LOGIN"Finish that sentence." My voice cut across hers. A beat passed. A shift crossed her eyes. Then she said it anyway. "Cleaned houses for people like us." The room went completely quiet. "My mother." I stopped. "Worked with her hands for people who believed that made her less than them. People exac
Alicia’s POV The pen was in my hand. I hadn't moved since the door closed. The page in front of me, the same line, and now I knew someone had been observing me return to it, watching long enough to count each return. I had spent three years believing he never saw the parts that weren't performed.
"He also mentioned Vera Sorel has made her attendance at the follow-up conditional on yours," I said, letting the other piece of the weight land between us. "He wanted me to know that." The pen halted in her hand. She took a breath, slow, through her nose, and the line of her throat moved once befo
Edward's POV Phillip arrived at twenty past ten. He settled into the chair across my desk and set his coat on the arm of it. The draft was already in his hand before he opened his mouth. "Signed and filed as of this morning. Your name on the minority position. Clean." He set a single folded page
"I don't know." "You said it to him. Not here." The pause that followed remained too long to be casual. "What are you afraid of?" I didn't rush it. "That I'm seeing it right. And it still falls apart anyway." She shook her head slightly. "That's not uncertainty. That's you refusing to close y
Alicia's POV Elena didn't turn when I came in. She was at the counter, spoon hovering over a bowl she hadn't touched in a while. The kettle had gone cold long enough to feel intentional. My bag hit the floor by the door. She didn't look at it. "You came back wrong." "I came back two days ago."
Alicia's POV The office felt quieter today. Not empty. Just softer. The afternoon light coming through the tall windows was hazy, warm without being harsh. I pulled my cardigan tighter. Not because I was cold. Just needed something to hold. Coffee in one hand, I walked past the desks toward my ow
"Targeted." I kept my voice even. "Just me." She didn't answer. "Why?" "The decision came from executive coordination." I watched her face. The way her eyes wouldn't quite meet mine. "What does that mean?" I asked. "It means the directive was finalized at a senior level." "Which level?" She
Alicia's POV The morning was ordinary. Elena drove. I watched the city pass—buses stopping at corners, someone hosing down a storefront, a woman shouting into her phone. We pulled into the Vesper & Lane lot just after eight. Elena parked and grabbed her bag. "Design review at nine," she said. "
I turned the key. The engine came alive under my hands. I didn’t think about where I was going. I just drove. The city moved past me. Buildings. Traffic lights. People crossing streets as if their lives weren’t falling apart. Mine was. I just wasn’t ready to admit it. My phone sat dark in the cup







