Stella stood alone by the grave, holding back the tears that threatened to blind her. She knew in that exact moment that her life had taken an irreversible turn.
The secret was out. Hadrian knew, and because he knew, it wouldn't be long before the rest of the HSS discovered that their elite male operative was actually a woman operating under a false identity. But as she looked down at the documents the lawyer had placed in her hands, she realized something else.
The only reason she had ever joined the HSS, the only reason she had endured the brutal training and risked her life in the shadows, was to protect Aunt Melissa and find the truth. Now, Melissa was gone. The mission that bound her to the agency was over.
She had no choice but to step into the light.
Turning her back on the HSS forever, Stella officially took over the Vance organizational company, stepping into her rightful place as the new CEO.
The company was a massive, profoundly noble organization dedicated to helping orphans, the less privileged, the crippled, and those forgotten by society. It was a beautiful, compassionate legacy that Melissa had built—but a legacy she had been forced to keep entirely hidden from the world because of the dangerous, corrupt "friends" and the wolves in sheep's clothing that had constantly surrounded her.
Now, the hiding was over. As Stella stood in her new office, looking out over the city, she was no longer an agent hiding in a man's shadow. She was Stella Vance—and she was ready to use her deadly skills to protect her aunt's beautiful legacy from any wolf that dared to cross her path.