The silence in the Langston dining room was no longer dignified. It had teeth now: sharp, frantic teeth gnawing at every corner of composure left in the room. The television was still on, replaying snippets of Nova’s press conference on multiple channels. Each network seemed to emphasize the same thing, her calm, her certainty, her declaration that she was now the sole owner of Ace Logistics & Dynamics.

Chase had fainted on live television. They were already looping it.

I took another slow ...