The silence in the boardroom was not merely an absence of noise. It was a pressurized atmosphere of disbelief. The Chairman, whose name was Marcus Thorne, blinked as if he were trying to clear a persistent fog from his vision. He gripped the edge of the mahogany table, his knuckles turning white as he stared at the scorched sigil Sophie had left behind.
You are a girl from the catering staff, Thorne finally managed, his voice thin and shaky. You cannot simply walk in here and declare yourself the executor of this firm. We have protocols. We have legal safeguards that even Valerius himself could not bypass.
Sophie did not sit. She remained standing at the head of the table, her presence expanding until she felt as though she occupied the entire room. She could hear the frantic heartbeat o
