The cabin was too quiet.
Clara was perched on the edge of the creaked oak table, elbows sinking into the wood, eyes scanning the yellowed pages Damien had laid out. They were surrounded by files, actual files. Names, internal memos, routing logs. None of them should've been outside the NovaReign system.
And here they were.
Facts in paper. Evidence that no one could ever erase.
And a decision heavy between them.
"You want to go public," she repeated. "And you want me to be the voice saying it."
Damien was a few feet away, arms crossed, back turned halfway to her. He wasn't pacing, but he was. In his head, at least. His brain was racing ahead of his feet.
"I don't want to," he said. "I need to. If I do it, it's predictable. A CEO sweeping up a mess. But if you speak first, if you're t
