Adrian's smile did not fall at once. It cracked slowly, like ice pretending it was still glass.
"You are overwhelmed," he said softly. The microphone caught every syllable and fed it to the room.
Mara took the champagne flute from the tray beside her. In her first life she had clung to manners while everyone else sharpened knives. That mistake had cost her everything.
"No," she said again. "I am finally underwhelmed."
A laugh slipped from somewhere near the back. Her sister's eyes flashed.
Mara lifted the glass toward the investors. "To everyone who came tonight expecting a merger disguised as romance, please keep your folders. Vale House will not be signing anything connected to Cross Meridian this quarter."
Her father rose from the head table, pale with fury.
Mara met his stare and smiled. She still had three hours before he discovered the missing audit file. Three hours was plenty of time to become dangerous.