Sophie’s voice still echoed in my mind as I ended the call. It’s worse than we thought. Robert made his move. And this time, it’s personal. I had heard the urgency in her tone, the tightness that spoke of a fear I hadn’t expected. I knew this was no longer just about business or data. This was about us. This was a fight we had to win, not just for the company, but for the life we had built.
I turned to Alexander, whose expression had shifted in the time it took me to process what Sophie had said. Gone was the easy confidence, the quiet assurance he always wore like armor. In its place was something more—something far more vulnerable and raw. But it wasn’t fear that I saw. It was the same fire that had burned inside him the moment we had first met, the fire that had fueled us through every battle we’d fought side by side.
“We’ve fought for this, Leila,” he said, his voice low, full of something that felt like resolve, mixed with something else. A quiet strength. “And we’re not going to
