CHAPTER 35:Ripples And Reverence

Elise Monroe wasted no time.

On her first day as Chief Operating Officer, she dismantled two entire workflows, called an unannounced audit of vendor contracts, and summoned every division head to a closed-door strategy briefing.

Her style was surgical.

She didn't shout. She didn't threaten.

She simply asked questions—and waited. And in the silence, the guilty exposed themselves.

By noon, four managers had resigned.

By evening, three more had been reassigned.

Inside GNV, whispers swirled like smoke: She's clearing the field.

But the ones who knew Anita's mind understood the deeper truth.

Anita was preparing the battlefield.

And Elise? She was the advance strike.

Across town, Julian watched the news scroll across his screen. The appointment. The resignations. The shift.

He leaned back, arms folded, mind spinning.

He'd worked with Anita before the storm—back when she was brilliant but still willing to bend. Before the fall. Before the rebirth he didn't know had happened.

Now, she moved like someone who had glimpsed the future and decided to bend it to her will.

He admired her. More than he meant to.

More than was safe.

But he kept his distance. She wasn't looking for affection. She wasn't even looking for allies.

She was building an empire.

Still, Julian watched. Quiet. Focused.

Waiting for the moment she might finally look back.

Elise handed Anita a folder late that night.

"Three of Marcus's former enablers are still active in subsidiary boards," she said. "All I need is your word."

Anita didn't even glance at the file. "Do what you have to."

Elise nodded once, sharp as a blade.

And left.

Julian, across the city, opened a file of his own—one he hadn't meant to keep.

A photograph of Anita at a GNV gala two years ago. Before the fire behind her eyes turned cold.

He stared at it for a long time.

And then, without deleting it, closed the screen.