The air in Lin Feng's study was unusually crisp, laced with the faint scent of sandalwood incense he rarely burned—reserved only for moments requiring deep calculation or intense clarity. Tonight was both.
The shifting alliances in the Apex Circle were stabilizing. Slowly. Cautiously. Lin Feng had spent the past week initiating backdoor dialogues with fringe Council members, replacing mid-level managers quietly, and building credibility among the new generation of founders Sun Yuhan had sourced. The "Future Board" initiative had taken root faster than expected.
But despite this slow consolidation, Cassandra remained a phantom presence—elegant, elusive, and irritatingly effective. Her influence didn't push; it seeped. Into dinner conversations, charity roundtables, design expos, even AI ethics panels. It wasn't domination—it was presence. She was becoming the elegant shadow at the edge of every conversation, and Lin Feng knew shadows grew longer when left unchecked.
