Chapter 1 - THE CAR HE HAD TO HAVE
The photograph filled Adrian Sterling's phone screen.
A midnight-black supercar sat beneath the lights of a private showroom, its body so polished that it looked almost unreal. The price appeared beneath the image.
$1.8 million.
Adrian smiled.
To most people, that number would have been terrifying.
To Adrian, it was simply the price of getting what he wanted.
He was twenty-six years old, the only son of billionaire Richard Sterling, and he had spent most of his life believing that money existed for one reason: to make his life easier.
He had never worried about rent.
Never checked the price of a restaurant.
Never wondered whether a vacation was affordable.
If he wanted something, his father usually bought it.
And if his father hesitated, Adrian simply pushed harder.
That evening, Adrian lounged across the enormous black leather sofa in the Sterling family's Dallas mansion. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the headlights of luxury vehicles illuminated the driveway.
Richard sat across the room with a crystal glass in his hand, reviewing documents from his company.
Adrian stood.
He walked toward his father and turned the phone around.
“Dad, I want this car.”
Richard looked at the photograph.
Then he looked at his son.
“That car is far too expensive.”
Adrian's smile disappeared.
“You always say that.”
“Because sometimes the answer is no.”
Adrian stared at him.
For a few seconds, neither spoke.
Then Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You can afford it.”
Richard slowly placed his glass on the marble table.
“That isn't the point.”
“It is the point.”
Adrian's voice became sharper.
“You spend millions on business deals every month. You buy buildings. You buy companies. You fly across the country whenever you want.”
He pointed toward the phone.
“And you're telling me a car is too expensive?”
Richard studied his son's face.
There was no excitement in Adrian's eyes.
No gratitude.
Only entitlement.
Richard suddenly remembered Adrian at eight years old, begging for his first expensive bicycle.
At sixteen, demanding a luxury sports car.
At twenty-one, asking for a penthouse.
Every time Richard had said yes, believing he was giving his son opportunities.
Somewhere along the way, however, Adrian had stopped seeing those gifts as generosity.
He had begun seeing them as obligations.
Adrian turned toward the staircase.
“If you don't buy it today, I'm leaving.”
Richard didn't respond.
Adrian waited.
Finally, Richard spoke.
“Fine.”
Adrian turned.
Richard's expression was strangely calm.
“I'll buy it.”
Adrian smiled immediately.
“That's what I thought.”
He walked upstairs, already searching for another luxury accessory to buy for the new car.
Richard watched him disappear.
Then his expression changed.
The disappointment in his eyes hardened into something colder.
May you like
He reached for his phone.
There was one call he had avoided making for years.
