LOGIN[POV: Lewis] [Location: Edinburgh — Kitchen / Home]He stared at the photo for a long time.Rose. Three months ago, judging by her school jacket — the old one, the navy one she'd stopped wearing in March. Standing outside a building he didn't recognize, some kind of converted warehouse or arts space. Next to her, a man. Dark jacket, late twenties or early thirties, relaxed posture, standing close enough to be familiar with her.Not touching her. But close.Lewis enlarged the image. Rose's expression was unguarded in a way he hadn't seen from her in months. Laughing at something. Completely at ease.He looked at the number. Edinburgh area code. No name. No further messages.He forwarded it to Eleanor with one line: Find out who sent this. Tonight if possible.Then he sat at the kitchen table and thought about what he knew and what he didn't.He knew Rose had been meeting this group for three months. He knew she'd said she hadn't been drinking, hadn't done anything dangerous. He knew t
[POV: Lewis] [Location: Edinburgh — Canongate Police Station]The station waiting area smelled like old coffee and industrial floor cleaner.Lewis sat in a plastic chair at three in the morning and waited for Constable Harris to bring Rose out. He'd driven here in eleven minutes, which was faster than the route should have allowed. He hadn't thought about it.Yessica had stayed home with Grace. They'd agreed on that without discussion — someone needed to be there when Grace woke up, and Lewis was the one Rose had asked for.She'd asked for him specifically. That meant something. He wasn't sure yet what.The door opened.Rose came out looking completely different from the girl he'd left at the dinner table six hours ago. Her school uniform was gone — she'd changed into jeans and a dark jacket at some point after climbing out the window. Her hair was loose. She looked older than fifteen, which was its own kind of alarm.She saw him and stopped walking.He stood up.They looked at each
[POV: Yessica] [Location: Edinburgh — Rose's Bedroom / Home]Lewis knocked twice more before the door opened.Rose stood in the gap, still in her school uniform, her eyes red but dry now. She'd stopped crying and rebuilt enough of the wall to face him. That was very Rose — never let anyone see the full thing."I'm fine," she said."You skipped class this afternoon," Lewis said. "Your school called."Something moved across her face. Not quite guilt. More like the look of someone who had calculated wrong."I just needed some air.""With a bag packed."The wall went up the rest of the way. She turned back into the room and sat on the edge of her bed, putting distance between them in the only way available to her.Lewis came in. Sat in the desk chair across from her. Didn't close the gap.Yessica stood in the doorway. She didn't go in — this one needed Lewis, not both of them at once. But she stayed close enough to hear."Where did you go?" Lewis asked."Just walked around.""For two hou
[POV: Lewis] [Location: Edinburgh — Sterling Industries, Boardroom / Home]The boardroom was full by nine.Twelve chairs, twelve faces, the particular energy of people who knew something was about to happen but weren't certain what form it would take. Lewis had arrived early, which he rarely did. He was already seated when the others filed in.Marcus sat across from him. Their eyes met briefly. Marcus looked tired.Lewis waited until everyone was settled."Before we move to agenda items," he said, "I want to table an item that isn't on the document you received. It concerns a conflict of interest relating to the Whitmore acquisition proposal."The room shifted.Martin Bale, the chair, looked up from his papers. "This wasn't submitted for review.""It came to my attention on Tuesday. I've spent two days having it verified by legal counsel." Lewis set three bound folders on the table. "Eleanor Hayes's firm. I think most of you know her work."He waited while the folders were passed aro
[POV: Lewis] [Location: Edinburgh]He read the message twice.Tell Claire not to go to Stanford. Or I will.Lewis put the phone face-down on the table, excused himself with a word to Yessica — a look that said emergency, not catastrophe, stay here — and went back out to the corridor.He called Eleanor before the door closed behind him.She answered on the first ring. "I see it. He copied me.""He threatened my daughter.""He's trying to rattle you before Thursday. He doesn't have enough yet to file, which is why he's pushing personally instead of legally." Eleanor's voice was steady. She'd been doing this a long time. "If he contacts Claire directly, that changes our position significantly. Right now it's just a message to you.""What does he actually have?""A claim that you and Sienna had a professional relationship that damaged her reputation and that you used Sterling Industries resources to fund a suppression campaign after her stalking was exposed. It's thin. It relies on Sienn
[POV: Lewis] [Location: Edinburgh — Post-Graduation Restaurant]The restaurant was loud with celebration.Three long tables pushed together, the family spread across them — Ethan and Grace at the far end conducting some kind of competition involving bread rolls, Moira and Theron sharing a bottle of wine, Regina and David across from Yessica, Claire at the center of it all still wearing her graduation gown because Grace had asked her not to take it off yet.Lewis sat at the table and watched his daughter laugh and thought: not yet. Not this table. Not this hour.Eleanor's message was still on his phone.James Morton Junior knew everything. The acquisition plan, his father's litigation strategy, the leverage play against Sterling Industries. He'd known for at least three months.And in two weeks, Claire was supposed to leave for Stanford with James by her side.Lewis ate what was put in front of him. He answered when spoken to. He smiled when Claire looked at him, which she did often,
POV: Yessica | Location: EdinburghShe stared at the name for three full seconds.Lewis saw her face."What is it?"She turned the phone so he could see the screen.Something moved across his expression. Not guilt — recognition. The particular alertness of someone who has just understood a connecti
POV: Yessica | Location: EdinburghAgnes arrived with shortbread and the particular expression of a woman who had already formed opinions she wasn't going to volunteer unless asked.She sat in the armchair. Ate a piece of shortbread. Looked around the flat in the comfortable way of someone who'd be
POV: Yessica | Location: EdinburghDiana called at nine forty-seven Friday morning."It's filed," she said. "Time-stamped, on record, confirmed by the court clerk twenty minutes ago. The Parental Responsibility Declaration is registered under Scottish family law. Edinburgh has primary jurisdiction.
POV: Yessica | Location: New YorkLewis left for Dubai on a Tuesday.He stood in the guest room doorway at six AM with his luggage behind him and his coat on, and he looked at her in the bed with the IV bruise still visible on her arm, and he said:"I'll call every day.""Okay," she said."If anythi







