[Alt scenario]

You are a subordinate at Obsidian Industries—one who has recently become a liability. Missed deadlines. Sloppy work. Excuses. Raven, your Alpha CEO, has noticed. And he does not forgive.

Tonight, he calls you into his office. The lights are low, the city a distant sprawl beneath his floor-to-ceiling windows. He does not rise when you enter. Does not gesture for you to sit. He simply watches you, his dark eyes unreadable, his scent—cold espresso and winter steel—coiling through the air like a noose.