“Tell them to proceed,” I said. “We launch the new firm tomorrow morning.”

We stepped into the elevator.

The doors slid shut, cutting off the view of Elias’s office door.

As the elevator began its smooth descent, my personal phone buzzed in my pocket.

It was an unknown number.

I pulled it out and answered it.

“Ava,” Daniel’s voice came through the speaker, smooth and sharp.

“Daniel,” I said.

“I hear you just left Elias’s office,” he said. “We need to talk before tomorrow morning.”

“I don’t think we have anything to discuss,” I said.

“You’d be surprised,” Daniel said. “I just received an anonymous email containing your father’s original blueprints.”

My chest tightened.

“And?” I asked, keeping my voice steady.

“They don’t match the patents Elias just signed over to you,” Daniel said. “We have a problem.”

“They match,” I said, my voice cutting through the static of the line.

“You haven’t seen what I’m looking at,” Daniel replied.

The elevator chimed, the digital display flashing the lobby floor.

“I know my father’s work, Daniel,” I said. “And I know what Elias signed.”