She was sure she could hear it. She knew it was impossible. Still, Sam could hear her world crumbling around her. Perhaps what she was hearing was actually her heart, splintering into a million pieces.

How did I not know this? How in the world did this happen?

She raised her eyes to Carla, who stared back at her with pursed lips, and Sam knew that in that moment, it didn't matter. There would be time to lick her wounds later. The only thing that mattered was that she was Samantha Covington, a very powerful woman in a world ruled by men.

Men who she would slay in short order.

Sam’s mind scrambled to move forward, because making sense of this was not in the cards. More important things were at stake right now. In her mind, she closed a steel door between the information she'd just been given, and her current objective. Stone may be a lying bastard, but she was getting what she wanted, and that was all that mattered.

She gathered into herself, calling on every cruel lesson her father had taught her, letting the rage that blanketed her be the mask covering the screaming woman inside.

"Mr. Grey, Mr. Nelonie.” Sam addressed the pair in the practiced tone of a woman completely in control of everything and everyone around her. “I would like to thank you for the contribution you've made by adding some shock value to these proceedings."

Sam let the full weight of her ice-cold glare fall on the two men. She was pleased when she felt the shift in the room. Norman may have bested her father, but Sam would be damned if she’d let this man think he had anything on her. Judging by the color rising on his neck, she knew she'd beat him at his own game.

"Shareholders of CSM,” She continued authoritatively, “It’s time for a vote. Each of you have read the proposal and know what you stand to gain, should you vote favorably today. My hope is that you see the value of the offer and make your decision accordingly."

She looked directly at Bennet and Andrea as she made her next statement.

"In the continued interest of full disclosure, I need to inform you of what a nay vote will win you.” She paused momentarily before continuing. "Should this proposal be voted down, I will step down as CEO and cash out my portion of CSM stock. You may, or may not, enjoy the repercussions of such an action, but I leave the choice in your hands."

Every eye in the room was firmly fixed on her. Norman and James looked like they were about to pop some blood vessels, but she was doing it. She was forcing the shareholders to vote in her favor. She was forcing their hands and she didn't even care anymore.

"Let it be recorded that I move for a vote regarding the merger between Covington Manufacturing and Carnelian Global Enterprises, which includes all the conditions and stipulations put forth in the aforementioned proposal. Do I have a second to the motion?”

“I second the motion." Devon spoke up quickly.

Sam smiled at him in gratitude.

"The vote will be recorded aye or nay.”

Bennet Alexander. “Nay.”

Sam was shocked. Between Bennet and Andrea, Bennet was the one she expected to vote favorably. She didn’t know how she would deal with another blow today, but there was no way around it. The course was set, she would follow it to the end.

James Nelonie. “Nay.”

Norman Grey. “Nay”

Olivia Reilly. “Aye.”

Devon Reilly. “Aye.”

Andrea Parker.

One vote remained. One vote would either annihilate her victory or deliver her triumph. Andrea’s gaze remained firmly fixed on the table, her hands clasped in her lap, but she spoke clearly when she said,

“My vote is aye.”

Sam closed her eyes and swallowed her relief, as she breathed, “and my vote is aye."

Her armpits were sweating, her ears were starting to ring, but she kept her voice calm, her eyes steady as she looked straight at Carla and her legal team.

"The ayes have it. Covington Manufacturing will merge with Carnelian Global Enterprises. Thank you everyone for your service. And one last thing,” She turned to James and Norman with a smirk.

“I have something special for the two of you. Carla?"

She nodded to Carla, who opened the conference room door to let the suited men come through.

"James Nelonie and Norman Grey, you are under arrest for the murders of Rosa Valdez, Marielle Covington, and Michael Covington. You have the right to remain silent..."

If looks could kill, Sam's name would have been added to that list, but as the agents Mirandized Norman and James, Sam enjoyed her sweet revenge.

She’d waited until after the vote to have James and Norman arrested, because she wanted them to feel the agony of their defeat personally and professionally. She hadn't expected the bomb Norman dropped, but her comfort was in the fact that she'd had a bigger one.

