Aria didn't even get three steps down the hallway before her phone vibrated.
JEON INDUSTRIES PROTOTYPE LEAKED TO PRESS.
CEO ARIA SUSPECTED.
She stopped breathing for a second.
Then the fury kicked in.
She spun around and slammed the meeting room door open so hard the glass rattled.
Every head jerked up.
Jungkook looked right at her, expression carved from stone.
"What did you do?" he said, loudly enough to echo.
No explanation. No pause. Straight to blame.
"You really think I'd leak your prototype?" Aria shot back, marching toward him.
"You were the last one asking for access," Jungkook replied. "Timing isn't exactly subtle."
She let out a short, humorless laugh. "You accusing me is what's not subtle."
"You've done worse to win."
"Name one time."
He stood. And the shift in the room was instant.
"Don't tempt me," Jungkook said softly.
Around them, their teams looked like terrified extras.
Aria stepped closer, refusing to back down. "You want to make me the villain because it's convenient. Classic."
"And you want to play innocent because it's strategic."
She tilted her head. "Strategic? Please. If I wanted to take you down, I wouldn't hide behind anonymous leaks."
A muscle in Jungkook's jaw twitched. "Are you admitting you're capable?"
"Don't push your luck."
He exhaled sharply. "We're not doing this with an audience. Come with me."
She hated that he sounded in control.
She hated walking after him.
She hated caring what he thought at all.
He led her into a smaller strategy room, door clicking shut behind them. The quiet felt dangerous.
Jungkook didn't waste time. "If you leaked it—"
"I didn't."
"Then who else had access?"
"Maybe someone from your company?" she said. "Ever consider that?"
"My employees are loyal."
"To you? Sure. To each other? Doubt."
His eyes narrowed. "You're accusing my team now?"
"I'm accusing someone. Because it wasn't me."
Silence dropped.
A heavy, close, tight silence neither of them stepped away from.
Aria pulled up the leaked image on her phone. She hadn't even seen the full prototype until now. Specs, design, everything laid bare.
"If I had leaked this," she said quietly, "I'd at least know what it looked like."
Jungkook watched her face carefully. Too carefully.
Like he was analyzing every breath she took, every twitch, every truth she wasn't saying.
Then her phone buzzed again.
She checked it… and felt the floor tilt.
BREAKING: Anonymous source claims CEO ARIA had motive to leak prototype.
Below it, a photo.
A fake photo.
Aria entering a restricted floor she'd never been near. Time-stamped. Perfectly incriminating.
She turned the phone toward Jungkook. "This isn't real."
He looked at the image. His brows pulled together for the first time all day.
"This is edited."
"No kidding."
Before he could say more, another notification exploded across every screen in the office outside the glass room.
ARIA UNDER INTERNAL REVIEW. PARTNERSHIP IN JEOPARDY. STOCKS SLIPPING.
Jungkook's assistant burst in, breathless. "Sir, someone submitted an official complaint to the board demanding Aria be removed from the joint project."
Aria's chest tightened. "Let me guess. You?"
Jungkook stared straight at her. "I didn't file it."
She froze.
If he didn't…
Then someone wanted her out.
Someone wanted their companies to turn on each other.
Someone wanted war.
Aria took a step back, heart hammering with a mix of fear and fury.
Jungkook didn't take his eyes off her.
"Aria," he said quietly, "someone is setting you up."
Before she could answer, the power in the building cut.
Every light.
Every screen.
Everything.
Darkness swallowed the floor.
A single emergency alarm started beeping.
And a voice from the intercom whispered through the blackout:
"CEO ARIA… step away from JEON INDUSTRIES immediately.
Security is on the way."