“You kept me quiet,” I corrected.

He looked at the pen in his hand as if he had forgotten how to use it.

The phone began to vibrate again.

Daniel’s name appeared once more, pulsing against the polished wood.

“He called me this morning,” Elias said, his voice dropping to a murmur.

“Did he?” I asked.

“He offered to buy out my share of the energy division,” Elias said. “He said it was to protect the company from the upcoming audit.”

I watched him closely.

“And you believed him?” I asked.

“I wanted to,” Elias said. “I thought he was trying to save what we built.”

He looked up, and for the first time, I saw a flicker of defeat in his dark eyes.

“I was blind,” he said.

“You were arrogant,” I said. “You thought everyone beneath you was too weak to move.”

He let out a short, dry laugh.

“Especially you,” he said.

“Especially me,” I agreed.

The rain outside seemed to intensify, a steady sheet of water blurring the lights of the Manhattan skyline.

Elias lowered his hand to the paper.