Rom turned another page.
Then another.
Then he stopped.
His eyes lingered on the signatures.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
The room waited.
Finally, he looked up.
Not at Jain.
At Sian.
"What did you do?"
The question caught everyone off guard.
Even Sian.
Ohm frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Rom ignored him.
His gaze remained fixed on Sian.
"You know exactly what I mean."
The treaty rested on the table between them.
A weapon now.
But Rom could see what it had been before.
And that made something shift in him.
Slowly.
Quietly.
Not anger.
Not shock.
Something softer.
Almost… pride.
Slowly, Ohm stepped forward.
"What are you seeing that I'm not?"
Rom let out a quiet breath.
Then pushed the document toward him.
"Read it."
Ohm did.
A minute passed.
Then another.
His confusion only grew.
"I don't understand."
Rom looked at him.
"That's because you're reading it like a businessman."
The room fell silent.
Rom pointed toward Jain's signature.
"There isn't a single protection clause for him."
Another page.
"No limitations."
Another.
"No conditions."
Another.
"No safeguards."
Ohm frowned.
"Why would anyone agree to that?"
Rom laughed once.
But this time it wasn't sad.
It was almost warm.
Almost proud.
Then he looked at Jain.
And something in his expression softened.
"He wasn't negotiating."
Silence.
Rom's voice lowered.
"He was building something."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Even Lara looked away.
Because suddenly the treaty no longer looked like a corporate document.
It looked like trust written in legal language.
Rom turned toward Sian.
His eyes steadier now.
Not accusing.
Not cold.
But understanding.
"Do you know what this agreement says?"
Sian remained silent.
Rom continued anyway.
"It says Jain believed there would never be a day when he needed protection from you."
The words struck the room like lightning.
Ohm's expression changed.
For the first time...
He understood.
But Rom… didn't look disturbed anymore.
He looked almost impressed.
Almost proud.
Because in all his years of watching people build empires…
He had never seen trust like this survive in writing.
His gaze moved between Jain and Sian.
His twin brother.
His cousin.
Two men who had trusted each other so completely…
They didn't even think to protect themselves.
Rom exhaled slowly.
A faint smile formed at the corner of his lips.
"You idiots…"
But there was no insult in it.
Only admiration.
Because to Rom…
This wasn't weakness.
This was rare.
Dangerously rare.
The treaty remained on the table.
Unchanged.
But in Rom's eyes now…
It wasn't just a contract.
It was proof that, once upon a time, two powerful men had believed the world would never be strong enough to separate them.
And that thought alone made him quietly proud.
Sian stared at the treaty.
Not once.
Not twice.
He didn't read it like the others.
He read it like someone who had helped build it.
Slowly.
Silently.
Dangerously calm.
Then his expression changed.
Very slightly.
But enough.
Rom noticed immediately.
Sian's fingers moved across the page.
Not searching.
Confirming.
Clause after clause.
Structure after structure.
Then—
He stopped.
His hand rested on the center of the document.
On Jain's signature.
And something in his eyes went cold.
Not anger yet.
Understanding first.
Then certainty.
"This isn't trust."
The room froze.
Rom's eyes sharpened.
Ohm frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Sian didn't look at him.
His eyes stayed on the treaty.
On Jain.
"This structure…" Sian said quietly.
"…isn't built to protect him."
A pause.
"It's built to expose me."
Silence.
Rom straightened slightly.
Sian turned one page.
Then another.
His voice remained controlled.
But it had changed.
"He removed every safeguard on purpose."
Another page.
"No protection clauses for himself."
Another.
"No limitations on my authority."
His jaw tightened.
"He made sure I could act freely."
A beat.
"So that responsibility would always sit with me."
Rom's expression shifted.
Slow realization forming.
Sian finally looked up.
At Jain.
Not shocked.
Not confused.
Angry.
But sharper than anger.
Clear.
"You didn't sign this to give me power."
His voice dropped.
"You signed it so that if anything ever broke…"
A pause.
"…it would break through me."
The room went still.
Ohm's eyes widened slightly.
Rom looked between them.
Slowly realizing what he had missed.
Sian stepped forward.
One step.
Then another.
His voice stayed calm.
But it carried weight now.
"You didn't just trust me, Jain."
Another step.
"You positioned me."
Another.
"You made me the center of every outcome."
His eyes darkened slightly.
"So when the world turns against this merger…"
A pause.
"It won't question you."
Silence.
"It will question me."
Rom exhaled slowly.
Understanding hitting him fully now.
Sian continued.
"And the worst part…"
His voice lowered.
"…is you knew I would accept it."
That landed differently.
Heavier.
Because it was true.
Rom looked at Jain.
At Sian.
At the treaty.
And for the first time—
He didn't see a contract.
He saw design.
Precision.
Intention.
Sian's expression tightened.
Not betrayal yet.
Something more complicated.
Respect mixed with anger.
"You didn't gamble."
He looked directly at Jain now.
"You calculated."
Jain didn't respond.
He didn't need to.
Sian already had the answer.
Rom took a step back slowly.
Because now he understood why Sian was angry.
It wasn't because Jain trusted him.
It was because Jain had predicted him correctly.
Sian's voice dropped.
Almost quiet now.
"But you forgot one thing."
A pause.
"I know you too."
The air shifted instantly.
Rom's eyes flicked between them.
Sian stepped closer.
"And I know you didn't do this out of fear."
Another pause.
"You did it because you believed I would never let you fall alone."
Silence.
For the first time…
Sian's anger wasn't chaos.
It was clarity.
And it hurt more.
Because he was right.
The treaty lay between them.
No longer just trust.
No longer just control.
But a map of how well one man understood another—
And how dangerous that understanding had become.