Chapter 225

• ROWEN
• The warm light filtered through the massive glass windows of my villa, but I barely noticed. I had been confined here for a week, serving a suspension that was as much a formality as it was a public relations stunt. The board needed to appear decisive. Meanwhile, the media fed on the drama like vultures on a fresh corpse.
• I stood in front of the mirror in my home office, buttoning the cuffs of my black shirt. The fabric clung to my arms, tight around my biceps. Everything about me had to look composed—clean, dark, and untouchable. I’d built an empire on the image of control. But beneath the still surface, the pressure was mounting.