Exactly 7:00 a.m., Lucas Grant stepped from the back of his gleaming black car and moved toward the towering glass entrance of Grant Technologies. His gray suit was immaculate, his shoes mirrored the pavement, and his every step was precise. The automatic doors slid open before he even reached them, as if the building itself…

Part 1 Freshly brewed coffee and pastries in the mornings. But let me tell you from the beginning, because this story doesn’t start with a lock. It starts much earlier. Back when I still believed that being a good mother meant giving everything and expecting nothing in return. My name is Emily. I’m 67 years…

Part 1 The fear started on a Tuesday. It wasn’t the usual kind of fear I lived with—the dull, chronic ache of “Can I make rent?” or the sharp spike of “Was that a footstep in the hall?” This was new. This was different. It was black, shiny, and sat across the street from my…

Part 1 “Try not to make it awkward. Behave yourself for once.” Hudson doesn’t even look up from his phone when he says it. He just takes another sip of his scotch, completely casual, like he’s reminding me to pick up his dry cleaning instead of demanding I host his ex-girlfriend at our Christmas dinner….

Part 1 If a twenty-dollar bill could buy a future, mine should have come with change. Five years after I left home in the rain with pneumonia and “address unknown” printed on a hospital bracelet, I sat behind an interview desk in Denver and watched the sister who once smirked as I walked into the…

Part 1 The salt spray felt good on my face, a sharp, clean sting that cut through the cloying cloud of expensive perfume and quiet, derisive laughter. I was an island. That’s the word the source material used, and it was right. I stood on the polished teak deck of a yacht so large it…

Part 1 My world runs on a ticker tape. 8:00 AM, Hong Kong exchange. 9:30 AM, NYSE open. 4:00 PM, the bell. My life is a series of calculated acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, and hostile takeovers. I am Richard Sterling, and my office on the 54th floor is a glass-walled command center where I move markets….