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Marcus remained silent. I looked up. “What?”

“If you’re changing Dr. Rossi’s routine, I recommend changing Dr. Hayes’s as well.”

“Charlotte?”

“They’re together often enough that changing one routine without changing the other gains us very little. Send them somewhere they weren’t planning to be.”

I thought for a moment. “The spa.”

Marcus nodded once. “That would work.”

I closed the folder. “What else can we do now that she knows the system this well?”

“I have the IT team monitoring for unrecognized devices or external connections accessing Blackwood’s systems.”

“And law enforcement?”

“I’ve documented everything and spoken with our contact. We have trespassing and a forged credential, but no direct threat and nothing yet connecting her to the other incidents. They can take a report. They cannot give us the protection you’re looking for.”

“Okay, what else?”

“We can restrict nonessential entrances and route visitors through the main gate. That would give us a cleaner record of anyone entering who doesn’t belong here.”

I nodded. “Increase the security again around Dr. Rossi and Project Aurora.”

“Already underway, and it is being done discreetly.”

When he had gone, I stood at the window for a long while.

Victoria’s behavior was escalating. She was circling closer and closer to Emilia. Emilia had told me that she loved her life. I thought of the way she had said it, lying beside me with her head against my shoulder. There was still nothing concrete I could give her. Until there was, I would carry the uncertainty myself. I would not turn her happiness into fear without knowing what Victoria wanted.

* * *

Victoria

I watched him ask her.

The rehearsal stopped. The conductor lowered his baton. The final chord lingered in the theatre until even its echo disappeared. No one moved.

Alexander turned toward her. He took one of her hands. Then he knelt.

The cast remained where they were. The orchestra stayed perfectly still. Even the conductor made no attempt to continue. They had known. This was planned, and they had agreed that this was where the music would end and another story would begin.

Only after Emilia said yes, only after Alexander stood and kissed her, did the applause begin. I remained where I was for a moment.

Alexander asked me to marry him in his office. It was a Wednesday. There were drawings spread across the table between us, and a model balanced on the windowsill that he had been adjusting all morning. He closed the folder in front of him, looked at me, and asked whether I would marry him.

The ring was beautiful. A diamond he had chosen for me, not the sapphire that had belonged to his mother.

I said yes. He smiled. Then we went back to work. At the time, I believed that was exactly the sort of proposal we both wanted. Now I know there was another version of him.

I turned before the applause had finished. No one stopped me. No one questioned me. Outside, I unclipped the forged production credential from my jacket and dropped it in the nearest trash can. It had served its purpose.

I had seen what I needed to see.

Chapter 25

Emilia