LOGINEmily POVJames sent the projection file at nine forty-seven PM.Nathan and I were in bed. He was reading his architecture book. I was pretending to read something else but actually staring at the ceiling thinking about turn nine at Silverstone and whether the surface grip would behave differently from Barcelona's asphalt.My phone lit up.“Full projection attached. Emily, call me before you open it.” James.I sat up.Nathan looked over. "James?""He wants me to call before I open the file.""That means it's significant.""Yes." I called James.He answered immediately. "Where are you.""I'm in bed.""Close enough." He exhaled. "Emily, I ran four separate models. Different variables, different assumptions. I wanted to be sure before I sent it." A pause. "Lucas was right. The pace development curve is tracking twelve percent ahead of our pre-season projection. When I apply that to the remaining calendar" He stopped."James.""We can compete for the constructors' championship this season
Nathan POVI found Emily in the study at seven AM with the door closed and her phone on the desk. I set a mug beside her without asking."Richter and Alves," she said."Both?""Both. This morning." She wrapped both hands around the mug. "Richter's father drove from Munich to watch the 2021 podium. Seventy-three years old. Cried when the complaint was filed." She looked at the desk. "Alves lost seven million in constructor prize money because of the points deduction."I sat down across from her. "Fontaine didn't just come after me," she said. "He sat in that office and picked people. Decided their results were inconvenient and processed complaints knowing exactly what it would cost them." She looked up. "Felix Richter's father is seventy-three, Nathan.""His podium is being restored," I said."I know.""Alves gets his seven million back.""I know that too." She exhaled. "I just keep thinking about how many people went home from race weekends believing they'd been cheated and having n
Emily POVFontaine's interview was everywhere by four PM.Every motorsport outlet and sports channel. His face on screens saying words that were designed to sound reasonable and were not. “Unusual data. Questions that deserved asking for his integrity.” He spoke words that create doubt without making a direct claim.I sat in the study and read every version of it.Nathan stood in the doorway. "Stop reading it.""I need to know what he's saying.""You know what he's saying. He's saying the same thing with different words in every outlet." He came in and sat across from me. "Emily, Fontaine resigned this morning and his testimony has been submitted to a governance committee. Three separate investigations are running. He has no power, no position and no legal standing." He held my gaze. "His interviews are just noise.""Noise with three million views," I said."Numbers don't make something true.""No. But they make it loud." I closed the laptop. "Nathan, two weeks ago I gave a press conf
Nathan POVThe team briefing started at nine AM sharp.Every chair was filled. Davies and Lucas at the front, James beside Claire and the full engineering group behind them. Blake in the corner with his tablet. And Emily at the head of the table looking like someone who had spent the last forty-eight hours watching the sport she loved get cleaned up and was now ready to build something inside the cleaner version of it.Marcus sat against the back wall. Nobody had told him to leave."Right," Emily said. "Four weeks to Silverstone. I'm driving and that's not changing." She looked at Davies. "What do you need from me?"Davies leaned forward. "Honestly? Your sector two data from Barcelona. Whatever you found in turn nine, James has been modelling it and we think it's worth more than three tenths if I can replicate it consistently.""It's not something you replicate from data," Emily said. "It's something you'd feel. The car tells you when the window is there." She paused. "I'll drive with
Emily POVI woke up knowing what day it was.Thursday. Geneva. Marchetti.Nathan was already awake beside me. Phone in hand. Reading something."How long have you been up?" I asked."An Hour.""Fontaine's second injunction?"He turned the phone toward me. A legal filing headline in a dense text. Submitted to the Geneva court at four AM."So Marchetti testifies.""Ten AM Geneva time. That's nine AM London." He looked at me. "Three hours."I sat up. "Blake?""Already at the office. Sarah Morrison is in Geneva personally. She called at six." He paused. "Emily, when Marchetti names Fontaine publicly, every journalist who has your number is going to call within minutes. We need a plan.""We need to come up with one pre-written statement and release the the moment his name is public." I got out of bed. "I'm not doing press calls. Not today.""Blake already drafted something.""I'll rewrite it.""Of course you will." He stood up. "Emily""Nathan, I'm fine.""I know you are. I was going to sa
Nathan POV The kitchen table had too much food on it.Emily and Sofia had cooked pasta and garlic bread. Young Catherine had arranged the cutlery and was currently explaining to Marcus why his fork was in the wrong position.Marcus was listening with complete seriousness. As if fork placement was the most important conversation of his evening.I stood at the counter watching all of it and felt something I didn't have a good word for. "Nathan." Emily appeared beside me. She handed me a glass of wine. "Stop watching us like we're a painting.""I'm not.""You absolutely do." She leaned against the counter beside me. Our shoulders are touching. "You get it when something is happening that you want to remember."I looked at her. "Is that a problem?""No but I prefer it thoughtful.""Of course you do." She clinked her glass against mine. "Forty-seven minutes to midnight ."The acquisition is complete. Forty-seven minutes away."How do you feel?" I asked."Ask me at twelve-oh-one," she sai
Emily POVDmitri's response to our evidence came at dawn. Not through lawyers or legal channels, butthrough direct action.My phone rang at 6 AM, Marcus calling from the Connecticut estate, voice shaking."Emily, someone's broken into Catherine's grave. Her casket's been opened, her body'sgone. T
Blake POVI monitored the federal facility breach in real-time through FBI communications.Margaret's assault was professional, brutal, and terrifyingly effective."She's through the outer perimeter," the FBI coordinator reported. "Killed four guards,disabled security systems, moving toward the ma
Blake POV Margaret Volkov sat across composed saying "You want revenge on Richard," I said, watching her carefully. "This isn't about the truth. It's about using us as weapons against someone who double-crossed you."Margaret's expression didn't change, but something in her eyes was different. Am
Marcus POVThe FBI arrived at Lothan Industries headquarters at dawn. I watched from my office asfederal agents escorted Richard out in handcuffs, seeing him in shock and rage.My brother. My trusted partner years. The person I'd trusted with family finances,company operations, and my deepest con







