The room erupted into chaos. Victoria immediately pulled out her phone, fingers flying. Celeste looked panicked, her polish cracking. The new woman, her name tag read "Simone" ….remained eerily calm, watching Carter rather than the screen.
And Carter? He stood there, expressionless, watching them all like lab rats in a maze.
"You have two hours," he said calmly, as if the world wasn't imploding around him. "Fix this. Show me what you'd do as my wife when the empire catches fire. Best solution wins."
Maeve's heart pounded. This was it. The moment everything came together or fell apart.
But something felt wrong.
The news reports were too polished, the social media outrage too coordinated. She'd spent enough time online marketing her food stall to recognize manufactured trends.
This was
