"Exposure would have consequences," I said. "I agreed with that, but he framed it like a noble sacrifice instead of erasure. His relationship with me was disposable if that was the price of protecting Violet Frequency."
"You're not disposable." His voice was firm and certain.
"Soo-jin thinks I am. Or at least he thinks I'm manageable and containable. He only needs to apply the right pressure, and I'll comply."
Griffin looked up, and I stared into his eyes. "He's not only my ex. He's a gatekeeper, and he knows how to make me disappear without violence."
"How?"
"By painting me as unstable or unworkable." I looked at a single leaf lying on the grass. "He wouldn't need violence. He would use documentation and force me into medical leave. It would be a stress-related absence. Language that sounds like care but functions as removal."
Griffin's right hand curled slowly into a fist.
"The threats," he said. "The hotel room access. The backstage alterations here."
"I think so." My voice was steady. "I think he's been testing what it takes to destabilize me. I think he knows about you and me."
Griffin exhaled slowly.
"I don't have proof. It's just his timing. The messages stopped right after you joined. He shifted toward physical signals."
"I received threatening texts the day I joined the tour in San Francisco. I didn't tell anyone because they stopped."
It was news, but it wasn't a shocking revelation. We sat in silence.
Officer Yoon remained at the park's edge, back turned. A single car passed, and somewhere, a dog barked.
"I should have told you about Soo-jin sooner," I said. "Before last night. Before—"
"Before we crossed lines that can't be uncrossed."
"Yes."
Griffin turned to look at me. "Do you regret it?" he asked quietly.
"Last night?"
"Yes."
I thought about the comfort and certainty of being held in his arms. Remembered the dangerous intimacy of hearing him say my real name.
"No, but I regret what it might cost you."
He rubbed his cheek. "That's not a weight you should carry."
"It is when my presence is being used against you. In four days, it might not matter anyway."
Griffin shook his head. "I'm not going. We're changing the board."
"How?"
"I don't know yet, but we can't do it by letting you disappear. And we don't do it by me walking away."
"Soo-jin will expect that. He'll create situations that make staying look unprofessional. He'll build a case that I'm unstable and you're compromised, and the only solution is separation."
"Let him try."
It was a challenge, quiet and absolute. I wanted to believe him.