As the agents pushed them toward the door, James turned to give her one, last wink. "I'll see you soon, Sweetheart." He commented in a light, almost maniacal tone.

Sam shivered imperceptibly, but didn't respond. It was over. She was free in every sense of the word. She looked around the room, closed her folder, stuffed it in her purse, and turned to leave. Outside the door, Carla stopped her.

"Sam, wait."

She turned to face the woman who had been her friend for so many years. The woman whom she’d come to think of as family.

"Did you know?"

"Sam. Please listen..."

"Did. You. Know?"

When Carla dropped her eyes, Sam felt as though her insides were being ripped apart.

"Clean it up, Carla.” She said icily. "Let me know when it's done and where I need to sign."

With that, she turned on her heel and strode away, letting the rhythmic click of her heels against cold marble floors focus her.

* * *

The doorman greeted Sam with a smile, but she didn’t have the energy to return it.

“Roger,” She said wearily, “if Stone Montgomery comes here, don't let him into the building."

Roger looked at her for a moment, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Ms. Covington," he said slowly. “I cannot keep Mr. Montgomery out of his own building."

"What do you mean, his building?"

"Ma'am, I’m sorry, I thought you knew. Mr. Montgomery owns this building. He stays in the top-floor penthouse when he's here."

This day was getting better and better with each passing minute. She let her head fall back, blowing out a breath.

"How long, Roger? How long has he owned the building?"

"Not long, ma'am. About a year, I guess."

"Thank you, Roger.”

She didn't know what else to say. No response formed in her mind, other than to scream curses at the top of her lungs, so she turned and rode the elevator to her floor.

Stone - Isaiah? Whatever his name was, owned the building she lived in. Now he owned her company - not her company anymore. Sam would have said he owned her heart, but she was taking that back. She was numb, devastated in a way she didn’t know was possible. Her father had been right. The only thing that mattered was furthering your own position, looking out for yourself.

Family meant nothing.

Friendship and love? They meant even less.

Everyone she'd softened herself for had lied straight to her face and betrayed her. No more. She would take her money and do what she'd decided to do. She would build safe houses and rehabilitation centers for the abused and abandoned. She would do it on her own.

She didn't need Stone. She didn’t need a man who would get in her way, slow her down, lie to her, hold her in the night... a sob escaped her lips as she rushed through her front door.

The fortress was crumbling, she felt the free fall begin, was powerless to stop it. Rushing to her bedroom, she didn't register the man rising from her sofa until she'd made it to her closet.

Just as he entered the room, she turned abruptly. The pain she’d been in moments before, melted into white-hot rage, causing her to tremble with the intensity of it.

"What are you doing in my house?"

She kept her voice cool, like she’d learned to do all those years ago, masking the heartache threatening to steal her breath.

"Sam..."

"No.” She cut him off. “I have nothing to say to you. You lied to me. I let you into my life, into my heart, and you betrayed me! Get out, Stone. I never want to see you again."

"Sam, please..." Stone pleaded, reaching for her, then thinking better of it when her eyes flicked to his hand like she would gladly remove it from his body.

"Get. Out. Of my. House."

She enunciated each word with icy precision, letting him know there was no room for negotiating. Sam was on the verge of losing control. If Stone didn't walk out now, she was going to hurt him.

Stone hung his head, recognizing his defeat. He turned and walked slowly down the hall, but just before opening the front door, he turned to meet her angry stare one last time. The tears shimmering in his eyes nearly undid her.

"Keep Jasper with you." He told her hoarsely. "He'll keep you safe... I love you, Samantha."

With that, he walked out, letting the door close softly behind him. The silence was deafening. The emptiness inside her like an abyss. Sam clenched her jaw, focusing on long, slow breaths to keep herself from crumbling. All she wanted to do was fall apart, but there was no time and no reason. With trembling hands, rogue tears falling from her eyes, she threw clothes in a duffel, pulled cash and her gun from her safe, and phoned her pilot.