Marcus blinked, his smile faltering. "Excuse me? We’ve spent six months on this."
The fluorescent lights of the boardroom hummed, a sharp contrast to the suffocating silence. Elias sat across from the CEO of Miller Dynamics, his hand hovering near a fountain pen that suddenly felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. On the mahogany table lay the contract—a merger that would make Elias a multi-millionaire and secure his company’s legacy. Don’t get the deal. Don’t get the deal
The voice was his father’s, rasping and distant, echoing from a memory twenty years old. It wasn't a command; it was a warning Elias had ignored for months. He looked at the CEO, Marcus, whose smile was as polished and cold as the marble floors. Marcus wasn’t buying a company; he was buying a competitor to dismantle it. Marcus blinked, his smile faltering