Chapter 4 — Corporate Sabotage

Alex Pierce

The hum of the Glass Citadel’s cooling system was a low, constant murmur that Alex Pierce had long since learned to tune out. Today, however, it pressed against her temples, sharp and invasive, like a harbinger of the tension simmering beneath the pristine surface of her company. She stood in her office, framed by the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked Manhattan. The city sprawled below her, a restless machine of commerce and ambition, its neon lights still faintly visible in the morning haze. Her reflection in the glass stared back—piercing gray eyes shadowed with fatigue, her sleek blazer a pristine armor she no longer felt invincible in.