"Ms. Parker." Gerald removed his glasses and set them on the table with the slow, deliberate motion of a man trying very hard to control his anger. "You entered a colleague's office in the middle of the night, copied confidential project files, deleted the originals, and then presented the stolen work as your own in front of the senior management team. Is there any part of that sequence you'd like to dispute with evidence?""Gerald, please." Linda's voice climbed. "This is a misunderstanding. I was only trying to help the project stay on schedule. Emma was clearly struggling, and I thought if I prepared a backup version, it would benefit everyone. I wasn't trying to steal anything. I was trying to protect the company.""You weren't protecting anything." Gerald's voice dropped to a register that made two people at the table sit up straighter. "You committed theft of intellectual property, unauthorized access to a colleague's workspace, and deliberate sabotage of a company project. Any

During those two hours, he watched three people walk through the lobby. The first was a woman in a charcoal blazer who was waved past reception without breaking stride.The second was a man carrying nothing but a phone who was greeted by name and escorted directly to the elevator.The third was a businessman Brandon recognized from a chamber of commerce dinner, a man whose company was half the size of Holt Industries, who walked straight into the elevator without stopping at the reception desk at all.Nobody stopped. Nobody waited. Nobody was told the schedule was full.Brandon's hands pressed against his knees. He watched the third man disappear behind the elevator doors, and something behind his confident expression cracked.They're not busy. They just don't want to see me.He stood, straightened his tie one more time, and left the building without speaking to the receptionist again.The next three stops were worse.At Meridian Trust, the receptionist took his card and disappeared i

Brandon's legs stopped working the moment he saw the blue cover in his father's hand.The excitement that had been carrying him through the front door, the confidence that had put a bounce in his step for the first time in weeks, all of it drained from his body so fast he felt lightheaded. His smile collapsed. His mouth went dry. His hands, which had been loose and relaxed at his sides, curled into fists that pressed against his thighs.Raymond Holt did not speak.He stood in the center of the study surrounded by four senior executives and the company's chief legal adviser, a man named Walter Price who had been protecting the Holt family's interests for nineteen years. Raymond held the contract open and turned each page with the slow, deliberate motion of a man reading a death sentence one word at a time.Nobody in the room spoke. Nobody moved. The only sound was the faint rustle of paper and the tick of the grandfather clock near the bookshelf, counting seconds that felt like they we

"On top." Vivian's chin lifted. "Brandon's business will recover. My investments will mature. And the people who laughed at us will realize they were laughing at the wrong table."Ashley raised her cup. "I'll drink to that."They clinked glasses with the satisfied clink of people who had confused wishful thinking with prophecy.Twenty minutes into their celebration, Ashley's phone buzzed. She glanced at it, frowned, then held it up for Vivian to see."Did you see this?" Ashley scrolled through a news notification. "Something about the Holt Group. It says they're facing a major financial crisis. Several companies pulled out of active negotiations overnight."Vivian waved her hand. "Gossip. Every business goes through turbulence. Brandon's family has survived worse. They have lawyers, advisors, and decades of experience. Whatever it is, Raymond will handle it.""The article mentions a bad investment agreement." Ashley kept scrolling. "It says someone inside the family signed a contract

Brandon stood on the sidewalk outside Belmont's with his hands in his pockets and the weight of a collapsing empire pressing down on his shoulders. Behind him, through the café window, he could see Vivian pacing near their table with her phone pressed against her ear and a smile on her face that belonged to a woman living in a completely different reality.Vivian pushed through the door and grabbed his arm."Brandon, listen." Her eyes were bright. "The investigator found another lead on Logan. A real one this time. He says this could be the breakthrough that finally exposes everything.""Vivian, I don't care about Logan right now." Brandon pulled his arm free without looking at her. "My family's company is about to be taken apart by strangers, and you're celebrating because an investigator found gossip about my ex wife's boyfriend.""This isn't gossip." Vivian's smile faltered. "This is the key to destroying the man who ruined our lives. Once Logan is exposed, everything changes.""No