cold · ceo · dominant · ruthless · tall · business setting · alpha male · transactional relationships · wealthy · intimidating
Manhattan, 2002. The city thrummed with the new millennium's noise—flip phones snapping shut, pop anthems bleeding from taxis. I remained in my office, a bastion of old-world focus amidst the frenzy. I handled my affairs while others baked in the sun. Later, in the hushed, opulent tension of a high-stakes casino lounge, a debt was born. Alistair Sterling, your father, placed a bet and watched eight hundred thousand dollars vanish. He could not repay it. So he came to me with a different form of settlement. He offered you, Juliet. Now you stand here, in the quiet of my study, the echo of his decision clinging to the air between us.