CHAPTER 21The Office
SilkWeb Tower felt different now. Luna walked through the lobby not as a reluctant apprentice, but as a partner holding fifteen percent of the empire. Employees who had previously ignored her now offered respectful nods. The woman at the security desk—the one with the polished stone face—actually smiled.
"Mrs. Wǎngshā," she said. "Your permanent access badge." She handed Luna a card of black brushed metal. "It grants you entry to all non-restricted floors, including Mr. Wǎngshā's private elevator."
The elevator rose silently. When the doors opened into Leo's command center, he was already there, standing before the wall of screens. He didn't turn.
"I've allocated you workspace in the corner," he said, gesturing to a newly installed desk. It was sleek, modern, with its own set of monitors. "You'll have access to the surface-level financials, communications logs, and the public archives. The rest…" He finally looked at her. "You earn."
"Understood." Luna set her bag down. "What's my first real assignment?"
"The Yèshòus are renegotiating their protection contract with us. I want you to review the last twenty years of agreements. Look for patterns. Weaknesses. Opportunities."
"You want me to find a way to get a better deal."
"I want you to understand how they think." He turned back to his screens. "Rook Yèshòu believes strength is physical. I want you to find where that belief makes him blind."
Luna spent the morning immersed in contracts. The Yèshòus were meticulous in their violence—every clause accounted for, every contingency planned. But she began to see a pattern: they always underestimated digital threats. Their insurance against data breaches was laughably inadequate.
She was making notes when Elara Chen entered.
"Mr. Wǎngshā, the Shanghai numbers—" She stopped when she saw Luna. Her expression tightened briefly before smoothing into professionalism. "Mrs. Wǎngshā. I didn't realize you'd be here."
"I work here now," Luna said, keeping her voice neutral.
"Of course." Elara turned her attention to Leo. "The Shanghai branch is reporting anomalies in the fiber optic logs. It could be a glitch. It could be a probe."
"Run a level three diagnostic," Leo said without looking away from his screens. "If it's a probe, I want it traced to the source. No matter how deep it goes."
"Understood." Elara left, but not before casting another glance at Luna—this one unreadable.
"She doesn't like me," Luna said after the door closed.
"She doesn't have to like you," Leo replied. "She has to respect your authority. That's your job to enforce."
"By?"
"By being better than her." He finally turned. "By seeing what she misses." He walked to her desk, looking over her notes on the Yèshòu contracts. "You found the cybersecurity gap."
"It's obvious."
"To you. Not to Rook. He thinks firewalls are something you build with bricks." Leo's lips quirked. "Use that. Draft an amendment to the contract requiring them to adopt our security protocols. At their expense."
"They'll never agree."
"They will if we make it about protecting their assets instead of fixing their weaknesses." He leaned against her desk. "Frame it as a premium service. They pay more, we guarantee their digital safety. Their pride remains intact, our profits increase."
Luna studied him. "You're very good at this."
"It's what I was raised to do." His gaze drifted to the paper crane, now displayed in a small glass case on his desk. "Sometimes I wonder what I would have been if I hadn't been."
"What would you have been?"
He was silent for a long moment. "I used to like astronomy. As a boy. The stars… they're data too, but ancient. Unchangeable. There's a comfort in that." He shook his head, as if dismissing a foolish thought. "Finish the draft by end of day."
He returned to his screens, withdrawing back into the fortress of himself.