Arlene
“How on earth did this happen?” my father asked, his voice rising slightly with concern as he stood in the doorway of my office, just moments after stepping inside.
His gaze swept across the disarray. Paperwork scattered on my desk, open files, and the general chaos engulfing the room since the scandal broke.
The sight of my usually composed workspace in such disorder was clearly unsettling to him.
I hated seeing him like this. His brow furrowed with worry, his voice weighted as though the responsibility rested solely on his shoulders.
“Well, it’s not like I had a crystal ball to predict this,” I replied, trying to mask the panic building in my chest. I didn’t want him to worry more than he already did. “I really don’t know, Dad. Everything we’ve done, every measure we put in p
