The private jet sliced through the clouds at sunrise.
Sofia stared out the window, her reflection faint against the golden sky.
Reed Global Corporation.
She repeated the words in her mind.
Her grandfather never contacted her after her mother died. She assumed she had been abandoned.
But now?
She was the heir.
The assistant seated across from her adjusted his glasses.
"Miss Reed, the board has been waiting for your return for years."
"Why didn't anyone tell me?" she asked quietly.
"Your grandfather insisted you live freely. He said… when the time comes, you will choose whether to accept the power."
Power.
She clenched her jaw.
Back in the city she left behind, Ethan was preparing for a merger deal with Hart Group.
He had no idea.
The jet landed at a private terminal.
Black luxury cars waited in a perfect line.
Staff bowed as she stepped out.
"Welcome home, Miss Reed."
Home.
The Reed Mansion was nothing like she remembered. It wasn't just a house.
It was a palace.
Marble floors. Gold-trimmed ceilings. Paintings worth millions.
Her heels echoed through the grand hallway.
The head butler handed her a tablet.
"Lawson Enterprises has requested a partnership meeting with Reed Global next week."
Sofia stopped walking.
"What?"
"They are seeking funding for their international expansion."
Funding.
So Ethan needed money.
Her money.
A slow smile formed on her lips.
"Schedule the meeting."
The butler nodded.
"And Miss Reed… there is one more thing."
"Yes?"
"Vanessa Hart has been publicly claiming she is the most powerful young woman in the city."
Sofia laughed softly.
"How cute."
She walked toward the balcony overlooking the city skyline.
From here, everything looked small.
Just like the people who humiliated her.
She picked up her phone and opened social media.
The headline flashed:
"Ethan Lawson and Vanessa Hart Power Couple of the Year."
Thousands of comments praising them.
Sofia locked the screen.
"Let them shine," she whispered.
Stars burn brightest before they fall.
Her eyes hardened.
Next week…
She would walk into that meeting room.
Not as the forgotten girlfriend.
But as the woman who controls their future.
And when Ethan looks up and realizes who sits at the head of the table
He will finally understand…
He chose the wrong woman.