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"Our cybersecurity lead is already pulling the server logs."

"Good."

I turn back toward the monitors. The ballroom appears across three separate camera angles, and I see Sloane standing beneath the lights as the auctioneer drags his gaze down her body like she's a piece of meat on display. I watch her shoulders draw back, the subtle tilt of her chin; the same stubbornness that first caught my attention in her interview months ago.

My thumbnail finds the edge of my index finger and digs in.

I should have stopped it sooner. I registered the panic flashing across her face, the exact moment she looked back at us from that stage. I had three seconds to move.

Three seconds I'll never get back.

I file the feeling away for later, when I can examine it without every detail running at full resolution.

Sergio's phone vibrates. The muscles around his eyes tighten, not quite alarm, but close enough that my attention snaps to him immediately.

"Sir. IT flagged an unauthorized access attempt.” He pauses in a way I don't like. “During the final auction.”

I extend my hand. He places the phone in it; security alerts fill the screen.

Failed authentication

Escalated permissions requested.

Access denied.

Automatic lockdown initiated.

I stop scrolling as something unfamiliar settles in my gut. Panic maybe?

"How far did they get?"

"Three internal layers."

I look up slowly. "That's not possible."

"No," Sergio agrees. "It isn't."

I built the architecture myself. Finance can’t see Research. Marketing can’t see Engineering. Department heads only access what I allow.

Deliberate. Redundant. Sealed.

Someone made it through three layers before the system finally stopped them. I look down and see the requested directories: Prototype Development, Product Roadmaps, Investor Forecasts.

Straight for the throat.

"When was the last attempt?"

Sergio hesitates. "There wasn't just one."

My hand freezes, the phone still in my grip. "What did you say?"

He angles his tablet toward me. A cascade of smaller alerts populates the screen, each with a timestamp.

Two weeks ago.

Nine days ago.

Six days ago.