The Drake Industries Global Summit was unprecedented in its scale and audacity.
Three thousand of the world's most powerful individuals—CEOs, heads of state, technology titans, financial leaders—gathered in the newly renovated Drake Tower's grand hall. The space had been transformed from corporate sterile into something that felt almost regal: crystal chandeliers, marble columns, a stage elevated enough to command authority but not so high as to feel distant.
Alexander had orchestrated every detail with the same obsessive precision he'd once used to kidnap Emily. But this time, the obsession served a different purpose: not possession, but coronation.
"You're sure about this?" Emily asked for the third time, adjusting Leo on her hip in the private staging area. Their son—now fifteen months old and surprisingly calm in his tiny suit—was playing with the edge of her dress, a midnight blue gown that somehow managed to be both elegant and maternal.
