The markets opened red.
By noon, Valmont Industries had dropped another twelve percent.
News channels repeated the same phrases on loop:
Unanswered questions.
Corporate negligence.
Old fire scandal resurfaces.
Lyra stood in Aurelian's office, watching analysts dissect his reputation like it was public property.
"Say something," she whispered.
Aurelian stood by the window overlooking the city.
He looked calm.
Too calm.
"Not yet."
---
Inside another tower across the city, Elias Virelli watched the same broadcast.
Unlike Aurelian, he smiled.
"Phase three," he said softly.
His assistant hesitated. "Sir… the board members are starting to panic."
"Good," Elias replied. "Fear accelerates collapse."
---
Back at Valmont headquarters, an emergency board meeting was called.
The atmosphere felt suffocating.
"We need a public statement," one director snapped.
"We need to suspend the engine rollout," another argued.
"We need to protect shareholder confidence."
Aurelian sat at the head of the table.
Silent.
Listening.
Finally, he spoke.
"No suspension."
The room erupted.
"With all due respect—"
"This is reckless—"
"You're gambling with the company—"
Aurelian raised one hand.
Silence.
"If we suspend the rollout now," he said evenly, "we validate the narrative that something is wrong."
He let that sink in.
"There is nothing wrong with the engine."
A long pause.
"And there is nothing wrong with our records."
Lyra watched him carefully.
He wasn't defending himself emotionally.
He was laying foundations.
---
After the meeting, Lyra cornered him in his office.
"You're not just waiting," she said quietly. "You're building something."
He studied her.
"You see it?"
She nodded.
"What are you doing?"
Aurelian walked to his desk and opened a secure folder.
Inside were documents.
Old emails.
Audit logs.
Server timestamps.
Security camera stills.
Lyra's pulse quickened.
"You've been collecting this?"
"For years."
Her eyes widened. "You expected this?"
"I expected Elias to come for me eventually."
He looked at one particular document.
"Grief matures into patience."
---
Lyra scanned the files.
Her breath stopped.
"These logs… these are from the night of the fire."
"Yes."
Her voice lowered. "They show someone accessing the prototype control system remotely."
Aurelian nodded.
"Someone who wasn't authorized."
"And you never released this?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because at the time," he said quietly, "it would have destroyed a young man who had just lost his father."
Lyra froze.
"You think Elias—?"
"I don't think," Aurelian corrected gently.
"I know."
---
Her mind raced.
"You're saying… the fire wasn't an accident."
"It wasn't sabotage either," Aurelian said. "It was recklessness."
A silence filled the room.
"Elias was interning at the facility that summer. Brilliant. Angry. Trying to prove himself."
Lyra's heart pounded.
"He bypassed a safety protocol to demonstrate an efficiency override."
"And it backfired," she whispered.
"Yes."
"And his father died because of it."
Aurelian's jaw tightened slightly.
"He doesn't remember it that way."
---
Lyra felt dizzy.
"So he's been destroying you… because he thinks you killed his father."
"Yes."
"And if you release this—"
"It will prove the fire was triggered by an internal override under his access credentials."
Lyra swallowed.
"It will destroy him."
Aurelian didn't answer.
For the first time since this began, she saw conflict in his eyes.
Not fear.
Not anger.
Conflict.
---
Her phone buzzed again.
Another notification.
Breaking News:
Major Investor Pulls Out of Valmont Following Fire Scandal Revival
Lyra looked up.
"This can't go on."
Aurelian's voice was calm.
"It won't."
He closed the folder slowly.
"But when I move," he added, "it will be irreversible."
---
Across the city, Elias received a message from one of his insiders inside Valmont.
Board confidence slipping. CEO still silent. Stock likely to drop further tomorrow.
Elias leaned back in satisfaction.
"Soon," he murmured.
But what he didn't know—
Was that the man he believed cornered
Was already deciding whether to ruin him…
Or save him from himself.
And Aurelian Valmont had never been a man who chose impulsively.
The war was no longer about business.
It was about truth.
And truth—once released—never asks permission.