Ethan realized something was wrong not because Alyssa said anything—but because she stopped saying everything.

The silence crept in subtly. No late-night strategy calls. No clipped messages demanding updates. No sharp glances that challenged him to keep up with her pace. Alyssa still moved like a storm through the company—decisive, lethal, brilliant—but she moved around him now, not with him.

And that distance hurt more than any blade Davin had ever aimed at his throat.

He stood alone in the glass-walled office overlooking the city, watching Alyssa through the transparent partitions as she spoke with two external consultants. Her posture was immaculate, her voice calm and authoritative. She didn’t once...