Chapter 28 – Crossfire

Monday morning dawned gray and damp over Seoul, with a steady drizzle smearing the glass façade of Drake Industries. Inside Evelyn's office, the war room strategy had begun to take shape.

Hana spread the latest findings across the conference table which was a growing dossier of irregularities: procurement approvals missing counter-signatures, project expenses allocated to inactive accounts, ghost vendors billed for nonexistent services. It was a paper trail of corruption meticulously buried under layers of bureaucracy.

Noah leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. "Most of these ghost accounts trace back to the U.S. branch, but someone here is feeding them in. Genevieve's too smart to leave her name on anything, but the patterns match her previous strategies."

"Is she using anyone inside?" Evelyn asked.

"We think so," Hana said. "A mid-level analyst named Soo-jin. She was recently transferred in from the States and bypassed the usual onboarding review."

Evelyn's jaw tightened. "Another plant."

"She's subtle," Hana added. "Nothing direct. Just enough nudges to slow down rollouts, introduce miscommunications. Enough to make you look disorganized."

Evelyn glanced at her planner, filled with color-coded notes and a schedule she could barely hold together. "Genevieve is trying to prove I'm not fit to lead. She's trying to make the board doubt me."

"She's doing more than that," Noah said. "She's laying the groundwork to request a performance review from the CEO. She wants to bring you down with optics, not evidence."

Evelyn closed the file. "Then it's time to shift from defense to offense."

Later that afternoon, Evelyn called a closed meeting with her core team. Noah, Hana, Min-jun, and two other trusted leads sat around the table.

"We don't respond to every poke," Evelyn began. "We document. We prepare. But we don't flinch. If they want to find us scrambling, they'll be disappointed."

Min-jun, quiet but sharp, nodded. "I've already scrubbed the network logs. We've got metadata linking Soo-jin's access to Genevieve's calendar sync. There's no proof they spoke, but it shows coordination."

"Get it packaged," Evelyn said. "If she pushes for an audit, we'll beat her to it."

Across the building, Genevieve stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows of her corner office, sipping from a delicate porcelain cup. A silent rage simmered behind her poise.

Her assistant entered quietly. "The marketing calendar has been updated per your request. Evelyn's team filed the Q4 campaign six days early."

Genevieve's jaw clenched. "Of course they did."

The assistant hesitated. "Should I proceed with Soo-jin's reassignment protocol?"

Genevieve turned slowly. "No. Let her stay visible a little longer. If Evelyn wants to make this a war of records, I want her watching the wrong pawn."

The assistant gave a curt nod and left.

Genevieve returned to the window, her gaze sweeping over the hazy skyline of Seoul. Evelyn Hart was proving more resilient than anticipated. But the game was far from over.

That evening, Evelyn returned home to a quiet apartment overlooking the Han River. The city lights blinked in the mist, and for a moment, she allowed herself to breathe.

Her phone buzzed. A message from Alexander.

Dinner. Private floor. 8 PM. Just us. – A

Two hours later, she stepped into the exclusive rooftop lounge Alexander had reserved. He stood at the window, hands in his pockets, contemplative.

She walked over slowly, and he turned, his eyes softening when they met hers.

"I thought you could use a moment without chaos," he said.

She smiled faintly. "This is dangerously close to peace."

He poured her a glass of wine and handed it over before joining her on the couch.

"I heard you blocked Genevieve's latest move before she even got it off the ground."

"She's getting more aggressive. Using imported pawns now. But she's sloppy in her arrogance."

Alexander raised an eyebrow. "You're calm about it."

"I'm prepared," Evelyn replied. "Hana's already uncovered a pattern. Min-jun's cross-checked it. We have what we need."

He studied her for a beat. "Hiring Hana was a smart move."

"She was the smartest decision I've made since I got this promotion."

He leaned forward slightly, voice quieter. "You're doing more than surviving. You're setting the tone."

Evelyn exhaled. "Then I have to keep setting it. Because Genevieve isn't going to stop. At least not until she's forced to."

"You won't be alone in that," Alexander said, reaching briefly to touch her hand. "Even if the world doesn't know what we are. I do."

She met his gaze. "I'm holding us together in silence. But that doesn't mean I doubt us."

He nodded once. "When the time is right... they'll all know."

But until then, they would continue the game, each playing their role with precision.

And Evelyn, now armed and no longer alone, would not retreat.

The storm had passed.

But she had become the thunder.