Jessica’s POVThe soft, steady chime of the automated gate system echoed faintly through the master suite as the twilight began to drape over, painting the sky in deep bruises of indigo, violet, and brilliant gold. It was an ordinary sound, one that would have made my pulse spike with a cold, defensive panic in the old days. Back then, every unexpected arrival meant a process server, a corporate spy, or another piece of my life being stripped away by families who viewed me as nothing more than an inconvenient variable.Now, the chime was merely data. It was an automated notification that our personal security detail had rotated shifts at the outer perimeter, an absolute barrier of flesh, steel, and encrypted surveillance that kept the rest of the world exactly where it belonged: outside.I sat at my mahogany writing desk, watching the small, sleek indicator on my tablet pulse a rhythmic, reassuring blue. The Aria Initiative was performing beautifully. Across the global trade networks
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