At one point Daniel had asked, “Have you finalized the succession structure?” My father laughed that Sophia hated such talk. And Daniel had looked at me across the room with something that resembled tenderness.

She won’t have to worry. I’ll make sure she’s protected. Protected. The word felt different now.

Chapter 7 — HB Coastal Ventures

I dressed in jeans, a cream sweater, and low boots, and slid the wedding ring into a zippered pocket of my handbag. At the desk I asked to extend my stay.

“Of course, Mrs. Hart,” the receptionist said. The name made me flinch. “Actually — please put the reservation under Sophia Bennett.” Her hands paused over the keyboard, then, without asking, she changed it.

In a quiet corner of the retreat’s library, I searched public records. Most articles praised Daniel — “the quiet architect behind some of the decade’s most successful private restructurings.”

One described his method more bluntly: Hart Strategic specialized in acquiring companies whose ownership was fragmented by inheritance, family disagreement, or debt.