The door of Marcus Sterling’s private study was shut behind Nathan. The angry shouts from the boardroom were gone now. The room smelled of expensive cigars, tall bookshelves lined the walls. A huge desk placed near the window, overlooking the city. Nathan’s father walked slowly to the desk, his back to Nathan. He looked tired and old now.

Nathan stood near the door, arms crossed. His heart still pounded from his father’s bombshell. Marry or lose everything. It felt unreal, like a bad joke.

"So," Nathan said. "Marriage? That’s your grand plan? Find some woman, put a ring on it, and suddenly investors trust me? It’s stupid."

Marcus turned around. The anger from the boardroom was gone. It was replaced with worry, maybe fear. It shocked Nathan. His father never showed fear.

"Sit down, Nathan," Marcus said quietly.

Nathan didn’t move. "Why? So you can give me another lecture? Tell me how useless I am?"

"Sit. Down." Marcus’s voice didn’t rise, but the command was absolute. Nathan felt like a child again. He walked to a leather chair and sat, glaring at his father.

Marcus leaned against his desk. He rubbed his forehead. "It’s not just about investors, Nathan. Or your… reputation." He said the word like it tasted bad. "There’s more. Something I never wanted to tell you until you were ready." He sighed. "Clearly, you’re not ready. But I have no choice now."

Nathan stayed silent, waiting. The fear in his father’s eyes made his own anger fade away, replaced by fear.

Marcus pointed to a large, old painting on the wall. It showed Nathan’s grandfather, Arthur Sterling, a stern-looking man.

"Your grandfather," Marcus said. "He wasn’t just a good businessman, Nathan. He was part of something… powerful. Secret."

Nathan frowned. "Secret? What are you talking about?"

"There is a group," Marcus began slowly, choosing his words carefully. "Very old, very powerful. They call themselves ‘The Manhattan Seven’. Seven families, the founders. The ones who really control things in this city. Business, politics, society... Everything."

Nathan stared. It sounded like something from a bad movie. "The Manhattan Seven? Seriously? Like a secret club?"

"Not a club," Marcus corrected sharply. "A council...The Council. They’ve been pulling the strings since before your grandfather was born, quietly and invisibly. They decide who wins and who loses. Who gets the big contracts, who gets protected, who gets crushed."

He walked closer to Nathan. "Your grandfather, Arthur, earned a seat on that Council. It wasn’t given. He fought for it, built Sterling Global into something they couldn’t ignore. That seat…" Marcus tapped the desk for emphasis. "...that seat is our shield. Our greatest protection."

Nathan felt a chill. "Protection? From what?"

"From wolves," Marcus said simply. "Our company, Sterling Global, it’s huge, it worth billions but that makes us a target. Especially now, with the company going public. We’re about to step onto the world stage, open ourselves up." He leaned forward. "The Council’s influence, Arthur’s seat… it protects us. It guarantees us exclusive contracts worth over two billion dollars every year. Contracts our competitors can’t touch. It keeps them at bay. It gives us an advantage no one else has."

He paused, letting it sink in. "Without that seat, Nathan? Without the Council’s protection? The moment we go public, those contracts vanish. Poof. Gone. Our competitors, the ones we’ve kept out for decades, will swarm. They’ll tear Sterling Global apart. They’ll buy us cheap, break us up, and sell the pieces. Everything your great-grandfather built, everything your grandfather and I built… gone. In a year. Maybe less."

Nathan looked worried. The weight of what his father was saying pressed down on him. This wasn’t just about bad press. This was about survival.

"Okay," he said, his voice hoarse. "The seat protects us. Grandfather had it. So… you have it now? You’re on this Council, right?"

Marcus shook his head, a look of deep frustration crossing his face. "No. I don’t have the seat." He gestured back to the painting. "Arthur didn’t leave it to me. He left it… to you."

Nathan jerked back. "Me? Why?"

"Because he saw something in you," Marcus said, his voice a mix of bitterness and… respect? "Something different. He thought your way of thinking, your… unconventional mind… would be needed for the challenges ahead. He believed you were the future of Sterling Global, not me. Not just as CEO, but as the Sterling voice on The Manhattan Seven."

Nathan’s head spun. His grandfather, the stern man in the painting, had chosen him? The playboy? The disappointment? It made no sense.

"But," Marcus continued, his voice hardening again, "there was a condition. A condition Arthur put in his will for inheriting the seat." He looked Nathan straight in the eye. "You must be married."

Nathan exploded. "Married! Again with the marriage! Why? What does marriage have to do with a secret council seat?"

"Stability," Marcus snapped. "Commitment, legacy! The Council isn’t just about power and money, Nathan. It’s about family, continuity. They want members who are settled and rooted. Who have something lasting to protect, beyond just their own bank accounts. A single man, especially one with your… history… is seen as a risk. Unstable, and unreliable. A married man? A man building a family? That shows commitment, permanence. It’s what the Council demands for someone holding a seat of such power."

He walked around the desk and sat down heavily. "Arthur knew you were wild. He hoped marriage would… settle you, force you to grow up, make you worthy of the responsibility he was giving you."

Nathan felt trapped...cornered. The walls of his father’s study felt like prison bars.

"So," he said, "to get the seat, to save the company, I need to get married...within the year."

"Yes," Marcus said simply. "No seat, no protection. No protection, no company. It’s that simple. And that final."

Nathan slumped back in the chair. His mind raced. The boardroom anger, the investors, the scandalous photos… it all seemed small and trivial now. This was bigger. The fate of his family’s empire rested on him finding a wife, a real wife for a Council he never knew existed.

He thought about Helen Blackwood. His father’s obvious choice. Pretty, connected, daughter of a judge. They got along… okay. They understood each other’s games. A marriage of convenience? He could do that. Maybe. It wouldn’t be love, but it might be… tolerable, a business deal like everything else in his life.

He looked at the painting of his grandfather. The old man’s painted eyes seemed to stare right through him, judging him. Did his grandfather really believe Nathan could be more than this?

Marcus checked his watch. "The clock is ticking, Nathan. You heard the board. The IPO pressure is immense. We need the Council’s protection secured before we go public. We have no time to waste."

Nathan did a quick calculation in his head. The original one-year ultimatum… that was two months ago. Since then, he’d partied.

Two months gone.

He looked up at his father, the weight of reality settling on his shoulders.

"So… how long do I actually have?"

Marcus met his gaze. "The board meeting where I gave you the year… that was October 1st. Today is December 3rd."

Nathan felt the blood drain from his face. Two months...he’d wasted two precious months.

"Ten months," Marcus stated flatly. "You have ten months to find a woman, get married, and claim your birthright. Ten months to save everything."

Ten months.

Nathan stared out the window at the busy city below. A city controlled by a secret Council he now had to join. He needed to find a partner, a life companion. Someone to stand beside him in front of this powerful, hidden group.

But all Nathan Sterling knew was casual flings, expensive dates that meant nothing, and empty charm. He knew how to make women smile for a night. He had no idea how to make one stay for a lifetime. He didn’t even believe such a thing existed. Love? It was for fairy tales and fools, like his grandfather, apparently.

He felt utterly alone and completely unprepared.

Ten months, and he didn’t believe in love.