Chapter 12: The Walk Back Down

Martin was escorted out by the same security team that had walked me downstairs an hour earlier.

This time, they did not look embarrassed.

They looked satisfied.

As he passed me, Martin stopped.

His face was no longer smug.

It was small.

“You should have told me who you were,” he muttered.

I picked up my silver pen.

“You should have treated me decently before you knew.”

That landed harder than any insult could have.

After he was gone, Robert asked me to stay.

Not as the woman who fixed numbers quietly in the back office.

As interim chief operating officer.

I almost said no.

Then I looked through the glass wall toward the office below, where hundreds of people were pretending not to stare upward.

People who had mortgages.

Children.

Medical bills.

Christmas plans.

People my grandfather would have called the real company.

“Fine,” I said. “But we do this my way.” Continue Reading ⬇️