Emily's POV.

It was one of those meetings that left the air thick. Everyone had just cleared out of the Hart estate's private conference room, their footsteps sounding down the hallway like reminders of how much I had just shaken the room.

I’d done what none of them expected. I signed over a share of the Hart family inheritance to my four-year-old half-brother, Smith. There were gasps, awkward shuffling, and the kind of silent judgment that burns hotter than words. But I didn’t care. Not one bit. I walked out of that room with my head held high, my heels clicking against the marble like gunshots. I could feel Cole’s...