The clock on the wall hit 10:27 a.m.
Thirty-three minutes until the board meeting that could erase Lena from her own company and possibly her freedom.
She stood in the elevator mirror, smoothing her jacket, her eyes too sharp to belong to someone on the verge of losing everything. Across the city, Ethan was in another kind of war entirely one waged in code and seconds.
The story split in two but both halves pulsed toward the same detonation.
The Boardroom Trap
The conference room was glass and steel, every reflection sharp enough to cut.
Cameras waited beyond the frosted walls, their red lights winking like predators in the dark.
Lena walked in first. No assistant, no entourage. Just a tablet in one hand, a calm she didn't feel in the other.
Nathaniel was already there near the head of the table, arms crossed, his gaze tracking every twitch in the room. Ethan sat behind him, laptop open, running silent calculations in the background.
Adrian leaned against the far wall, immaculate in charcoal gray, a faint smile curling at his mouth.
"Ms. Hale," he said smoothly.
The room went still.
Lena's pulse thudded once, then steadied. He did it on purpose.
"It's Voss," she replied, every syllable clipped.
Adrian's brows lifted, mock surprise. "Oh? I thought we were being formal. My mistake."
He took the seat directly across from her an intentional mirror. "Shall we begin?"
The board members exchanged glances, papers rustling like whispers. Half of them owed their positions to Nathaniel. The other half? Adrian's shadows.
He began without waiting. "In light of recent security breaches, the board has serious concerns about your competence, Ms."
A pause, a glint.
"Voss."
Nathaniel's jaw flexed. "You're not qualified to speak about security integrity. Not after what your department leaked last quarter."
Adrian's smile didn't falter. "And yet, I'm not the one trending on half the city's newsfeeds, am I?"
Lena ignored them both, swiping through data on her tablet. "The attack failed. The systems are stable. You can stop performing."
"Performing?" Adrian leaned back. "You think this is theater?"
He tapped the table, and a folder slid across it black, stamped confidential.
Ethan froze. Nathaniel's gaze sharpened.
"What is that?"
"Proof," Adrian said simply, "that Ms. Hale's contract with Cross Dynamics is built on falsified credentials and undisclosed conflicts of interest."
A murmur rippled through the board.
Lena's throat tightened not from guilt, but fury. Adrian was twisting the truth again. Her early partnership with Nathaniel sealed years ago in private terms was now being painted as corruption.
"Those contracts are sealed under mutual NDA," she said evenly. "If you have them, you've committed corporate theft."
Adrian smiled wider. "Oh, Lena. You really should read the fine print. I didn't steal them. I was granted access by the oversight committee you helped establish."
Nathaniel's voice dropped low. "You manipulated the board."
Adrian shrugged. "I used the system she built."
Ethan's fingers flew over his laptop, eyes darting. "Sir… he's telling the truth. He's in the system legitimately for now."
Lena's grip tightened on the tablet. "For now?"
Ethan nodded grimly. "He has five minutes before the override I planted triggers. After that, his access dies."
Adrian's gaze flicked to Ethan, amused. "The boy genius. How loyal. Tell me, does she even thank you for risking your job daily?"
Ethan didn't look up. "I don't work for her gratitude. I work for the truth."
The timer on his screen ticked down. 02:59.
Lena locked eyes with Adrian. "You wanted a war, you've got one."
Adrian leaned forward, voice almost gentle. "This isn't war, Lena. It's exposure. You built your empire on signatures and seduction. I'm just letting the light in."
The room seemed to shrink.
Nathaniel slammed his hand against the table. "That's enough."
But Adrian's eyes stayed on Lena, cold and knowing. "You can't hide who you were forever, Ms. Hale."
The timer hit 00:00.
Adrian's screen blinked. Every file, every folder vanished.
Static filled the monitors.
He stared, lips parting just slightly.
Lena rose slowly, tucking the tablet under her arm. "You're right," she said. "I can't hide who I was. But I'm not her anymore."
She turned to the board. "If anyone here wants to believe a man who steals, manipulates, and fails to protect his own data stay seated."
No one moved.
Lena walked out, Nathaniel following, Ethan close behind.
Adrian stayed in his chair, jaw tight, watching the screens reboot to blankness.
Then his phone buzzed. A single message from an unknown number:
"You're not the only one watching her."
His smile returned slower, sharper.
"Good," he whispered. "Let's see how far she'll climb before the next fall."