"YOU'RE JUST THE HELP," HIS FIANCÉE SNEERED—THEN THE BILLIONAIRE MAFIA DON SHED HIS COAT, CROWNED HER WITH HIS NAME, AND BURNED THE ENTIRE CITY DOWN FOR HER

Six months later, the Grand Balario Hotel underwent a historic transformation.

Purchased outright by the Duca Corporation, the luxury hotel was completely revamped. The toxic culture of elitism and abuse was dismantled. Lena Carter was named the Chairwoman of the Board for the Balario Foundation—an organization dedicated to protecting service workers' rights, funding legal defense for the underprivileged, and providing full college scholarships for hotel employees' children.

Lena sat in the corner executive office on the top floor of the Balario—the very room where she had once scrubbed floors for eighteen dollars an hour.

She wore an elegant ivory pantsuit, her desk covered in architectural blueprints for new community centers in Queens and Brooklyn.

A soft knock sounded on the heavy mahogany door.

Maya, now thriving in a top private academy, skipped into the room holding a giant drawing of a lion wearing a tuxedo.

"Aunt Lena! Look! I drew Matteo!"

Lena laughed, scooping Maya onto her lap and kissing her cheek. "It looks just like him, baby. Especially the grumpy eyebrows."

"I do not have grumpy eyebrows," a deep, amused voice spoke from the doorway.

Matteo walked in, holding a bouquet of rare white orchids. He was smiling—a real, breathtaking smile that had become a frequent sight over the past six months.

He set the flowers on her desk and lifted Maya into the air, making the little girl giggle uncontrollably before setting her down near the art table.

Matteo walked behind Lena’s chair, resting his large, warm hands on her shoulders, leaning down to press a soft kiss against the crown of her head.

"You've been working for ten hours straight, Chairwoman Carter," Matteo murmured playfully against her neck. "My dinner reservations are at eight. And I don't like to be kept waiting."