Power didn’t announce itself.
It rearranged the room and waited for you to notice.
Ava Montgomery felt it the moment she stepped into the auditorium.
The space was familiar—she’d spoken here before—but tonight felt different. The lights were brighter, the air heavier. Faculty members sat straighter in their seats. Donors clustered near the front, their presence unmistakable even without name tags.
This wasn’t a lecture.
This was a reckoning.
Jaxon walked beside her, his hand warm and steady against the small of her back. Not possessive. Grounding.
“You okay?” he murmured.
She nodded once. “Focused.”
Which was true.
Fear had sharpened into clarity.
⸻
The forum was billed as an “open dialogue.”
A lie, but a useful one.
Ava sat on stage beside the Chancellor, two board members,
