In the past, seeing him might have elicited a reaction—anger, sadness, perhaps even a flicker of pity.
Now, I felt absolutely nothing. The void was total. He wasn’t my ex-husband anymore. He wasn’t Liam’s father, having officially signed away his rights to avoid paying a mountain of legal fees he couldn’t afford. He was just a stranger working a late shift in a diner I would never eat at.
I didn’t smile. I didn’t sneer. I simply gave a slow, barely perceptible nod—an acknowledgment of a ghost from a past life.
I turned around as the silver Bentley pulled smoothly up to the curb. Thomas opened the rear door for me.
“Excellent dinner, Ms. Sterling?” Thomas asked politely.
“Perfect, Thomas. Thank you,” I replied, stepping into the luxurious, leather-scented warmth of the car. “To the estate, please.”
As the heavy door closed, shutting out the noise of the city, the Bentley merged seamlessly into the endless stream of bright city lights. I looked out the tinted window at the towering, illuminated skyline. It was a skyline my father had helped build, and one I was now actively reshaping.
“You told me to know where I belong, Ethan,” I whispered to the empty air of the quiet cabin, a genuine, deeply peaceful smile touching my lips. “And you were right. I belong at the absolute top.”
My phone vibrated in my purse. I pulled it out to see an alert from my European partners regarding a massive new global expansion opportunity for Sterling Global.
I unlocked the screen, my mind instantly shifting gears. The challenge didn’t feel like work. It felt like an invitation to a completely unknown, thrilling new chapter of my limitless life, leaving the small, pathetic men of the world far, far behind in the rearview mirror.
