His eyes remained fixed on it for three long seconds.

When he looked up, his jaw was tight, a muscle twitching near his ear.

“Where did you get this?” he asked, his voice dropping an octave.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “What matters is what is inside.”

“This is garbage,” he said, though he didn’t reach for it.

“It’s a forensic analysis of the signature on the share transfer,” I said. “And the log from the private clinic in Connecticut.”

I leaned forward, mirroring his posture.

“If this goes to the SEC, your European merger is dead before the end of the day.”

Elias sat perfectly still.

The silence stretched between us, loud and suffocating.

Slowly, his hand reached out and touched the corner of the envelope.

He didn’t open it. He just gripped it, his knuckles turning white.

“You don’t know what you’re doing, Ava,” he whispered.

“I am getting my share of the life we built,” I said. “And I am leaving you.”

A strange, dark smile appeared on Elias’s face.

It wasn’t the reaction I expected.