Mateo Navarro was not a man prone to idleness. For years, he had carried the Navarro name like armor, polishing it, parading it, proving with every late night and every signature on a contract that he was indispensable to the empire. If his father asked for a sacrifice, Mateo bled willingly. If Navarro Coffee demanded innovation, he carved it out of bone.

And yet, none of it mattered.

He stared at the adoption papers for the thousandth time, though the words never changed. They burned with the ...