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“—what if,” Alex continues, undeterred, “we stage increasingly elaborate fake crises just to see how fast Legal responds.”

Karl sits up. “Oh. Oh, I like this.”

I cap my pen. “You will both be fired.”

Alex smiles. “But efficiently.”

I laugh then too. I shake my head. And I ask, honestly, “How do you two get any work done when I’m not there?”

Karl grins. “Superpowers.”

Alex nods. “Chaos-adjacent productivity.”

I exhale slowly as the present returns.

A spa attendant passes, offering tea. I accept it with a nod, cradling the cup between my palms.

I didn’t take time off because I was falling apart.

I took it because I wasn’t.

Because I know the difference between processing and punishing myself. Between grief and rest.

Because I trust myself enough to step away.

I think, briefly, of how I submit the form without explanation. How no one questions it. How that, too, feels like being known.

Water hums again somewhere behind the walls.

I take a sip. The tea is warm and grounding and faintly sweet.

I am not running.

I am choosing quiet.

And when I return, it will be because I’m ready—not because anyone pulled me back.

That, I know now, is the real luxury.

Chapter Thirty-Five

DEREK

The notice comes flagged urgent.

Not dramatic—those never are—but precise enough to demand attention. One of the subsidiary companies. Midwest division. A mid-level hire whose background check cleared on paper but not in practice.

Name: Ethan Rowley

Position: Operations Analyst

Issue: falsified employment history. A gap disguised as consulting. It wasn’t consulting.

It’s exactly the kind of thing Audra oversees.

I grab the folder and leave my office without calling ahead. There’s no reason to. This is routine. Clean. Process-driven.

Her door is open.