Alyssa stood alone in the quiet of her office long after the city lights had begun to dim. The glass walls reflected a version of herself she barely recognized anymore—sharp-eyed, composed, wrapped in an authority that felt heavier than armor. Outside, the empire she had fought for was finally hers. Inside, something was still restless.

Davin was finished.

Not destroyed—yet stripped of nearly everything that had once made him untouchable.

The board had voted. The acquisitions were frozen. His proxies abandoned him one by one like rats fleeing a sinking ship. His name still existed in headlines, but now it was followed by words like investigation, sanctions, collapse.

A slow...