The argument began without a clear beginning.

It started as tension—thick, unspoken, coiled tight between them the moment Ethan stepped into Alyssa’s office. The air itself felt sharp, as if every breath could cut. Alyssa didn’t look up from the documents spread across her desk, but she felt him there. His presence had always had weight. Tonight, it carried fire.

“You went behind my back again,” Ethan said.

Alyssa’s pen did not pause. “You walked into my office uninvited. Again.”

He shut the door harder than necessary. The sound echoed, sealing them inside a room already suffocating with things unsaid. “You froze Davin’s acquisition without looping me in. Do you...