Avery's Point of View
The room turned ice-cold.
A heavy, suffocating silence blanketed the long glass table. Mr. Garrison’s wine glass stopped halfway to his lips, and Dr. Hayes cleared his throat awkwardly, his eyes darting between Rhett and me. The corporate executives shifted in their padded leather chairs, suddenly realizing they had just walked into a minefield.
I clamped my jaw shut, my fingers tightening around my cloth napkin beneath the table until my knuckles turned white. I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw my water glass right into his arrogant, beautiful face. But I knew exactly what he was doing.
This was a test. He was trying to break my professional composure, to make me look hysterical and emotional in front of the team's multi-millionaire owners. If I snapped, I los
