The world knows Avery Sterling as the Ice Queen: a brilliant, ruthless lawyer who claimed her hollow victory in a glass tower of the Metropolis. Her life is a fortress, perfectly crafted to keep the ghosts out. But every fortress has a crack.

When a new conquest, Patricia, seems to see past the armor, Avery's control begins to frustraterather than fracture. The boardroom dominance she wields like a weapon fails to translate into the intimate connection she craves, leaving her emptier than before.

In this dark short story, J.D. Wilder explores the gulf between power and intimacy. When the line between performance and self blurs, Avery must confront the one secret she's hidden from the world: not just her history, but the vulnerable, lonely girl she keeps locked in a room no one can find. Some victories can only be won by being utterly, intimately lost.