"Elevate just lost the ZenithTech contract."
Jake's voice was sharp as a blade when he walked into Samantha's glass-walled office. No knock, no greeting — just those words that made the air drop ten degrees colder.
Samantha looked up slowly from her desk, her posture calm, but her eyes — those storm-gray eyes — darkened with dangerous precision. "Repeat that."
Jake tossed the file onto her desk. "They pulled out overnight. Said our competitor underbid us at the last second — with a mirror proposal. Down to the decimal."
For the first time that morning, Samantha's fingers stilled over the keyboard. "Impossible," she said quietly. "No one outside this floor had access to the Zenith file."
Jake's jaw tightened. "Exactly."
A beat of silence stretched between them. The hum of the city below was the only sound. Then Samantha leaned back in her chair, expression unreadable. "Someone leaked it."
Jake nodded grimly. "And whoever it is, they knew exactly what to take."
