“—what if,” Alex continues, undeterred, “we stage increasingly elaborate fake crises just to see how fast Legal responds.”
Karl sits up. “Oh. Oh, I like this.”
I cap my pen. “You will both be fired.”
Alex smiles. “But efficiently.”
I laugh then too. I shake my head. And I ask, honestly, “How do you two get any work done when I’m not there?”
Karl grins. “Superpowers.”
Alex nods. “Chaos-adjacent productivity.”
I exhale slowly as the present returns.
A spa attendant passes, offering tea. I accept it with a nod, cradling the cup between my palms.
I didn’t take time off because I was falling apart.
I took it because I wasn’t.
Because I know the difference between processing and punishing myself. Between grief and rest.
Because I trust myself enough to step away.
I think, briefly, of how I submit the form without explanation. How no one questions it. How that, too, feels like being known.
Water hums again somewhere behind the walls.
I take a sip. The tea is warm and grounding and faintly sweet.
I am not running.
I am choosing quiet.
And when I return, it will be because I’m ready—not because anyone pulled me back.
That, I know now, is the real luxury.
Chapter Thirty-Five
DEREK
The notice comes flagged urgent.
Not dramatic—those never are—but precise enough to demand attention. One of the subsidiary companies. Midwest division. A mid-level hire whose background check cleared on paper but not in practice.
Name: Ethan Rowley
Position: Operations Analyst
Issue: falsified employment history. A gap disguised as consulting. It wasn’t consulting.
It’s exactly the kind of thing Audra oversees.
I grab the folder and leave my office without calling ahead. There’s no reason to. This is routine. Clean. Process-driven.
Her door is open.
