My mother locked me in a room with five high-powered lawyers and expected me to sign away everything my father had left me. What she didn’t know was that I wasn’t the ordinary government employee my family had always dismissed me as. I was Colonel Sienna Sterling, commander of a specialized military intelligence unit, and while she thought she was cornering a grieving daughter, I was quietly counting the five attorneys around the table and waiting for them to discover that I had prepared an ambush of my own. –

Julian stood alone near the window.

Richard was staring at the arriving investigators.

And Victoria remained at the head of the table where she had planned to make me surrender my inheritance.

The waiver still lay in front of her.

Unsigned.

Useless.

I stopped at the doorway.

There was one thing left.

I turned back.

My mother looked up.

For thirty years, I had wanted something from Victoria Sterling.

Approval.

Respect.

An apology.

Some sign that underneath all the competition and control, she saw me as her daughter instead of an opponent she had failed to shape.

Standing there, I realized I didn’t need any of it anymore.

“Mom.”

Her eyes lifted.

“Dad didn’t leave me more because I was his favorite.”

Her mouth tightened.

“He left me responsibility because he knew I would ask questions before signing things.”

I looked at the five empty and occupied chairs around her table.

“And tonight, you proved him right.”

Then I walked out.

The night air was cold.

My dress uniform was still hanging in the back of my car.

I opened the door and looked at it.

Colonel Sienna Sterling.

Commander.