Chapter 2

"I don't care who stands behind you."

I cut him off, my voice deadpan. "You don't meet my investment criteria. Vance Group's current balance sheet is a bottomless black hole.”

“ I run a venture firm, not a charity, and I certainly don't throw cash into the gutter."

"You!"

Julian's face turned livid. His finger trembled as he pointed it straight at my nose.

He spat a venomous curse, snatched his briefcase from the table, and stormed out.

At the boardroom doorway, his rage still unsated, he whipped out his phone and made a call.

He didn't bother lowering his voice in front of my team, making sure every word echoed clearly through the room.

"Fuck! What an arrogant little bitch!"

"God knows whose lap she crawled into to parachute into this position, and she actually dared to reject me!"

"She looks barely twenty. Probably slept her way through the entire board to get that seat... fucking parasite!"

His vulgar rant faded as the elevator doors slid shut.

A dead, awkward silence descended upon the boardroom.

I knew exactly what my employees were thinking.

A young, strikingly beautiful woman with no public background suddenly parachuted in as the head of investment, and now she had blatantly humiliated the golden boy of the Vance family.

My status as Arthur Sterling's adopted daughter was a strictly guarded secret, known only to my assistant and a tiny circle of top executives.

Without missing a beat, I adjusted my cuffs and stood up. "Meeting adjourned."

Before the words fully left my mouth, the double doors were violently kicked open.

In marched Gregory Miller, the firm's CEO.

In his late fifties, sporting a heavy beer gut and an oily, furious scowl, he glared at me with pure venom.

Ignoring the junior staff in the room, he slammed his fist onto the mahogany table and roared, "Evelyn! Explain yourself right now! Why the hell did you reject Vance Group?"

"Do you know how big Vance Group is? They're poised to be an industry leader! A single round of funding from us would have made our annual report look phenomenal!"

I calmly signaled to the staff. "Everyone, out."

Once the room cleared, I looked him in the eye. "Mr. Miller, Vance Group's cash flow has already ruptured twice.”

“Their so-called revolutionary tech is a complete sham designed to embezzle funds and cover previous gambling losses. Investing in them is throwing money into an incinerator."

"You're a green girl straight out of college! What do you know about high finance? What do you know about risk assessment?"

Gregory sneered, looking down on me with total disdain.

"I know the Chairman placed you here, but the old man is retiring soon! I am the CEO. In this firm, I have the final say! If I tell you to fund them, you fund them!"

"The portfolio roster is finalized. Vance Group is not on it," I countered, standing my ground.

"Then take someone off!"

Gregory jabbed a thick finger in my face, spit flying from his mouth. "Cut the clean energy startup and give their allocation to Vance Group!”

“If this blows up, you take full responsibility! Don't blame me when I fire your ass and throw you out on the street!"

With that, he slammed the door and stormed off.

Maya stood beside me, trembling. "Ms. Sterling, what do we do...?"

"Proceed as planned," I said calmly. "Vance Group doesn't get a single dime."

That evening, the moment I arrived at my penthouse, my phone buzzed.

An unknown number.

I tapped answer.

"Is this Ms. Sterling?"

A familiar middle-aged voice drifted through the speaker.

My biological father, Thomas Vance.