Joint accounts frozen.

Emergency board call scheduled.

Emily Reed terminated for cause.

The first time Richard called, I ignored it.

The second time, I watched his name pulse across the screen like an open wound.

The third time, he left a voicemail I never played.

By dawn, I was driving toward Scott Global Tower while the man who promised my future to another woman was discovering his keycards no longer worked.

Part 2

The boardroom on the sixtieth floor had always smelled like polished wood, coffee, and inherited wealth. My father designed it that way. He used to say power should never smell new. New power made people reckless.

Sarah Chen, my CFO, was already there when I arrived. She stood before the wall of screens with her hair twisted into a severe knot and eyes sharp with the kind of focus that unsettled weaker men.

“You look terrible,” she said.

“I feel worse.”