Chapter 402

• New Year’s Eve at the Harrington Estate always carried a certain kind of weight part tradition, part performance, and all politics. One by one, the family began to arrive.
• Harvey and Heather walked in first, trailed by several of the “legacy women” of the family my nieces, the so-called grand princesses of the business world each with their partners and children in tow. They brought with them laughter, designer luggage, and just enough luxury perfume to make the foyer feel like a runway instead of a home.
• Right behind them were Meredith and Henrietta my sisters-in-law both former board executives who’d stepped back from corporate roles recently but still carried an aura of quiet power. Meredith, the elder, was Salvador’s sister by blood, raised with us by the queen dowager. Henrietta, born to Josephine, was his younger half-sister equally ambitious, though always slightly more reserved in public settings.