~ Lily ~
Wednesday arrives dressed in black. The morning was bright enough to spill sunlight across my bedroom floor before I could even open the curtains. The city looked clean after Tuesday’s rain, as every rooftop caught the light.
Then I remember my black dress is for the gala. It’s been on my calendar for months, another annual fundraiser where wealthy people donate extraordinary sums of money while pretending not to notice who donated more. My company sponsors it every year, which means my attendance stopped being optional somewhere around the time I became CEO.
By nine that morning, I was already in the office and I'd already signed three contracts, approved next quarter's expansion budget, and politely declined an invitation to sit on yet another advisory board that promised pre
