I flinched, then made an effort to unclench my jaw.

“What is it?”

I turned to her with a half smile. “Maybe I was having a moment of homesickness. Jin Corp’s reach is impressive.”

Daiyu glanced at the global map, illuminated dots marking major manufacturing plants, distribution centers, and bestselling cities abroad. “It’s why my father is always traveling. He wants the whole world to be suited.”

She didn’t return my smile, but instead walked on. We stopped at an elevator and she punched in her security code at another blue touch pad. I hadn’t worn any recording devices because I couldn’t risk getting caught, so I had to rely on memory for everything I observed. We entered the elevator and Daiyu selected the fifth floor, the highest in the building.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the image of Jin with my maternal grandparents, each of them brimming with life. My anger and betrayal were underscored by sadness. They had tried to reach out to me after my mother had died, but I’d broken off all contact. At thirteen and orphaned, grappling with rage and grief, the gesture seemed false—too little, too late. Now the knowledge that they could have possibly saved my mother, had enough wealth to hire the best medical care for her—that hurt the most. But not once had my mother ever said to me, Call your grandparents for help.

Estranged and probably stubborn to a fault. I was my mother’s son.

“There’s a showroom on the ground floor for tourists to see how suits are made,” Daiyu’s voice broke into my thoughts, “but only investors ever get to see the actual factory floor.”

The elevator doors slid open and we stepped into another wide corridor. Floor-to-ceiling glass panels gave a bird’s-eye view of the factory below, taking up the entirety of the fourth floor. Dozens of employees wearing white lab coats worked at various stations, and I could see at least ten suits being made on the floor.

“These are all custom,” she said, standing near the glass pane. “They’re producing the cheaper suits on the second floor.”

I watched as an employee placed a glass helmet over a suit that was fitted on a life-size dummy, and the sleeves lit up in intricate bright purple designs.