“I won’t take much of your time,” William said as he walked briskly behind Evelyn, weaving through the flurry of staff and conference crew backstage. His voice cut through the noise with quiet urgency.

Evelyn glanced over her shoulder, stopping near a rack of camera equipment.

“If you’re here to talk about what happened on stage—”

“I’m not,” William interrupted calmly. “I’m here to talk privately. Not as a speaker. Not as an ex.”

Evelyn let out a slow breath, then pointed to a folding chair in the corner of the backstage room.

“Five minutes.”

They sat down. The space between them was barely a meter, but it felt like...