Isabella Pov
The door clicks shut behind Carlos, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. My office feels too big all of a sudden, too glassy, like I'm on display in an aquarium. Everyone watching, waiting for me to drown.
I reach for my phone before I can talk myself out of it. One number. The only one I actually want to dial. Linda. She picks up on the first ring.
"I was wondering when you'd call."
I sink back into the chair, letting her voice wash over me. "How did you—"
"Please. Your dad's funeral is on every news feed, your new job title is on Twitter, and there's a photo of you in that black dress looking like you're about to kill someone. You've officially made it, babe."
Despite everything, I laugh. "Oh, God."
"God nothing! Do you realize how insane this is? Two days ago we were eating leftover mac and cheese straight out of the pan, and now you're CEO of a billion-dollar empire. Do you know how offensive that is? Couldn't you have at least waited a week before becoming untouchable?"
Her laughter bubbles through the phone, warm and bright. For a second, it feels like I can breathe again. Like I'm not sitting in a glass cage with the whole world pressing their faces against it.
"Trust me," I say, rubbing my temples, "there's nothing untouchable about this. It's a nightmare."
"Nightmare?" Linda says, voice crackling through the line. "Girl, you're sitting in an office with a skyline view. Don't tell me it's a nightmare when I'm staring at my boss's bald spot all day."
I let out a half laugh, half groan, pinching the bridge of my nose. "You don't get it, Lin. You didn't see them. The way they looked at me at the funeral… like I was a thief crashing a party."
"Uh, hello? You are the daughter. You didn't crash anything. You inherited it."
I swirl in the chair, staring out at the towers glittering in the distance. "Try telling that to Vivian Sterling. She was practically glowing in her widow black, parading Adrian around like a trophy. And the whispers—God, the whispers…"
I pause, swallowing hard.
Linda doesn't rush me. She never does.
"They think I don't belong," I finally say. "That I'm some illegitimate mistake who has no right to be here. Adrian practically smirked through the whole will reading, waiting for me to choke. And don't even get me started on Vivian. The woman could kill with a look. I swear she'd do it if it wouldn't wrinkle her pearls."
"Okay, so… basically they hate you," Linda says matter-of-factly. "Big deal. Hate is free. You? You've got the keys to the castle."
I bite my lip. "Except I don't. Not really. Because Richard—my dad—he didn't just leave me control. He tied me to someone. Someone I didn't ask for."
There's a pause. Then Linda practically squeals. "Wait. Is this the fixer guy? The one the papers keep calling mysterious?"
I roll my eyes so hard it hurts. "Carlos. His name is Carlos. And yes, he's… always there. Breathing down my neck, speaking for me like I'm a porcelain doll who might crack at the first sign of trouble."
Linda snorts. "Sounds hot."
"Sounds infuriating."
"Which is girl-code for hot."
"Lin." We laugh out loud for a second.
"Fine, fine. He's the devil. Continue."
I rub my forehead, words tumbling out faster now, like I can't stop. "It's not just him. It's the board, too. Half of them looked like they'd swallowed poison when I sat down at that table. And when I actually stood up for myself… I don't even know what came over me. It was like something snapped. For a minute, I wasn't scared. I was… in control. And they didn't know what to do with it."
There's pride in Linda's laugh. "That's my girl. You've always had a mouth on you. Now it's a billion-dollar mouth."
I want to smile. I do. But then my throat tightens, because I can't keep this next part inside any longer.
"Lin…" My voice drops. "There's something else."
Silence hums between us.
"I got a message," I say finally. "Anonymous. Right after the board meeting."
Her voice sharpens. "What kind of message?"
I close my eyes, hearing the words again, burned into me. Your father's death wasn't an accident. Don't trust anyone.
"It said his death wasn't natural," I whisper. "That it wasn't an accident."
For once, Linda doesn't have a joke. Doesn't have a comeback. Just silence. And in that silence, I feel the weight of it press down even harder.
"Jesus," Linda breathes after I finally tell her. "Izzy, that's not just creepy. That's dangerous. You need to tell someone."
"Tell who?" I snap, sharper than I mean to. "Vivian? Adrian? The board members who already want me gone? Or Carlos, who probably thinks I should be wrapped in bubble wrap?"
"You're seriously not going to tell Carlos?"
"He'd use it. Twist it into another excuse to 'protect' me. He doesn't see me, Lin. He sees a liability."
Linda's quiet for a beat. Then her voice hardens. "So what? You're going to handle this alone? You get some mystery text about your dad's death and your plan is—what? Pretend it didn't happen?"
I press my fingers to my eyes, fighting the sting there. "No. I'm not pretending. But I can't go running to anyone here. Every single one of them has an agenda. Every single one of them benefits if I'm scared. Or if I fail."
There's a pause. I hear her sigh, long and heavy. "You've always been stubborn as hell. Fine. Don't tell them. But promise me something, Izzy. Promise me you won't get yourself in over your head before you even know what you're swimming in."
Her words twist something sharp in my chest.
"I wish you were here," I whisper, the fight draining out of me. " I can't trust a single soul around me."
The silence on the line says more than anything else could.