ログイン[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: Edinburgh — St. Andrews College Auditorium]The auditorium held four hundred people and felt like every single one of them was holding their breath.Yessica sat in the second row with Rose on her left, Grace on her right, and Ethan one seat over beside Lewis. The seats were padded and formal, the kind designed for occasions that required good posture. Rose had lasted approximately eleven minutes before she started drawing on the back of the program.On stage, the principal was finishing his remarks.Yessica glanced at Lewis. He was watching the stage, his expression controlled and present in the way he'd been all morning — the careful steadiness of someone carrying something heavy and refusing to let it show. She'd watched him choose this, minute by minute, since the call with Eleanor.She was proud of him for it.The principal said Claire's name.The auditorium applauded as Claire walked to the podium. Cap, gown, gold cords. Eighteen years old. She adjusted
POV: Yessica | Location: EdinburghShe read the message twice.Fiona Park. Independent board member. Sterling Industries. Harrison had called her this evening — the same evening Marcus found the motion, the same evening Lewis read it at this kitchen table.Harrison was already moving.She typed bac
POV: Yessica | Location: Edinburgh"Full removal," she said."Yes," Marcus said. "The motion is drafted under Section 168 of the Companies Act. Ordinary resolution. Simple majority. Harrison only needs half the board plus one.""How many does he have.""Confirmed? Graves and Whitmore. Suspected? On
POV: Yessica | Location: EdinburghThe removal van arrived at seven-fifteen.Claire was already dressed, sitting on her packed boxes in the hallway of the old flat, wearing her good coat with the brass buttons because she'd decided moving day was an occasion."Are we going now," she said."Soon," Y
POV: Yessica | Location: EdinburghPippa left without being asked.She just stood up, squeezed Yessica's shoulder once, picked up her laptop, and walked past Sienna in the hallway without a word — which, from Pippa, was the most restrained thing Yessica had ever witnessed.Sienna sat across from he







