Sophie calls the emergency meeting at Marlene's Corner approximately twelve hours after Diana Park's departure from Chen Industries.
I know this because my phone explodes with notifications at six in the morning—seventeen messages in rapid succession, all capital letters and excessive exclamation points. The words "EMERGENCY" and "URGENT" and "DROP EVERYTHING" feature prominently. The final message simply reads: "She wears PEARLS, Vivian. PEARLS. This is a CODE RED situation."
Lucas, who is making my morning coffee with his usual precise movements, glances at my phone with an expression of long-suffering patience. "Sophie?"
"Sophie. She's declared a Code Red over Diana's pearls."
"Pearls are classic. Elegant. Non-threatening."
"Sophie doesn't see it that way. Sophie sees pearls as a declaration of war."
