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 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
Alicia's POV Monday didn’t start with a sunrise. It started with the blue glow of Elena’s phone in my face. "Ali. Wake up." Her voice was tight. Strained. She was already dressed in a black blazer. Coffee steamed on the nightstand. She wasn’t looking at me. She was staring at her screen, pale in
When did I stop being yours? Board members were engaging her more than they were engaging me, asking her questions, listening when she responded with that sharp intelligence that never needed charm to make its point. Daniel navigated the room with quiet authority, steering every exchange without e
Vivienne's back went rigid. She turned her head toward him. "I don't understand you, Daniel." Her voice came out harder now. Anger bleeding through every word. "When are you going to stop protecting her and see what's actually in front of you?" She gestured toward me without looking. "She's the de







