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 early afternoon sun spilled through Elena’s apartment windows, warm and golden, catching dust motes that floated lazily in the air. The coffee table was a chaos of notes, sketches, open tabs, color palettes, marketing concepts, research on multicultural festivals, cuisine, and trav
Edward's POV I was in the car, hand on the ignition, when my phone rang. Mother. I answered. "Vivienne." "Edward." Her voice was tight. Too calm, the type of tone that meant something had already gone wrong. "Your grandmother collapsed this morning. They've taken her to the Foundation." My han
Alicia's POV I was at my desk when she walked in. Helen's liaison. The one who had been shadowing me since yesterday. Clipboard. Tight smile. Heels that clicked too loudly. She stopped in front of my desk. "Alicia. Good morning." I did not look up. "Morning." "I wanted to check in. See how yo
Alicia's POV The floor was cold under me. I didn’t remember sitting down, but the folder had already been open in my lap for minutes, pages shuffled, my hands moving almost on instinct. Smoothing the fourth page again, flattening the crease down the center, trying to make sense of something that h







