Elara's phone started vibrating incessantly. Mark, her lead engineer, was first. "Elara, what the hell is this? Is it true? We're turning Aura into a luxury brand?"
Before she could answer, Xan's landline rang. He put it on speaker. It was his father.
"I told you she was a liability," Alistair Lyon's voice was cold fury. "Her own people are turning on her. This partnership is a circus, and you're the ringmaster. Contain this. Now. Or I will."
The line went dead.
Xan's knuckles were white where he gripped the edge of his desk. He looked at Elara, and for a split second, she saw something raw and unchecked in his eyes—not just anger, but a flicker of betrayal. He thought she had leaked it.
"The photos were taken from your office," he said, his voice dangerously quiet.
"You think I did this?" Elara shot to her feet, the blanket falling away. "You think I would sabotage my own project? My own reputation? This destroys me just as much as it does you!"
"Then who?" he demanded, his voice rising. "Your team sees me as the villain. This makes me look like a predatory monster and you like a willing accomplice. They're trying to force my hand, to make me fire you to placate the masses!"
"Or," Elara countered, her mind racing, "someone on your side did it. Someone who doesn't want this merger to succeed. Someone who answers to your father."
The accusation hung in the air. The possibility that the threat was internal, from within his own ranks, seemed to hit him harder than the leak itself. The arrogant certainty in his eyes wavered, replaced by a cold, calculating suspicion.
He turned to his computer, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "The leak came from a generic internal address. Untraceable. But the access log for this floor last night…" He pulled up a security report. "Only three keycards besides ours had access after 7 p.m. My assistant, David. The head of security. And my Director of Strategic Finance, Ian Croft."
Ian Croft. A Kronos lifer, fiercely loyal to Alistair. A man who had openly questioned the Aethel acquisition in the board meeting.
Xan looked at Elara, a new, grim understanding passing between them. The battle was no longer just against a deadline or each other. They had an active saboteur in their ranks. The leak wasn't just an attack; it was a declaration of war from within Kronos itself.
The forced proximity of the last 12 hours had forged a temporary truce. Now, this betrayal was welding it into something stronger. They were no longer just reluctant allies against an external threat. They were partners in a foxhole, with someone inside the trench trying to blow them up.
"Call your team," Xan commanded, his voice all business again, but with a new, sharp edge. "Damage control meeting in the main conference room in thirty minutes. We present a united front. We own the narrative." He met her gaze, his own steely with resolve. "We go after Croft.”
Chapter 7:
A Reluctant Truce
The walk to the main conference room felt like a perp walk. Elara could feel the weight of every stare from the Kronos employees they passed—a mixture of curiosity, schaden-freude, and outright hostility. The leaked memo had poisoned the well before they'd even had a chance to draw water.
Xan walked beside her, his posture rigid, his face an unreadable mask of corporate composure. But she could feel the tension radiating from him, a silent, furious energy that matched her own.
He pushed the double doors open. The room was divided, a physical manifestation of the schism. On one side sat her Aethel team, their faces a storm of betrayal and confusion. On the other, the Kronos department heads, led by Ian Croft, who wore a mask of concerned neutrality that made Elara’s skin crawl.
“Thank you for coming,” Xan began, his voice cutting through the murmurs. He didn’t sit. He stood at the head of the table, a general addressing his fractured troops.“By now, you’ve all seen the unauthorized communication that was circulated this morning.”
He paused, his cool gaze sweeping the room, lingering for a fraction of a second on Ian Croft.
“What was depicted were the raw, unfiltered brainstorming sessions necessary to build a viable business strategy under an impossible deadline. They were not a final plan. They were aprocess.” He turned his gaze to Elara’s team.“A process that Ms. Vance and I undertook together. To suggest that she has‘sold out’Aura’s mission is not only incorrect, it’s an insult to her integrity and her relentless dedication to this project.”
Elara felt a jolt of surprise. He was defending her. Publicly and unequivocally.
She stepped forward, finding her voice.“He’s right. The images you saw captured a debate, not a decision. We were testing boundaries, arguing extremes to find the most effective path forward. The path we are finalizing preserves Aura’s core mission while building a sustainable financial model that will allow it to thrive, not just survive.” She looked directly at Mark.“I have not, and will not, abandon the principles this company was built on.”
Mark held her gaze, his suspicion slowly giving way to reluctant belief.
It was Ian Croft who broke the moment.“A noble sentiment,” he said, his tone dripping with false diplomacy.“But the optics are disastrous. Morale is crumbling. Perhaps it would be best for the project’s stability if Ms. Vance focused on the technical side, away from the… contentious… business decisions.”
It was a blatant power play. An attempt to sideline her.
Before Elara could eviscerate him, Xan spoke, his voice dropping to a deadly calm.
“The‘contentious business decisions,’as you call them, Ian, are the reason this project has a chance of meeting the board’s targets. Ms. Vance’s insights are invaluable. Her role is not up for debate.” He leaned forward, his hands flat on the table, his gaze locking onto Croft’s.“What is up for debate is the source ofthis morning’s leak. I’ve tasked security with a full forensic audit. When I find out who violated corporate policy and attempted to sabotage this merger, they will be terminated. Immediately. And I will personally ensure they never work in this industry again.”
