The rain had ceased when Ethan's driver turned into the underground garage of the Manhattan International Hotel. The city above was wet with puddles, each streetlight reflected like a double, and somewhere far away, sirens wailed ominously. Ethan pulled at the cuff of his gray suit, adjusted the knot of his tie in the dim light of the car, and reminded himself, It's just another meeting. But even he knew it wasn't.
It was supposed to be a closed-door industry conference—executives, investors, and a few pre-cleared journalists. No public circus. No embarrassing questions about his divorce, his failed merger, or the series of rumors that had plagued him for months. But the moment he stepped out of the elevator into the hotel's grand marble lobby, he saw it—the glint of camera lenses, the st
