Elena's voice crackled through the conference speaker, sharp with controlled excitement. "The Danish team achieved the breakthrough. Blade efficiency is at ninety-four percent of our original horizontal-axis performance."Lawrence sat forward in his chair, watching the video feed from Geneva where Elena stood before Rousseau Energy's board. Her face showed exhaustion beneath the professional veneer, but her eyes burned with real hope for the first time in weeks."We have complete patent differentiation from Hale's designs," Elena continued. "Commercial deployment timeline is now nine months instead of twelve. We can accelerate."The board members on screen broke into applause. Lawrence felt relief wash through him, brief and genuine, before the familiar weight settled back down.Kent leaned over and whispered, "This doesn't solve the revenue problem."Lawrence nodded without looking away from Elena's image. He knew. But he let himself enjoy the moment anyway because moments like this

Lawrence didn’t turn on the lights.He stayed where he was, letting the darkness settle fully, as if clarity might come easier without distraction. It didn’t. The problem wasn’t lack of information. It was that every piece of information pointed to the same conclusion, and he had been avoiding it.This was no longer just a business war.It had become a war of endurance.And endurance was not something you could outsource, optimize, or scale.Upstairs, a faint sound broke the silence—Claire shifting in her sleep, followed by a small, uncertain whimper. Lawrence was on his feet before he consciously decided to move. He crossed the hallway quickly, pushing her door open just enough to slip inside.She was half-awake, tangled in her blanket, her face tight with confusion.“Daddy?” Her voice was thick with sleep and something else—something fragile.“I’m here,” he said, sitting beside her bed.She reached for him immediately, small arms wrapping around his neck with surprising force. “Wher