“Say her name again.”“Say her name again,” I repeated, slower this time, every syllable a loaded weapon.The boardroom froze.Twenty-two people. Billionaires, ministers, financiers, generals in tailored suits. Men who had ordered wars, collapsed economies, erased families.Every single one of them went silent.Not because I raised my voice.Because I didn’t.Marcus Hale sat at the far end of the obsidian table, pale beneath the chandelier’s brutal light. His earlier arrogance—his smug grin, his careless tone—had vanished. Sweat beaded along his hairline.“I—I was just asking a question,” he stammered.“You weren’t,” I said calmly. “You were baiting.”Victor stood at the wall, motionless. Mateo leaned against the glass, arms crossed, jaw tight. The rest of the board shifted in their seats, sensing the shift in gravity.Marcus swallowed. “It’s my right as a shareholder to—”“To speak about my wife,” I cut in, “only when I invite you to breathe.”A ripple of fear moved through the room.
続きを読む