Aria arrived early that evening.
Earlier than usual.
The executive floor buzzed with activity assistants rushing back and forth, files clutched to their chests, whispers slipping through half-closed doors. Whatever meeting Selena had mentioned the night before was important.
Aria kept her head down as she pushed her cart forward.
"Cleaner."
The word was snapped like an insult.
She stopped immediately.
A man in a tailored suit stood near the conference room entrance, irritation etched across his face. He glanced at her uniform with open disdain.
"We're preparing for a board meeting," he said. "Why are you still here?"
"I was instructed to clean this floor," Aria replied softly.
He scoffed. "You people have no sense of timing."
"I'll be quick."
He waved her off. "Just stay out of sight."
Out of sight.
She obeyed.
Minutes later, Selena Ashford swept into the hallway, surrounded by executives like a queen entering her court.
Aria pressed herself closer to the wall.
Selena's eyes caught her immediately.
Of course they did.
"Why is she still here?" Selena demanded sharply. "Didn't I tell you to make sure this floor was cleared?"
One of the managers hesitated. "She's scheduled for tonight, Miss Ashford."
Selena clicked her tongue in annoyance and turned toward Aria.
"You really don't know when you're unwanted, do you?"
"I can leave if "
Selena cut her off. "No. Finish cleaning the conference room."
She smiled coldly. "On your knees."
The hallway went quiet.
Several people glanced over.
Aria's fingers tightened around the mop handle.
Slowly, she knelt.
The cold marble seeped through the thin fabric of her uniform as she wiped beneath the conference table, her movements careful, controlled.
Selena watched with obvious satisfaction.
"This is where you belong," she said casually. "Below us."
Laughter rippled through the hallway.
Aria said nothing.
She finished the job, stood, and bowed her head.
"I'm done."
Selena waved her away like trash.
Inside the conference room, Aria cleaned in silence.
She straightened the chairs. Polished the table. Aligned the documents that had been left behind.
A folder lay open near the head of the table.
She didn't touch it.
She didn't need to.
She already knew what was inside.
Later that night, as the meeting dragged on behind closed doors, Aria waited in the corridor, pretending to wipe fingerprints off the glass wall.
Raised voices leaked through.
"that shareholder is suffocating us!"
"we can't trace them"
"if the vote goes through, we're finished!"
Selena's voice cut through the noise. "Enough. Whoever it is, they'll show themselves eventually. No one beats the Ashford family."
Aria wiped the glass slowly.
Beat them?
No.
She planned to erase them.
When the meeting finally ended, executives poured out looking shaken.
Selena stormed past Aria without sparing her a glance.
Ethan followed.
He stopped.
"You," he said sharply.
Aria turned.
"Don't loiter around sensitive areas," he warned. "You cleaners hear too much."
"I don't listen," she replied.
Ethan's eyes narrowed. "Good. Because if you cause problems, you'll be gone."
Aria lowered her head. "Understood."
Ethan walked away.
When the floor emptied again, Aria entered the now-silent conference room.
She stood at the head of the table.
For a brief moment, she imagined Selena's face when she finally learned the truth.
Not yet.
She pulled out her phone.
A single message waited.
Your position is secure. Proceed as planned.
Aria slipped the phone back into her pocket.
She picked up her mop.
The higher they stood now
The harder they would fall.