JADEN’S POV
The proposal arrived on a Thursday morning.
I was at my desk when Ethan brought it in. Printed and bound the way Adrian’s office always presented things. Clean cover. Professional formatting. The kind of document designed to look collaborative before you read what was actually inside it.
I read what was actually inside it.
Took me eleven minutes.
Then I set it down and looked at the city through my office window and let the particular cold clarity that came with recognizing a move settle over me completely.
It was a merger proposal.
Dressed as a partnership. Framed as mutual benefit. Language carefully chosen to sound like two companies finding common ground rather than one company attempting to quietly absorb the other’s market position.
Adrian had sent it directly to
