Meanwhile –Ethan flung his tablet across the room. The screen shattered, but it didn’t slow his breathing or still his clenched fists.

“She turned the leak into a rallying cry,” Belinda said, almost admiringly. “That wasn’t damage control. That was a reinvention.”

“She lied better than we did,” he growled.

Kingmaker’s voice buzzed through on his encrypted speaker. “Correction—she didn’t lie. She told the truth before you had time to define it. That’s always fatal in optics.”

“You said she’d fold,” Ethan snapped.

“I said she’d fight,” Kingmaker replied calmly. “You underestimated her. So now we must escalate.”

Ethan paused. “How?”

“We hit her from within. Not her image—her foundation.”...