discussing having the new stores opened by the twenty-ninth if the staff can be trained in time, and of course, we are discussing the new offer from Gregory Aspen. But,” she added, “I don’t know why we are.” Her father raised his eyebrows at her, and she continued passionately. “He will never own this company. You built this from the ground up, and it’s not going anywhere.” She pushed a strand of raven hair out of her face.

Her father studied her carefully, and her face flushed again under his piercing gaze. Despite trying his best to hide it, Simon was fading, only a shadow of the imposing man he used to be. He had lost weight, and his hair—his great pride—was greying and thinning. The man Scarlet thought to be invincible was vanishing before her eyes, and the man who sat across from her at the large glass table was almost unrecognizable as the titan who had raised her.

“I am glad you feel that way,” he said. Looking around at the other board members, he continued, “As you all know, I have had some health concerns lately, and I am sad to say that things have taken a turn for the worse.”

Scarlet’s eyes began to water, and the room was unusually quiet as her father spoke.

“The cancer has spread, and the chemo is no longer working. Surgery is no longer an option. According to my doctors, I have approximately three more months left.” He sighed sadly.

“We can get better doctors, sir,” a member named Samuels began, but Simon stopped him, raising a thin hand.

“Medicine can no longer do anything for me. I am dying, and there is no way around it.” A fire ignited behind Simon’s eyes. “But I will be damned if my company goes with me. So, effective two weeks from now, I will be stepping down as CEO of Jupiter Technologies, and Scarlet will take my place as the new head of this company. I have discussed this at length with her, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that she is ready,” Simon declared.

His announcement was met with silence. Scarlet just knew the board would never go for it. There were too many negatives to the situation, age—she was only twenty-eight—and experience being the top two objections. To her surprise, however, one by one, they started nodding, and she heard quiet words of affirmation for her father’s decision as they talked amongst themselves. This had never happened before; people only seemed to tolerate her because of her name. She had grown up with these people mentoring her and had done internships in most of their offices, but now they were showing her their confidence and support. Although, it wasn’t like they had much of a choice; Simon had been just as stingy with his company shares as he was in his affection. Most of the board members had no real power and only served in an advisory capacity. Regardless, Scarlet was secretly thrilled by the support they were showing.

Life finally seemed to be cutting her a break after her breakup and her father’s diagnosis, and she found herself smiling for the first time in weeks. Maybe now, finally, she could carve her own place, and all the rumors and gossip could focus on her new career and not her broken engagement.

“So, how should we announce the change?” asked Marcus Winters, a senior member. His grandfatherly image, Scarlet knew, belied his ruthless business techniques, though he had always been nothing except kind and generous with her. “I propose a gala,” he went on to suggest.

Scarlet chimed in, “I agree, sir. But we could make it a charity gala. We could partner with a well-known charity and donate all the proceeds to cancer research and make the announcement there. Since all of New York’s elite will be invited, the press will, of course, be there, as well. The good publicity certainly wouldn’t hurt our image, and it is a good cause.”