His company, once a titan of Wall Street, had been gutted.

It was being picked apart by a swarm of civil lawsuits, SEC investigations, and furious investors demanding their millions back.

Vanessa Cross, realizing the ship was rapidly sinking, had tried to turn state’s evidence against Adrian.

The prosecutors laughed at her.

She eventually accepted a brutal plea deal that involved significant jail time and the permanent revocation of every single corporate and financial license that had ever allowed her to hide her grift behind polished, designer lies.

I kept the Sterling Trust safe.

I kept my family’s legacy.

Most importantly, I kept my own name.