The Billionaire's Janitor

battlefield dresse

ble shaped like a coffin. The walls were lined with abstract art-cold, expensive, hollow. In th

rofit. Lega

didn't go

been asked to bring one. Her pulse was a thunderclap in her ears. The file from the archives was

r Vanessa's voice f

this buildi

t your memories.

new bet

d to bury had her fin

tal glasses. The board was waiting for the show to begin-and

door sw

el

tep inside. She was dressed in midnight velvet, hair pinned back with si

r shoulders, the way her eyes flic

t know she

bout to

ith a slow, cool smile, "this is A

ppled throu

ne co

up and down with thinly veiled disdai

d evenly, "uncovered a breach in our experimenta

ll like a

sped behind him. His jaw was tense, unrea

rward. Her hands

orruption, masked behind cufflinks and desi

she

dy. "In your archives. With my name on it.

lled out the black binder,

art of a project you sealed away. But

sa, seated at the f

return yo

ched. "Is this supp

Amara said, her gaze locked o

rds. Trial logs. Photos. Handwritten notes from exec

omen at the

real," someo

er cane once. T

otocol. Human gene editing. Artificial emotional dampeni

the board memb

re is on page

n stif

n wen

en children. Some died. Oth

dn't bli

ce was su

a laughed.

ing. "You want the board to apologize?

our victims to know they're not insane. That t

pa

ant your

clattered t

smile tu

nt my p

s empire on the backs of the disappeared. I t

. He dropped a sleek fol

al. Impeccable. Bound

ternal misconduct, project concealment, and obstruct

oom e

houts. Ob

ed her hand-and

e said. "Vote now, or t

s face w

her gaze burnin

wasn'

ven c

lked into Sterling Corporation with n

nger the one

e one watc

doors slid op

ing heavier than usual on her cane. No one spoke. The air was thick-cut thr

sed, Liam finall

hat you just did

gaze without b

ce this time, but something else

etly. "Because now

he button to the

Vanessa will

ossed. Amara wasn't just the janitor anymore. She was the spark in a dry

vator a

The polished marble hallways, always brimming with assistants

mara s

ridor, standing just outs

Sinc

0 heels. The woman who paraded around claiming to be Liam's

she was holding

h cutting coolness. "I wasn't aw

mara with quiet venom. "Just helping out

poison," Liam said

before Ava stepped in

ou?" Ava whispered low. "But you

either does cruelty

n she w

slightly. Evelyn sank into a leather ar

Evelyn said. "

d. "She'll strike by morning. Dama

t," Amara said quietly.

brow. "What

d had been tampered with. Someone tried to shred the or

e sharpened.

margin-a tag for internal handling. It belonged to someone

his breath. "She

er name's on the chopping block, she'll burn w

let her," Ama

the glass with silver lines. It was as if the st

Vanessa stood beside a man in a dark coat. His fac

han I thought," Vanessa said, slipping him

drive. "An

glittered. "Bre

ain, and a sky like bruised steel. The kind of night that so

ng as she opened the sealed envelope Evelyn

first page. A name she hadn't h

lle

mo

e records, not the name the g

s someo

lab coat stood beside a child with wide brown eyes and wild curls. Amara

was handwritte

know what we were doing until it was too late. When she tried to pull you o

her hands gripping it so tigh

had worked

had tried t

e Vanessa-had de

tood before a glowing monitor as

in the dark coat

"Show me the jan

a burned-out wing of a hospital Sterling once quietly funded under a

. Younger. Smaller. Hooked up to

mi

ttered, tapping the screen.

w long?" th

sa sm

long

wed her. Whispers curled like smoke in the air. Her badge sc

ng had

rifled through. File

velyn-but was interc

w, pulling her aside. "We think Vanessa's

g for leverag

none. Starting now, you stay

m, something flick

you hel

e I ignored one of Vanessa's sins... som

ld ask who, Ev

"Vanessa will fight. She'll weapon

Then I'll give her a r

droom wa

qu

d. The storm outside had passed, but a different kind of electricity

ks of civility. Vanessa Shaw, dressed in charcoal gray,

cker of irritation but

ook who finally made it. I was beginning

huckles rippled

mistook kindness for si

Very thorough. And utterly inadmissible. You trespassed, stole files,

here she is. Which means some of

re's no proof any of this happened. Those

ard and pulled a d

uched. Including dates, financial routing numbers, and biomet

. Mur

lling the truth. I cross-

"You're choosing her

ce sliced clean through the room. "A

pa

Sweetheart, you have no idea what wea

ssed a

o life behind her, and a

to wires. Cryi

an girl with holes in her memory and a very specific genetic anomaly. Let's

rdroom

ned to stone. Lia

didn't

ly know about yourself, darling? About why you never get sick? Why pain takes lon

ike a predator. "You were made. Designed. By us. And the

hed Amara's to

s smile

er than you'll ever be. And she died t

slightly. Like someone remembe

aid. "But all it makes you is vulnerable. And

stepping beside Amara. "

e was already dead. "Then ma

out, heels clicking li

oom emptied fast-like ra

at the win

I break?" sh

ause you're stronger than sh

that

id. "And you have the truth now. That ma

not r

closer. "Th

. "Because the deeper we g

met hi

no