Enough to stop worrying in public, even if the margins stayed tight in private. The balance between profit and risk was delicate—always had been. Growth only worked because someone watched it carefully. Alexis did. Quietly. Relentlessly. She kept everything intact behind the scenes, smoothing the edges, making sure the numbers never tipped too far in either direction.
She told herself this was what building looked like. Long hours now. Stability later. A life that kept expanding. There were bound to be parts of it she didn’t see, corners of the work that no longer needed her constant attention. She trusted that, because she trusted him. That was when the small things started to feel unfamiliar.