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My Ex's Best Friend Is My Boss
  1. 1. The Signature on the Contract
  2. 2. The Slate-Blue Stare
  3. 3. The Waterfront Pier Pitch
  4. 4. Late Nights on Fourth Avenue
  5. 5. The Encounter at Pike Place
  6. 6. The Presentation at City Hall 🔒
  7. 7. The Shadow in the Lobby 🔒
  8. 8. The Truth on the 42nd Floor 🔒
  9. 9. Victoria's Silent Alliance 🔒
  10. 10. Rain on Bainbridge 🔒
  11. 11. Morning on the Sound 🔒
  12. 12. The First Audit Warning 🔒
  13. 13. Tracing the Digital Footprint 🔒
  14. 14. The Stress Test in the Lab 🔒
  15. 15. The State Board Hearing 🔒
  16. 16. Unmasking the Saboteurs 🔒
  17. 17. The Letter of Termination 🔒
  18. 18. Celebration Above Fourth Avenue 🔒
  19. 19. The Corner Office on 42 🔒
  20. 20. The Lakeside Memory 🔒
  21. 21. The Bellevue Subcontractor Ambush 🔒
  22. 22. Midnight at the Museum of History & Industry 🔒
  23. 23. The Scent of Pine and Graphite 🔒
  24. 24. The Unsent Letter 🔒
  25. 25. The Groundbreaking at Pier 58 🔒
  26. 26. The Storm on Queen Anne 🔒
  27. 27. The Bellevue Injunction 🔒
  28. 28. The Hearing at King County Courthouse 🔒
  29. 29. Late Night at the Ballard Locks 🔒
  30. 30. The Mid-Arc Milestone: Unconditional Trust 🔒
  31. 31. Driving the First Pile 🔒
  32. 32. The Corporate Desperation of Tyler Ross 🔒
  33. 33. The Seattle Design Festival Showcase 🔒
  34. 34. Rainy Night in Belltown 🔒
  35. 35. The Subpoena Delivered 🔒
  36. 36. The Geotechnical Breakthrough 🔒
  37. 37. Victoria's Confession 🔒
  38. 38. The Grand Jury Indictment 🔒
  39. 39. The Timber Pergola Prototype 🔒
  40. 40. Partners in Life and Architecture 🔒
  41. 41. Phase Two Announced 🔒
  42. 42. The Return of Arthur Vance 🔒
  43. 43. The Municipal Audit Demand 🔒
  44. 44. The Parametric Code 🔒
  45. 45. The Stolen Submission Alert 🔒
  46. 46. Landing in Singapore 🔒
  47. 47. The Confrontation at Marina Bay Sands 🔒
  48. 48. The Server Room Intruder Unmasked 🔒
  49. 49. Night in the Lion City 🔒
  50. 50. The WAF Tribunal Convenes 🔒
  51. 51. The Global Headlines 🔒
  52. 52. Return to Seattle as Champions 🔒
  53. 53. The Ethics Board Dismissal 🔒
  54. 54. The Timber Pavilion Models in the Shop 🔒
  55. 55. Tyler’s Plea Deal Offer 🔒
  56. 56. The Federal Plea Hearing 🔒
  57. 57. Restitution and the Foundation 🔒
  58. 58. Raising the Mass-Timber Arches 🔒
  59. 59. The Bainbridge Island Retreat 🔒
  60. 60. The Final Co-Conspirator Falls 🔒
  61. 61. The Final Timber Arch Installed 🔒
  62. 62. The Acoustic Tidal Chambers Activated 🔒
  63. 63. The Architectural Digest Feature 🔒
  64. 64. The City Council Phase Two Vote 🔒
  65. 65. Stolen No More 🔒
  66. 66. The Trial of Harrison Ross 🔒
  67. 67. Breaking Ground on Phase Two 🔒
  68. 68. The Architectural Keynote in Chicago 🔒
  69. 69. The Sterling Scholars Arrive 🔒
  70. 70. Autumn Shadows in Belltown 🔒
  71. 71. Moving into the Penthouse 🔒
  72. 72. Victoria Cross’s Sentencing 🔒
  73. 73. The Glulam Ribs of the Pavilion 🔒
  74. 74. Thanksgiving on Queen Anne 🔒
  75. 75. Winter Solstice on the Pier 🔒
  76. 76. The Submerged Observation Tunnel 🔒
  77. 77. Harrison Ross Sentenced 🔒
  78. 78. The Intertidal Living Reef 🔒
  79. 79. The Pritzker Nomination 🔒
  80. 80. Cherry Blossoms and New Horizons 🔒
  81. 81. Designing the Wedding Pavilion 🔒
  82. 82. The Pritzker Prize Award Ceremony in Paris 🔒
  83. 83. Phase Two Final Inspection 🔒
  84. 84. Tyler’s Letter from Prison 🔒
  85. 85. The Eve of the Ribbon Cutting 🔒
  86. 86. The Truth and Its Triumph 🔒
  87. 87. The Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting 🔒
  88. 88. The Public's Love 🔒
  89. 89. Restructuring the Firm 🔒
  90. 90. The Wedding Dress Fitting 🔒
  91. 91. The Bachelorette and Bachelor Gatherings 🔒
  92. 92. The Morning of the Vows 🔒
  93. 93. Walking Down Pier 58 🔒
  94. 94. Vows Beneath the Yellow Cedar 🔒
  95. 95. The Waterfront Reception 🔒
  96. 96. Midnight on the Prow 🔒
  97. 97. The Honeymoon in the San Juan Islands 🔒
  98. 98. Returning as Master Architects 🔒
  99. 99. The Next Generation of Blueprints 🔒
  100. 100. Milestones on Bedrock 🔒
  101. 101. The Legacy of Pier 58 🔒
  102. 102. The Foundation on Bainbridge Island 🔒
  103. 103. The New Life Announced 🔒
  104. 104. Moving to Bainbridge Bluff 🔒
  105. 105. On Equal Terms Forever 🔒

Chapter 23

The Scent of Pine and Graphite

My Ex's Best Friend Is My Boss · Devendra Katariya · 5 min read

On Friday evening, a heavy winter squall swept down across Puget Sound, lashing the glass towers of Fourth Avenue with icy rain and howling winds. Inside the forty-second floor of Vance Design Collective, the studio was empty, wrapped in the quiet, meditative stillness that always accompanied after-hours design work. In the center of Nora's new corner office, the motorized black walnut drafting table was tilted at a thirty-degree angle, illuminated…

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