The first indication that something had shifted did not come from a headline or a message forwarded through assistants. It arrived as a program draft that should have required no discussion.
Late that morning, Arianne was at her desk when the call came through without warning. Winter light stretched in a thin полоска across the floor beside her chair, pale and sharp against the dark wood.
The assistant's voice was brief: the Rochefort Foundation.
The anniversary banquet was less than two weeks away. Changes to the printed program were expected — adjustments, confirmations, small corrections. That part didn't surprise her.
What did surprise her was how easily her name was mentioned alongside Gilbert's. Not as a question. Not as a proposal. Just stated, as if it had already been settled.
She didn't interrupt the caller. She didn't react right away.
But her pen, resting between her fingers, went still.
