Chapter16
The room erupted. A sharp wave of gasps rolled through the staff like a ripple across still water. Some covered their mouths, wide-eyed as if they had just witnessed a public execution. Others leaned in, whispering fiercely behind manicured hands, their voices low but electric with shock and speculation.
“Didn’t they just sign that contract two days ago?” one hissed.
“Greg was bragging about it yesterday,” another muttered.
“Why would Mrs. DiMarco shut it down so suddenly? Unless…”
The whispers swirled like smoke, quick, poisonous, feeding the growing storm. The tension in the grand lobby crackled, half disbelief, half dark excitement, as if the entire company had been handed front-row seats to a scandal too delicious to ignore.
Greg’s face drained of color before flus
