MAYA

The boardroom of Blackwood Holdings was colder than usual.

Or maybe it only felt that way because every person seated at the long, polished table kept stealing glances at me like I had suddenly become the most interesting woman in the city—and the company’s recurring headline. This was the second time the PR team had gathered because of us, and the air in the room was thick with silent judgment.

I sat in the high-backed leather chair to Silas’s right, keeping my posture straight and my expression calm. Beneath the table, where no one could see, my hands were clasped so tightly my knuckles had turned white. My heart...