Silence Was My Goodbye , Now Watch Me Rise

The gavel came down at the capital's most exclusive auction house, and my late father's Patek Philippe pocket watch had just been driven to a billion.

The ones bidding it up were my fiancée, Barbara Summers, and the three childhood friends who'd sworn since we were kids that they would always protect me.

I stared at the watch on the stage. It was the only proof that I was the rightful heir of the Delgado family.

Barbara had one arm draped around Carter's shoulders. In full view of every guest in the room, she raised her paddle—“Carter says his tuxedo tonight is a little plain.