Chapter 8

Clara looked down at Julian’s hand resting on her stained lapel.

For five years, she had allowed this man’s words to dictate her worth. She had believed him when he told her she was too rough around the edges, too scarred by her past, too invisible to ever stand in the spotlight. She ha

Chapter 9

The morning sun filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Victor Sterling’s Manhattan penthouse, casting a warm, golden glow over the massive mahogany dining table. Spread across the polished wood were no fewer than six different daily newspapers, and every single one of them featu

Chapter 10

The private test kitchen at the newly constructed Sterling Grand Hotel was a masterpiece of modern culinary engineering.

Clara stood at the center of the expansive marble island, surrounded by gleaming induction ranges, state-of-the-art sous-vide baths, and a wall of imported copper co