CHAPTER 1: Call My Father

Emily’s fingertips touched the phone.
The broken glass remained scattered beside her. The rose stayed crushed near the coffee table leg. Nothing in the room moved except her hand and the rise of Mark’s breathing.
She pulled the phone closer and pressed it to her ear.
Her voice was soft, but it did not shake.
“Dad… destroy his firm.”
For the first time that night, Mark’s confidence flickered.
Not because he feared Charles Whitmore’s temper. Everyone in finance feared that.
But because Emily did not sound desperate.
She sounded informed.
Mark laughed anyway. Men like him used laughter the way other people used doors.
It was how they tried to close things before truth could enter.