The boardroom felt smaller than usual.

Not because of the long glass table or the towering windows overlooking the city, but because of the tension pressing in from every direction. Alyssa could feel it the moment she stepped inside—the air thick with divided loyalties, unspoken calculations, and fear disguised as professionalism.

Every seat was filled.

Directors who once spoke with a single voice now avoided each other’s eyes. Some offered Alyssa polite nods. Others didn’t look at her at all.

Ethan sat at the head of the table, jaw clenched, fingers interlocked as if holding himself together by force alone.

“This meeting is now in session,” Director Klein announced, his...