“I want you to pack your things and leave,” Daniel said.

“Tonight,” Margaret added, her tone clipped. “We have already arranged for a moving service to collect your personal items next week.”

I stood still in the middle of the room.

“I spent three years saving your company, Daniel,” I said. “I gave up my father’s inheritance.”

“And we are grateful for that,” Richard said, his voice deep and smooth. “But business is business, and personal lives are separate.”

“You were a temporary fix, Emily,” Sophia said.

Her voice was high and thin.

“Daniel needs someone who fits his new image,” she added. “Now that the company is stable again.”

Daniel nodded in agreement with her.

“I’ve filed the paperwork,” Daniel said, reaching for a manila envelope on the coffee table.

He slid it toward me.

“There is a small settlement offer inside,” he said. “It’s more than fair, considering.”

I looked at the envelope, then at the four people staring at me.

They expected tears.

They expected me to scream, or beg, or fall to my knees.

Margaret adjusted her pearl necklace, waiting for the scene.

Sophia smirked, leaning closer to Daniel’s shoulder.

I looked down at the leather folder tucked under my arm.

Inside it were the documents I had picked up from my lawyer’s office just an hour ago.

I felt a strange sensation in my chest.

It was not sadness.

It was a cold, sharp sense of clarity.

I slowly unzipped my coat and let it slide onto the chair near the door.

“You want me to leave my house?” I asked.

“It’s my family’s house, Emily,” Daniel said, his voice rising slightly. “My LLC owns this property.”

“And you have no claim to it,” Richard added, crossing his arms.

I took a step closer to the coffee table.

I did not touch the envelope Daniel had offered.