Maya had never hated silence more.
The air between her and Jace was thick with questions, unasked, unanswered. They didn't argue. They didn't touch. It was as if all the heat had frozen into something sharp and cold.
At the site meeting, Jace stood across the conference table, presenting revisions with clipped precision. He didn't look at her once. She knew why. He didn't trust her anymore.
And that hurt more than she'd expected.
After the meeting, she followed him out to the corridor.
"Jace," she said, catching his arm. "Please."
He turned slowly, eyes storm-dark. "Did you know?"
She froze.
"About the transfers," he added, quieter now. "Your father using the project to build leverage against mine. Did you know?"
"No," Maya said immediately. "God, Jace, I would've told you if I did."
He stared at her for a long moment. She didn't know what he saw. Then he nodded. Not in understanding, just in acknowledgment. Then walked away.
Later, Naomi found Maya on a bench near the Han River. Her coffee was cold, untouched.
"He doesn't believe me," Maya whispered.
Naomi sat beside her. "Maybe not yet. But if he loves you, and I think he does, he'll come back around."
Maya shook her head. "Love doesn't fix everything."
"No. But it gives you a reason to try."
Meanwhile, Jace returned to his suite to find a package on the table. No address. No note.
Inside: a flash drive. He plugged it into his laptop.
Surveillance footage. From months ago. His father's office. Victor and David Chen in the same room.
"You handle the emotional leverage," David was saying. "I'll take care of the finances."
Jace's throat closed.
The camera angle shifted. Darren entered the room.
Victor turned to him. "And you? Are you still useful?"
Darren's face was tight. "Always."
The footage ended.
Jace sat still for a long time. Then he called someone.
"Meet me," he said.
He didn't call Maya.
Elsewhere, Darren sat in a sleek car outside a nondescript building. On the seat beside him was a file. Inside: photos, records, transaction trails.
He'd kept receipts. And he wasn't done.
Back at Maya's apartment, she scrolled through old emails, piecing together clues. She found traces, vague, shadowed, that something had been off for weeks. But she'd ignored it. Trusted too easily.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown number: If you really want to help him, meet me tonight. Come alone. You owe him that much.
She stared at the message.
She had a choice.
Across Seoul, Jace stood in the center of the skeleton of the hotel-to-be. Steel columns rose like ribs around him. A half-built heart. His hands were in his pockets. His mind was a storm.
He didn't know if he could trust Maya.
But he still loved her.
And that, he realized, was the most dangerous blueprint of all.