Chapter 196

Hazel had received the invitation weeks ago. She hadn’t planned on attending the lavish birthday gala for Hazel Sterling, the matriarch of Sterling Holdings and one of the most formidable women in New York’s private equity circles. But absence, in her case, would have been its own statement and she was not about to give the media or her critics any ammunition. So, she slipped into her sleek black cocktail dress, adjusted the delicate diamond studs she wore like armor, and walked into the event like she still belonged in that world even if most thought she no longer did.