“Actually, Mrs. Sterling, we are not,” one of the men at the door said.

His voice was flat and official.

“We are federal marshals,” he added. “And we are here to oversee the transition of the Sterling estate.”

I held the heavy parchment paper tightly in my hand.

The black wax seal had flaked onto my fingers, leaving dark smudges on my skin.

“The transition?” Julian asked, looking between Nathaniel and me. “What transition?”

Nathaniel walked over to the desk and set his briefcase down.

He clicked the metal clasps open.

The sound was sharp and clean in the quiet room.

“Your mother has spent the last ten years hiding the true corporate registry of Sterling Enterprises,” Nathaniel said.

He pulled out a thick, bound book with a blue leather cover.

“This is the original partnership agreement from nineteen seventy-four,” Nathaniel said.

He laid it flat on the desk, right next to the brass lamp.

“Arthur Sterling did not own ninety percent of the company,” Nathaniel said.

He looked directly at me.

“The Cross family owned fifty-one percent,” he said.

Miranda let out a cold, sharp laugh.