Chapter 25: The Intrigue Begins

Three days passed.

Elena did not go to the office. She did not answer Julian’s calls. She did not read his emails. She stayed in her apartment, in the dark, and tried to piece together the fragments of her life.

The board had cleared her name. The data breach investigation had been closed. Stern was facing criminal charges. Her reputation, professionally, was intact.

But personally, she was shattered.

She thought about her mother. About the words she had never said. About the lesson she had learned: Say the thing. Don’t wait. Because later might not come.

She had said the thing. Not to her mother—it was too late for that—but to Jay. She had told him about her father, her childhood, her fears. She had let him see her, really see her.

And he had been wearing a mask the whole time.

Or had he?

She replayed every conversation, every moment, every glance. She thought about the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn’t watching. The way his voice softened when he said her name. The way he had held her hand when she cried.

Those weren’t the actions of a man who was pretending.

Those were the actions of a man who was terrified.

On the third night, she picked up her phone. She stared at Julian’s name. She thought about the letter he had tried to give her—the one she had refused to read.

She typed a message.

Meet me at the glass desk. Midnight.

She hit send before she could change her mind.

The reply came within seconds.

I’ll be there.