"Star, don''t let all that stuff you read


    online mess with your head. All that


    ''independent woman, never rely on a


    man'' nonsense-don''t buy into it.


    Look at the people sitting at the


    top how many of them got there


    without connections? You know


    what connections really are? They''re


    friends, family, business


    partners-everyone you can lean on


    when you need help.


    I''m not talking about anyone else.


    Just look at me. If I didn''t have the


    Connolly family''s backing, I''d never


    be where am today. My strength is


    my family. That''s what people these


    days call ''winning the birth lottery.''


    Of course, I''ve got plenty of friends


    too, and some of them-powerful


    women-are interested in marrying


    me. I''m not going to refuse their help


    just because they like me. We''re all


    adults, all working in the same


    ruthless business world. No one''s


    going to cut ties over a little


    romantic tension.


    Take Aurora, for example. If she


    wasn''t the Williams family heiress,


    would anyone call her the city''s


    leading socialite? People like us,


    born into wealthy families, all have


    something to fall back on. Even


    Haynes-without the O''Brien Group


    behind him, would anyone be


    from scratch, you think he could


    have built this kind of empire in just


    a few years?"