~GIDEON's POV~
The story had been live for thirty-six hours.
Gideon had sent it to four outlets simultaneously on Sunday night. By Monday morning it was on every major financial platform, every gossip site with a business vertical, and three national papers. It was, by any metric he used to measure these things, a successful deployment.
Rowan Vale had not said a single word in response.
No statement. No denial. No friendly journalist briefed with a counter-narrative. Not even a corporate social post with the standard we remain focused on our mission language that communications teams used to signal that the company was fine without actually saying anything. Nothing. Thirty-six hours of complete silence from a man whose entire professional identity was built on the management of percept
