Mag-log in"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."
She turned a page. No emphasis. "They agreed." No one in the room needed more than that. "Rotterdam," George said. "Two families," Alicia said. "Both meetings ran long. Same underlying concern, different language. We answered it both times. Follow-up is scheduled." "Documentation," Catherine sa
Edward's POV The term sheet had been in my inbox since the previous night. Four pages. Clean. Volkov's committee had approved the access deal exactly as the projection had asked for. Southeast Asia. The Gulf. East Africa. The network layer intact. The timeline fixed. Nothing negotiated down. I se
Daniel's posture straightened beside me. I didn't need him to intervene. "Edward values control," I said. Soft. Precise. "There's a difference." Lucy's face drained of color. "You don't know him the way—" "The way you do?" I smiled. Small. Brittle. "No, Lucy. I suppose I don't." Let them hear
She wasn't gloating. Wasn't attacking. That made it worse. My hands went cold. I looked at the podium where Vivienne still stood. Then I walked. Not to my seat. To the podium. Slow. Two hundred people watched me. Vivienne stepped back when I got close. Her face pale. Eyes wide. I put both
The estate gates opened before I reached them. I drove through. The guard stepped back. I didn’t look at him. The driveway curved through the grounds. Trees lined the edges. Grass cut to precision. The fountain ran as always. Lights were on in the east wing. Vivienne’s wing. Seven-thirty. She was
Alicia's POV Daniel returned to his seat beside me. Edward's chair stayed empty. Three minutes became five. Five became ten. By the third minute, someone made a joke about the restroom line. Polite laughter rippled through nearby seats. By the tenth minute, conversations had restarted. The tabl







