The next morning, Elias arrived at VanceCorp twenty minutes early—not because he was eager, but because being early let him watch people before they watched him.
Observation was power.
From the twelfth-floor lobby, he could see nearly everything: employees rushing in, interns balancing coffee trays, managers trying to look more confident than they felt. There was a rhythm to the building—a predictable, repetitive heartbeat.
And Elias had always been good at finding the pulse.
Ava Lin arrived exactly at 7:59.
She didn’t walk; she cut through the hallway like a blade—focused, efficient, impossible to ignore. When her eyes landed on Elias waiting by the desks, she halted.
“You’re early,” she said.
“You told me not to be late,” he replied.
“I said not late. Early is your choice.”
He offered her a calm, unreadable smile. “Then consider it a positive choice.”
Ava stared at him for three seconds, the way she always did—long enough to make him wonder what she was calculating.
Finally, she handed him a stack of documents.
“New project,” she said. “You’ll work under me on this.”
Elias took the papers. “Of course.”
Ava’s gaze sharpened. “Don’t agree so quickly. You don’t know what it is.”
“I trust your judgment.”
She snorted softly. “Liar.”
For a moment, Elias felt something unfamiliar.
Not irritation.
Not amusement.
Something in between.
Ava walked ahead without checking whether he followed.
He did.
Because she—unintentionally—was revealing the company’s internal cracks faster than his original plan ever could.
---
THE PROJECT
Ava led him into a glass conference room. Three other analysts were already seated, their monitors glowing with spreadsheets and traffic data.
Ava began without ceremony.
“We’re investigating irregularities in VanceCorp’s procurement spending,” she said, tapping the board. “Something isn’t adding up.”
Elias raised an eyebrow.
Procurement.
Of all departments…
“That’s Caleb’s territory,” one analyst murmured nervously.
Ava didn’t react. “Yes. Which means you need to be careful.”
Elias leaned forward, pretending to skim the documents she distributed.
He already knew.
Caleb Vance had covered sloppy corruption with polished smiles for years. Elias knew because he once helped build the system that tracked the company’s spending. He created parts of the software Caleb manipulated.
Ironically, that was why Caleb had needed him gone.
A threat is easier to erase than to confront.
“We’ll start by verifying vendor information,” Ava continued. “I want every inconsistency flagged discreetly.”
Another analyst raised their hand. “Discreetly? You mean—”
“I mean don’t mention this to anyone outside this room,” Ava said flatly.
Her gaze flicked to Elias.
“And especially not to Caleb.”
Elias coughed lightly into his fist so no one would see his smile.
Oh, this was perfect.
He hadn’t even begun moving against Caleb—and fate had already delivered a golden opportunity.
As the meeting ended, Ava gestured for him to stay.
“You’re thinking too loudly,” she said.
Elias blinked. “Thinking… loudly?”
“You didn’t look surprised about the procurement issue. Everyone else did.”
Ah.
She noticed that.
Of course she did.
“I read fast,” he said smoothly. “Maybe a little too fast.”
Ava crossed her arms. “Maybe.”
A pause.
“But if you know anything,” she said quietly, “tell me. I don’t like being blindsided.”
Elias met her gaze, careful to look neither defensive nor eager.
“I’ll tell you if I find something,” he replied.
He would.
Just… not everything.
---
AN UNINVITED GUEST
Around noon, Elias headed down to the lobby for a coffee. The line was long, but he didn’t mind. Standing among people gave him anonymity.
He was stirring sugar into his drink when he heard a familiar voice behind him.
“You really do show up everywhere at inconvenient moments.”
He turned.
Lena Hale stood there, notebook in hand, lanyard around her neck.
His eye twitched. “How did you get inside?”
She flashed a visitor badge. “Press access. I have an appointment with one of the department heads.”
“Which one?”
She wiggled the badge teasingly. “Confidential.”
He sighed. “Are you here to bother me?”
“Not really.” Lena leaned closer. “Just keeping an eye on you.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“I know enough,” she said lightly. “Men who smile too much are usually hiding something.”
Another person seeing his masks too clearly.
Wonderful.
He lowered his voice. “Whatever story you’re chasing—don’t point it at me.”
“No promises.” She tapped her chin with her pen. “But I’ll be kind.”
“Kind?”
“To beginners.”
Elias stared at her.
She winked and walked toward the elevators, leaving him with his untouched coffee.
Why did every woman he met this week have an unstoppable personality?
And why did they all point their curiosity at him?
This was becoming… complicated.
And complication was the enemy of control.
---
A CRACK IN THE SYSTEM
Back upstairs, Elias began syncing the procurement files with older archived data. He didn’t technically have permission to access legacy logs, but he knew the loopholes.
Within twenty minutes, a pattern appeared.
Vendor IDs repeating across departments.
Purchase orders oddly duplicated.
Amounts slightly adjusted—just enough to avoid flags.
Sloppy.
So sloppy it almost irritated him.
Caleb had grown arrogant.
Ava walked by and paused at his screen. “You found something.”
Elias clicked the mouse slowly. “A possible lead.”
“Possible?” she echoed.
“Needs verification,” he said, keeping his tone neutral.
Ava studied him again. “You’re hiding your reaction.”
“Reaction?”
“You always look calm. But right now? You look… focused. Like this means something to you.”
She wasn’t wrong.
This meant everything.
It was the first thread he needed to pull.
Finally.
“Ava,” he said quietly, “if I find something big… something that could hurt someone in power… what will you do?”
She didn’t even hesitate.
“Expose it.”
“And if it’s dangerous?”
“Then we expose it carefully.”
A strange feeling flickered in Elias’s chest.
Respect.
He hadn’t felt that toward anyone in years.
“Then,” he said, closing a file, “I’ll keep digging.”
Ava nodded once. “Good.”
---
THE FIRST MOVE
By late afternoon, he had a clear plan.
Tonight, he’d go home and verify the vendor data using a private server he had set up years ago. If the connections led where he suspected, tomorrow would begin the real game.
Phase One.
Information.
Phase Two.
Pressure.
Phase Three…
Retribution.
But as he packed up his bag, someone knocked on the edge of his desk.
Caleb Vance.
Smiling too brightly.
“Elias,” Caleb said cheerfully, “can we talk?”
Of course.
The universe wanted to make things interesting.
Elias turned around, calm as ever.
“Yes, Caleb,” he replied softly. “Let’s talk.”
Inside, however, he was already calculating.
The game had begun.
Finally.
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