TER

city lights giving way to early morning gray. The gala ha

arely

l hanging off a dining chair, tie undone since midnight, jaw tight. The gala had been a

een able to sha

a

. Yet she did. Uninvited. Unshake

presence. It was ho

new what he was

. He already knew what it was. The board. PR alerts. Messages from V

knock - deli

e te

le had access t

her

apa J standing there, holding a fol

-

FIVE (c

droom

ngly white, its glass walls overlooking the skyline. But

te by two minutes

ard member, was already mi

a spectacle, I think we can agree the

the table. Silent. Controlled. Bu

s from him, her red lips curled in

said smoothly. "Too bad Thornwell Ent

his throat, trying

firmation the so

r," Gerald interrupted. "And

s tapped slowl

just a publicity stunt from our competitors-" his eyes landed on Val

ina ch

e. We're all

riend of mine

ne wen

btle nod. He'd been in this world long enough t

straig

ugh Kene. And I want an internal report in twenty-four h

r faded, but her eyes

e leaned in close enough

too deep, and you might

, heels echoing

n the surface. But the fi

just about bus

s per

-

s, Zayne," the olde

r. The headline mad

nymous Source Claims Internal

. The media storm had begun

, the elevator doo

Zara stepped out, eyes

said softly,

-

FIVE (Fi

Iman

zzed for the

answer. Sh

tion staring back at her more tired than she remembered. Her usuall

adn't

nched jaw, his unfazed posture when the scandal broke,

g," she murmur

rawer. The journal-the one she'd pro

hen buried truths threatened to

open

iliar

pens to me, it won

henTho

the book, he

much longer she co

Za

ven Z

t was bleeding i

n Khalil Monté had be

-