Chapter 17: Private Comment

The meeting dissolved gradually, not with conclusion but with polite fatigue.

Chairs shifted back into place. Tablets were tucked away. Conversations resumed at a volume meant to signal normalcy. Lillian gathered her notes with methodical care, aware that the room was no longer watching her openly.

That did not mean it had stopped.

She was sliding the last diagram into her portfolio when a voice spoke just behind her shoulder.

“You handled that better than most people twice your experience.”

She turned.

Ethan Vale stood there with an easy smile that did not quite hide the sharpness of his eyes. His suit was less severe than the others in the room, his posture relaxed in a way that suggested he belonged here without needing to prove it.

“I’m Ethan,” he said. “I advise Crosswell Dominion on matters that don’t show up in reports.”

Lillian inclined her head. “Lillian Bloom.”

“I know,” he said lightly. “Hard not to, after that.”

“After answering a question,” she replied.

Ethan laughed. “Th