I stood alone in the empty conference room. My heart beat fast. He was the first one to say it out loud. The first to put suspicion into words. He was also in charge of Finance. He had access to everything. If Jovi had a spy, someone feeding her information... Chen made sense.

But what unsettled me more was my own reaction. A month ago, I would have felt threatened, hurt, defensive. Now I felt something else: focus. He was a variable. Variables could be managed. That cold clarity—was that strength, or was I losing something I'd never get back?

The rest of the day passed in a blur of...