Charlott POV
He called me back in.
I hovered outside longer than necessary, smoothing my jacket twice even though it didn’t need it.
A senior executive spotted me and asked carefully if the Alpha’s mood had gotten worse.
“If it can wait, wait,” I told him. He vanished without another word.
I knocked and entered.
“Alpha Hale.”
The air in the office still carried the sharp edge of his earlier agitation.
“Find out who started the rumors and who kept them alive.”
I hesitated. Rumors rarely grew from nothing.
Liliana had walked these halls as if she belonged.
He’d greeted her personally more than once, sometimes with a hand at her back, sometimes lingering longer than necessary.
Those small things had fed the story for months.
He caught the pause. His eyes narrowed.
“Problem?”
