I stared at the screen, the glowing red alert icon burning into my retinas.
Renata's message was a sledgehammer to the fragile calm I'd built over the last ten minutes. Caleb's lunar phase rating. Flagged.
My thumb drifted down to my left wrist, tracing the crescent-shaped scar hidden beneath my sleeve. The raised tissue felt unusually warm. Sixteen years ago, Caleb was just eight months old when his paternal bloodline flared out of control. I spent seventy-two hours awake, bleeding my maternal calming blood into him, fighting to keep his tiny heart from giving out under the sheer force of his own nature.
Now, he was sixteen, recording my downfall for his friends, utterly oblivious to the fact that his father's bloodline was a ticking time bomb without my presence to stabilize it. A red flag meant the risk of a full lunar phase rampage was imminent.
"Damn it," I muttered, dropping the cardboard box onto the floor of the elevator.
I hit the button for the lobby to stop the descent, then jammed my finger against the floor selection panel. The top floor. The boardroom level. The one place Elliott had strictly forbidden me from entering since we moved into this building.
While the elevator hummed, ascending past the floors I'd spent five years toiling on, I pulled up my contacts and dialed a number I hadn't called in months.
Silas answered on the second ring.
"Nora," his voice was crisp, a sharp contrast to the chaotic buzzing in my head. "I didn't expect to hear from you until the probationary period ended."
"Caleb's rating just turned red, Silas. Renata sent the alert two minutes ago."
A brief silence hung on the line.
"The father's bloodline is asserting dominance," Silas said, his tone clinical. "Without your proximity, the boy's system is destabilizing. Have you spoken to Elliott?"
"Elliott just forced me to resign and handed my largest account to his new fiancée."
"I see." Silas didn't sound surprised. "And you want to intervene."
"I have to. If Caleb ramps up—"
"You cannot reveal the trust, Nora," Silas cut in, his voice hardening. "Not yet. The probationary period requires strict adherence to the terms. If you step in now, you forfeit the leverage we've spent years securing."
"My son's life is at risk!"
"Your son's life is currently stable, merely elevated. He is in the red zone, not critical failure. If you break cover now, you hand the advantage directly to Marcus."
I gripped the phone tighter. "Marcus?"
"He's been moving pieces while you were busy playing the supportive wife. My sources indicate he's already backing the new girl. Jade, isn't it?"
My jaw clamped shut. Marcus. Elliott's biggest rival within the firm, a man who had been trying to orchestrate a hostile takeover for years. If Marcus was backing Jade, her sudden rise wasn't just Elliott's blind infatuation. It was a calculated move.
"He's using her to destabilize Elliott's control over the major accounts," Silas continued. "If you step in and reveal the trust, Marcus will use the ensuing chaos to trigger a vote of no confidence. You need to hold your ground, Nora. Let the pieces fall where they may for now."
"I can't just do nothing."
"You aren't doing nothing. You are waiting. The board meeting is next week. Until then, keep your head down."
The elevator chimed, the display showing the top floor.
"I have to go, Silas," I said, ending the call before he could protest.
I shoved the phone into my pocket and grabbed my box. The heavy metal doors slid open, revealing the plush, soundproofed hallway of the boardroom level. The air up here smelled of expensive leather and polished wood, a stark contrast to the sterile scent of the floors below.
I stepped out, my heels sinking into the thick carpet. I didn't care about Elliott's rules anymore. I needed to see what Marcus was doing.
The hallway stretched out before me, lined with heavy oak doors. At the far end, near the entrance to the main boardroom, two figures stood close together.
I stopped, pressing myself against the wall, half-hidden by a large potted fern.
Marcus stood with his back to me, his broad shoulders easily recognizable. And facing him, holding a thick stack of papers, was Jade.
She wasn't smiling anymore. The smug confidence she'd worn in my cubicle was gone, replaced by a tense, focused expression.
"Elliott thinks he has the board secured," Marcus said, his voice low but carrying down the quiet hall. "He's an idiot. He's too distracted by the wedding planning to notice the shift in shares."
"I have the Shane Dynamics files," Jade replied, tapping the papers in her hand. "The transition is complete. Nora didn't suspect a thing."
"Good." Marcus leaned in closer. "Once we control Shane Dynamics, Elliott's position is untenable. We'll call the vote before the quarter ends."
Jade flipped open the top file folder. "There's one thing I don't understand. The ownership structure here."
Marcus frowned, looking down at the document. "What about it?"
Jade ran a finger across the top of the page. "This holding company. It controls forty percent of the voting rights. But the name isn't listed in any of our standard databases."
She held the paper up slightly, angling it so Marcus could see better.
From my vantage point, the bold, black text at the top of the page was clearly visible, highlighted in bright yellow marker.
The Voss Vanguard Trust.
