Chapter 2

2.

For the next seven days, I practically lived at the company headquarters on Wall Street, numbing my shattered nerves with grueling work.

My colleagues avoided my gaze. I overheard someone whisper in the breakroom, “She’s such a workaholic. Her son was just buried, and she’s already back.”

I ignored them, burying myself in the quarterly financial reports.

Chloe walked by with a Starbucks cup, deliberately stopping at my desk. Her voice was just loud enough for everyone around to hear. “Evelyn, remember to take care of yourself. Don’t work yourself to death.” She paused. “Some people are just so dedicated, they don’t even have time to notice how sick their own child is.”

She was an administrative assistant at Sterling Group, a position Carter had arranged for her.

Carter had never explained the truth about what happened with Dr. Webber that night. He let the rumors spread, letting all the blame fall on me.

I gripped my Montblanc pen.

That afternoon, the founder and chairman of Sterling Group―Carter’s father, Harrison Sterling―summoned me to his private office on the 40th floor.

He leaned back in his leather chair, his voice colder than the New York wind in November. “Evelyn, hand over all your executive permissions in the company. I’ve already told the legal team to freeze all the trust accounts in your name and Leo’s. The board will formalize the resolution tomorrow.”

I stood frozen.

His eyes burned with a grandfather’s unvented rage. “The Sterling family doesn’t support dead weight. As a mother, you let that happen to your son. What right do you have to be here?”

“Harrison―”

He shot up from his chair, stormed around the desk, and slapped me across the face. “You made my son lose his best friend, you cost me my grandson’s life! How dare you say my name!”

I staggered back, hitting a bookshelf. My face stung, hot and sharp.

He kept yelling, ranting about the Sterling family’s reputation, about how the Davenport deal was at risk because of “public opinion on our family values,” about what a disgrace I had become.

Just as he raised his hand again, the office door swung open. Carter walked in.

He saw me slumped against the bookshelf, and his face darkened. “Dad―”

“What, you’re still going to protect her?”

Carter stepped between us, his arms spread. “If you want to hit someone, hit me.”

Harrison’s voice trembled with fury, pointing a finger at my nose. “Look at this, Carter. Still protecting her. I’ve been too soft on you.”

The second slap never landed, but I couldn’t stand any longer. The world went black, and I collapsed.

I woke up in a private room at Mount Sinai Hospital. Carter was sitting by my bed, head down, idly spinning his car keys.

“Chloe… she had a rough childhood. Besides me, that cat was all she had.” He paused. “Can’t you just let this one go, for us?”

I closed my eyes and said nothing.

“Evelyn, let’s start over. I’ll give you anything you want to make it up to you.”

I turned to look at him, my throat tight. “And if I say no?”

He froze, his brow furrowed. “Don’t be like this.”

I could still feel the burn on my cheek. “I’m not being difficult, Carter. I just want to know one thing―”

“Do I even have the right to say no anymore?”