The morning of the first joint meeting arrived with a quiet intensity that settled over the entire executive floor.
Everything had been prepared.
Every report reviewed.
Every projection analyzed.
But preparation did not remove the uncertainty that came with stepping into a new partnership, especially one built from former rivalry.
It only made the uncertainty manageable.
I arrived earlier than usual. The office was still calm, the city outside just beginning to wake. A thin layer of morning light stretched across the skyline, soft and pale.
For a moment, I stood by the window and allowed myself to take it in.
This was the kind of moment that would have terrified the woman I used to be.
Walking into a room filled with powerful investors and negotiating the future of an internationa
