Chapter 10 - THE NEW EMPRESSThree months later, the financial press had finally stopped talking about the dramatic collapse of Hale Enterprises.
Preston Hale was currently residing in a federal detention facility awaiting trial, facing up to twenty years in federal prison for wire fraud, embezzlement, and securities conspiracy. Sloane Avery had fled New York entirely, moving back in with her parents in Ohio after losing her job, her apartment, and her social standing. And my cousin Marcus was currently facing felony charges for corporate treason, his name permanently scrubbed from every family trust and corporate asset bearing the Hartwell name.
I sat at the head of the mahogany conference table on the fifty-fifth floor of Hartwell Tower, looking out over the magnificent Manhattan skyline as the morning sun broke through the clouds.
My father had officially stepped down as Chairman of the Board the week before, handing the absolute control of the Hartwell Family Office and its multibillion-dollar portfolio directly to me.
The board members sat around the table, waiting respectfully for my opening remarks.
I opened the folder before me, looked around the room with calm, unshakeable confidence, and smiled.
"Good morning, everyone," I said, my voice echoing cleanly through the boardroom. "Let’s get to work."
They thought my family’s support would survive anything. They thought a woman standing in the shadows would simply crumble when her husband betrayed her.
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They were wrong.
I hadn't just survived. I had taken the crown.
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