since the crane incident. Three days of an endless barrage of bad news, legal battles, and crisis meetings. She was exhausted down to her bones. The

n, his low hum mixing with the sound of the coffee machine. She remembered them sketching out ideas on napkins at the dining table late into the

erly alone, a general commanding a besieged army with no allies in sight. Was

ated on the coffee table. An unknown number. She ignored it. It rang aga

answered, her

va

instantly recognizable. Her ent

r: rage, disbelief, pain. "How dare yo

faint sound of static, as if he were on a cheap burner phone. "Yo

ce dripping with sarcasm. "Did your consci

st my... it's not just the Sterling Group. T

couldn't be. She trusted her senior team. "I don't belie

They're just getting started. They want to crush you, Ava. Co

o put the knife in my back now wants to offer me a bandage? W

aught her off guard. "But you don't have a choice. Th

some insane reason, telling the truth? Her logical brain screamed at her to hang up, to block the number and trust her own team. But her insti

er giving way to a weary confus

His voice was barely a whisper. "Meet me. Parking garage,

ne wen

The Sterling Group could be waiting. But what was her alternative? Wait for the next "accident"? Watch her

y working, planning. She slipped a small, high-frequency personal alarm into her pocket. She sent a coded text to her head of security, a reti

and resolve. She was walking into the dark to meet the man who had destroyed her trust. But may

nd smelled of concrete and exhaust fumes. Each sound-the drip of wate

ad specified, keeping the engine running. Her hand rested on the gearshift, r

every shadow, every approaching headlight. Finally, a figure emerge

n shadow. He was thinner than she remembered, and his movements were furtive, his eyes constantly

as a

of the car. The sound of her boots on the concrete seemed to echo through the

he said, h

opping a good ten feet away from him. "What

self. "There's a mole. Someone on your board. He's been feeding my fa

s in the conference room-the panic, the accusations. One of t

areful. If he finds out I'm talking to you, he'll destroy me. And he'l

ustration mounting. "You bring me to a

d conflict etched on his face. "I'm giving you a chance to find him yourself. I'm giving you th

s-it wasn't an act. He was genuinely afraid. And he was trying to help her. The realiza