Beneath the Gilded sky

Chapter Four — Fractures in the Glass (Part 1) Episode

The Monday after the gala feels like walking barefoot across shattered crystal.

Every thought is sharp. Every glance from Alex feels like it could cut.

I keep my head down in the elevator, clutching my coffee like it’s armor. The doors slide open onto the twenty-seventh floor, and there he is — hands tucked into his pockets, expression unreadable.

“Good morning, Miss Carter.”

I flinch at the formality. After Friday night, it sounds almost cruel.

“Morning, Mr. Knight.”

His gaze flicks briefly to the faint bruise on my wrist where his fingers had caught me on the balcony. He doesn’t mention it, but the muscle in his jaw tightens.

I pass him, pretending not to notice.

---

By noon, I’ve buried myself in the digital archives. Every spare minute since the gala, I’ve been looking for something — anything — that ties Carter Industries to Knight Holdings.

Most of the files are ordinary. Mergers, acquisitions, clean and polished like the man himself.

Then, somewhere between 2011 and 2013, there’s a missing year.

A blank folder where there should be financial statements.

“Hey,” Claire says, leaning over my desk. “You okay? You’ve been staring at that screen like it owes you money.”

“I’m fine,” I lie. “Just trying to organize some old reports.”

“Old reports don’t usually make people look like they’ve seen a ghost.”

I smile thinly. “Guess I’m just haunted.”

---

That night, I stay late. The office empties, lights dim to a soft amber glow, and the city spreads beneath the glass like a living constellation.

I open the blank folder again.

Hidden under a mislabeled subfile, I find a single PDF.

Confidential: Carter Industries Acquisition 2012

My pulse spikes. I click it open.

Most of it’s financial jargon — buyout terms, shareholder lists, signatories — until I see a name at the bottom of the page.

Alexander Knight III.

My breath catches.

Before I can scroll further, a voice cuts through the quiet.

“You shouldn’t be here this late.”

I jump. Alex stands in the doorway, jacket off, tie loose, hair slightly mussed like he’s been running his hands through it for hours.

“I was just finishing some reports,” I stammer.

“Reports that require security clearance?” His eyes narrow as they land on my monitor.

I slam the laptop shut. “It was open on the server. I didn’t know it was restricted.”

“Don’t lie to me, Emilia.”

He crosses the room slowly, every step measured, until he’s standing just close enough for me to feel the heat of him.

“I’m not lying,” I whisper.

He studies me for a long moment, then exhales, the tension in his shoulders barely softening.

“I warned you the truth would hurt.”

“So tell me.”

“Not yet.” His voice lowers. “You deserve to hear it when I can make it right.”

“Maybe I don’t want you to make it right. Maybe I just want you to stop pretending.”

The words come out sharper than I intend. He flinches — barely, but I see it.

For a heartbeat, neither of us moves. The air feels electric, full of things neither of us can say.

Then he steps back. “Go home, Emilia. Get some rest.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then you’ll see exactly how dangerous I can be when I’m trying to protect something.”

---

I leave the building with my heart still hammering in my chest.

Protect something.

Or someone?

The night air is cold, but my thoughts are hotter than fire.

He’s hiding something — something that ties my family’s ruin to his empire.

And I’m done

waiting for him to tell me.

Tomorrow, I’ll start looking somewhere he can’t control: the past.