And beneath all of it?
His fingerprint.
Not just figuratively.
Literally.
Money movements.
Favor exchanges.
Contracts routed through subsidiarieshehas silent control over.
It’s elegant in its simplicity.
A trap.
Set quietly.
And then sprung when the board needed a scapegoat.
And a public crisis.
And a reminder thatcontrolisn’t a birthright.
It’s performance.
A lie dressed up in luxury suits.
I step closer.
So close I can almost taste the cold scent of his cologne through the glass — citrus and silk and something that once smelled likementor.
“Tell me,” I say again. “Why would you engineer this — to frameme?”
He doesn’t blink.
Not truly.
Not for an instant.
His smile stays — smooth, refined, too perfect.
“It’s not aboutyou,Grau,” he says. “It’s about stability. The board needs reassurance. They need a focal point. A threat. We can’t have a Reaper wandering through sensitive research — not with unverified loyalties.”
Translation:
We can’t have someone loyal to her, not us.
Something inside me snaps.
Not like breaking.
Like steel bending under pressure.
I inhale.
Feeling every cool molecule of air tugging at my lungs.