The photo went viral by morning.
Not online—yet—but within the Cross & Cove upper circle, it spread like poisoned ink.
A still frame: Noah and Julian under a city streetlight, too close, too quiet. Julian's hand brushes Noah's elbow. Their faces drawn like something unsaid was screaming between them.
By 10 a.m., the board had a copy. By noon, whispers had teeth.
Noah didn't even know the photo existed until Maddie dropped the morning report folder on his desk and said under her breath, "You need to see page six."
He flipped it open.
There it was.
The grainy image. The timestamp. The subject line: Unprofessional Conduct – Potential Ethics Breach.
The air went cold.
His stomach twisted.
His second thought—after the panic—wasn't for himself.
It was for Julian.
Because this?
This wasn't about their reputations anymore.
This was leverage.
Across the floor, Julian's door stayed closed all day.
But Noah felt the eyes.
Even those who made an effort to hide their eyes.
Noah sat motionless at his desk, reading and rereading the report, until Max stood next to him with a coffee he didn't ask for.
"You okay?" Max asked.
Noah didn't look up. "Did you know they were watching us?"
"I figured someone would be. You two have the subtlety of a car crash."
Noah finally looked at him. "This could get him fired."
Max leaned in. "You should be more worried about yourself. You're expendable. He's not."
"I did not do anything wrong," Noah said, clenching his jaw."
"You forgot the first rule of surviving here," Max said quietly. "It's not about right and wrong. It's about who controls the story."
By late afternoon, Julian hadn't come out of his office.
Noah sat through a design meeting with half a pulse, then ducked into the stairwell and dialled the one number he wasn't supposed to.
Julian answered on the third ring.
"Noah."
"There's a photo."
"I know."
"They're using it."
"I know that too."
"Do you want me to deny it?"
There was a pause.
"No."
Noah pressed a hand to his chest. "Then what do we do?"
Julian's voice was tight. "We don't react. Not yet."
"You think staying silent's going to work this time?"
"No," Julian said. "I think staying smart might."
Click.
Lena intercepted Noah an hour later.
She locked the door behind them, flicked the privacy lock, and turned to face him after walking directly into the Design Wing, grabbing his sleeve and dragging him toward the copy room without pausing to welcome him or ask whether he had time.
"They know."
"I figured."
"Three board members met off-site this morning. Klein was one of them. They've got something bigger than a photo. Something they're ready to use."
"Against Julian?"
"Against both of you," she said. "But he's the prize."
Noah stared. "Then why hasn't he done anything?"
"Because doing anything confirms everything."
She opened her clutch and handed him a flash drive.
"What's this?"
"Proof of the leak. The real one. The one that had nothing to do with you."
Noah held it like it might burn him. "You're giving this to me?"
"Because you're not their weapon anymore, Blake. You're the only one they didn't account for."
That night, Julian didn't go home.
He stayed in his office, lights off, city lights flickering behind him. His desk was covered in papers—legal warnings, board threats, and the security file Lena had sent to his private email.
He stared at the surveillance frame.
At Noah.
God, he looked tired.
God, he looked tired.
Julian, who had not rested for two evenings, rubbed his eyes and, each time he closed them, all he saw was Evan's jeer and Noah's quiet, together with the void between them that was filled with all the things he had never expressed. God, he looked depleted.
A knock interrupted the thought.
He looked up.
Noah stood in the doorway.
Not timid. Not ashamed. Just… present.
"Max let me up," Noah said. "He told me to act like I belong here. So I'm trying."
Julian gestured to the seat opposite. "Then sit."
Noah did.
He pulled the flash drive from his pocket and dropped it onto the desk.
It's the real leak," Noah said, pulling the flash drive out of his pocket and dropping it onto the desk. Julian didn't touch it. "Lena gave it to me." "Why you?" "Because I'm the one they didn't see coming." "And you're just handing it over?" Noah tilted his head. "You think I want to destroy this place? I almost lost everything to get in. You think I'd risk it for revenge?" Julian closed his eyes. "I don't know what to think anymore." That is the issue.
A pause.
Then Noah said, "They're betting you'll protect me."
Julian opened his eyes.
Noah leaned forward. "They're betting your silence is your weakness. They're wrong."
Julian's voice was quiet. "Is it?"
"It was. Once."
Julian stared at him.
Then said, "I never forgot you."
Noah swallowed.
"I wake up some mornings," Julian continued, "and think, if I'd said your name that night, none of this would've happened. You'd be a stranger. Safe. Far away from my fire."
"I don't want to be safe," Noah said. "I want to matter."
"You do."
Noah stood. "Then let me help you win."
The agency buzzed more than normal the following morning, and rumours circulated..
Rumours swirled. Meetings shuffled. Legal whispered. And the internal network lit up with one bold announcement:
Royal Archer campaign proceeds as planned. Blake reinstated. Anonymous leak traced to former C&C consultant. Legally pursuing charges.
The response was mixed.
Some applauded.
Some stared.
One board member sent a single line to Julian via his assistant:
You won this round. There won't be another.
Julian didn't respond.
He walked through the Design Wing like a shadow, barely glancing at anyone—until he reached Noah's desk.
He paused.
Noah looked up.
Julian spoke just loud enough for the nearby designers to hear:
"Mr. Blake, I'd like to review your revisions for Phase Three. Join me at ten?"
Noah stood.
"Of course."
In the privacy of Julian's office, the tension changed.
"You made it look like the board moved first," Noah said.
Julian nodded. "Confronting them would have appeared to be retaliation. If you brought the leak forward, it'd look like desperation."
"But if someone else leaked the truth…"
"Then it's damage control. Not a scandal."
Noah grinned. "You're evil."
"I'm efficient."
Noah stepped closer. "So what now?"
Julian looked at him.
Looked.
Then he said, "Now we wait for them to retaliate."
"And in the meantime?"
Julian's voice dropped. "We work. And we don't touch."
Noah's smile faded. "Right."
A pause.
Then Julian added, "Not until we're safe."
Across the city, in a glass-walled office far colder than Julian's, a woman in a grey suit clicked through screenshots of the announcement.
Her lips curled.
"Cute," she said. "They think it's over."
She picked up her phone and dialled.
"Activate Plan B," she said.
"Already done," said the voice on the other end. "Phase Two's in motion."
She hung up.
And smiled.