Chapter 29 – Fallout

The next morning brought with it a deceptive stillness. The skies over Seoul were clear for once, sunlight pouring over the angular skyline in warm sheets. But inside Drake Industries, tension simmered beneath the polished surface like a fault line ready to crack.

Evelyn entered the building with her head held high, her strides sharp with intention. Clad in a dove-gray pantsuit and low heels, she looked every bit the newly minted Head of Marketing. Hana walked beside her, tablet in hand, already outlining the morning's key meetings.

"Legal reviewed the packet you compiled with Min-jun," Hana reported. "They agree there's enough circumstantial evidence to justify internal oversight over the marketing accounts and to flag Soo-jin for breach of protocol."

"Good," Evelyn said. "Tell them to hold off on any formal accusations for now. I want Genevieve to show her next card."

As they stepped into the executive-level elevator, Hana gave her a sidelong glance. "And if she doesn't?"

Evelyn smiled. "Then we play ours."

Meanwhile, Genevieve was already in motion.

She stood in front of the executive boardroom's glass wall, rehearsing the timing of her proposal. Dressed in charcoal black with her signature blood-red lipstick, she exuded purpose. Her goal: to exploit Evelyn's recent rise as a sign of reckless favoritism from Alexander.

Her pitch was laced with subtlety, wrapped in the language of "corporate stability" and "long-term vision." She never once named Evelyn directly, but her implication was clear: the department's recent shake-ups warranted executive audit. She framed it as concern, a need for objective review.

What she didn't know was that Alexander was already watching.

In his private office, Alexander reviewed the board transcripts Hana had forwarded him, his expression unreadable. Noah stood near the side of the room, arms crossed.

"She thinks she can use the board to isolate Evelyn," Noah said.

"She's trying to provoke a response," Alexander replied. "Make Evelyn appear defensive."

"She won't bite."

Alexander finally looked up. "No. She won't. But the board might. That's the danger."

By midday, Evelyn convened an emergency departmental review. She invited only her core team and two compliance observers. At the head of the table, she projected charts, timestamps, and a digital trail so cleanly woven it might as well have been designed by a prosecutor.

"We are not naming names yet," she began, her voice calm. "But we are flagging suspicious vendor interactions across four campaigns. All of them tie back to Soo-jin's access history."

Min-jun added, "We traced IP pings to a VPN rerouted through New York. Guess which branch still has an active static IP there?"

Hana clicked to the final slide: an unbroken flowchart connecting Soo-jin's data leaks to a digital access signature matching Genevieve's stateside assistant.

There were gasps.

"We're escalating this to Alexander by COB today," Evelyn said. "We will not let sabotage masquerade as strategy."

That evening, Alexander stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office as Evelyn entered with Hana. He turned, gaze steady.

"I reviewed the findings," he said.

"And?" Evelyn asked.

He held up the report. "Your evidence is clear. Soo-jin will be suspended pending investigation. Genevieve will be asked to recuse herself from any further oversight of marketing until the inquiry concludes."

Hana's breath caught. "That's... bold."

"It's overdue," Alexander said. His gaze flicked to Evelyn. "The board will ask why we didn't act sooner. But they'll respect that we acted now."

Evelyn nodded, but there was something unreadable in her eyes.

"You expected more resistance?" Alexander asked quietly once Hana had stepped out.

"I expected her to play the long game," Evelyn said. "But she moved fast. Desperate."

"That means she knows she's losing."

Evelyn walked to the window beside him. For a moment, they stood together in silence, watching the lights of Seoul begin to glitter as dusk settled in.

"There's still a storm coming," she said finally.

Alexander gave the faintest nod. "Then we meet it together."

Unseen by the city below, two allies stood side by side. Not just bound by secrets and strategy, but by something quieter, fiercer. Love that had no name, but all the weight of truth.

The fallout had begun.

And they were ready.