I let my head sink back against the floorboards, letting out a soft, controlled breath. Adrian was still standing over me, his face twisted in that familiar cocktail of arrogance and contempt. He thought my silence was defeat. He thought the heavy, agonizing cramp blooming low in my abdomen meant he was winning.

The bassline from the stereo seemed to thump right against Adrian’s chest. He stood frozen, staring down at his lifeless phone as if it were a venomous snake. His mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.

Arthur Pendelton, who had been standing close enough to overhear every word of the speakerphone rant, slowly lowered his champagne flute. His eyes narrowed, cutting through Adrian with professional coldness.

“Did your CFO just say you’ve been acquired by force, Adrian?” Arthur asked, his voice dripping with icy amusement.

Several other investors edged closer, their glass smiles instantly shattering into expressions of sharp suspicion. Silicon Valley was a shark tank, and a bleeding apex predator was dinner.

Adrian snapped out of his trance, his face flushing a violent, mottled crimson. He snatched his phone off the floor, his hands shaking so badly he nearly dropped it again.

“It’s a glitch!” Adrian shouted, his voice cracking hysterically as he forced a twitchy, manic laugh and looked around the gathering crowd. “It’s just a systemic banking glitch! A server error! My CFO is an idiot, he panicked over routine maintenance—nothing to see here, folks, please, keep drinking—”

“Routine maintenance doesn’t freeze every corporate account simultaneously, mate,” a hedge fund manager muttered loudly from the back, swirling his drink.

“Adrian?” Vanessa pushed her way through the murmuring crowd, her champagne flute trembling in her manicured hand. Her glossy composure was cracking at the edges. “What’s going on? Why are people looking at you like that?”

“Nothing!” Adrian hissed, grabbing Vanessa’s arm with a grip that was entirely too tight. He looked around the room, desperate to regain control of his narrative, his eyes darting frantically from face to face.

That was when he caught sight of me.

I was still standing by the monstera plant in the shadows of the staircase. The dark silk robe draped over my frame, my face completely blank, my eyes locked directly onto his. I didn't smile. I didn't look away. I just stared at him with the cold, unyielding weight of an executioner.

Adrian’s breath hitched. A primal wave of pure, unadulterated panic flashed across his eyes as his brain finally tried to connect the impossible dots: the locked accounts, the mysterious parent company, the timing, and the quiet, broken woman standing by the stairs whom he had dragged across the floor less than twenty minutes ago.

“You,” Adrian whispered, his voice trembling so violently the word barely escaped his lips.

He dropped Vanessa’s arm and lunged toward me, completely forgetting his guests, his reputation, and his social standing. All he saw was the source of his sudden, violent ruin.

“What did you do?” Adrian screamed, closing the distance between us in three frantic strides. He reached out, his massive hands clawing at the air, ready to grab me by the throat. “What the hell did you do, you ungrateful bitch?!”