Chapter 30
CHAPTER 30: CHECKMATE Morning arrived without softness. The city outside moved like it always did, traffic building across crowded streets, towers of glass catching pale sunlight, people stepping into routines they assumed would remain untouched. But inside Calder–Moreau, nothing felt ordinary. The entire company seemed to breathe around one single truth: today would decide everything. Either they remained independent, or they became another name absorbed into Helix’s empire. Lena stood alone in her office before sunrise, dressed long before anyone else arrived, her gaze fixed on the skyline beyond the glass walls. She looked calm, but it was the kind of calm that came only after surviving weeks of pressure, betrayal, and calculated war. Behind her, the door opened quietly, and Elias ste
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