Lena's POV
The deal had been mine from the beginning.
I'd identified the opportunity, made the case internally, championed it through two rounds of skepticism from the board and one pointed question from Damien that I'd answered well enough to get the green light. A retail partnership, mid-market, exactly the accessibility gap Marcus and I had discussed over coffee, exactly the kind of thing I'd been building toward in my vision for the company.
I'd chosen the partner myself.
That was the part that mattered.
The call was at ten on a Tuesday.
Marcus was on it because the deal touched his joint venture territory and Damien had asked him to sit in as an independent perspective. I hadn't thought much about that when the meeting was scheduled. I was thinking about the agenda, the terms,
