Carter Williams’s face was a mask of unbridled ferocity as he stared down the young sales associate. "I hit you because you’re an insolent brat who doesn't know her place," he snarled, his voice vibrating with the petty tyranny of a mid-level bureaucrat. "Do you think I need a lecture from you on how to conduct business? I am the manager here! If you’re so miserable working under my rules, then pack your desk and get the hell out of my sight. There are plenty of people desperate for a job in Redharrow who actually know how to follow orders."
Mary Wolfe felt her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. In the hyper-competitive economy of the United Dominion, finding a stable position at a firm as prestigious as the one managing Waterline Square was nearly impossible. She bit h
