“I do not trust you, Daniel.”

“And I do not trust this presentation.”

The two older board members whispered to each other, nodding in agreement with Marcus.

Daniel looked as though he wanted to jump across the table.

“This is a mistake,” Daniel said, his voice low and dangerous.

“You are letting her walk away with our future.”

“We are adjourning,” Marcus said, standing up.

“We will reconvene when the independent auditor finishes their report next week.”

The meeting broke up in a flurry of papers and hushed arguments.

Daniel glared at me as he packed his laptop, his jaw clenched.

“You think you have won,” he whispered as he walked past my chair.

“You have no idea what I am capable of when I am cornered.”

“I know exactly what you are,” I said.

Robert touched my elbow, guiding me out of the room.

We walked down the long corridor toward the elevators.

The tension in my shoulders did not ease.

Just as the elevator doors opened, Robert’s phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

He pulled it out and looked at the screen.