Seraphina's Point Of View
The heavy silence that followed Lucian's question felt like a living thing, stretching across the vast expanse of the glass-walled penthouse until the air itself tasted metallic. I forced my posture to remain perfectly upright, my shoulders square under my silk shirt, though my heart threw itself violently against my ribs like a trapped bird desperate for escape.
"I want the person responsible caught and punished," I said, my voice echoing off the glass panels as I dropped any trace of corporate diplomacy. The words came out raw, furious, stripped of pretense.
"I want them found, Lucian. No excuses, no diplomatic passes because of a surname, and absolutely no sweeping this under some administrative rug to avoid a scandal with the board." Each word carried the weight of my anger, the betrayal still burning hot in my chest.
