Ryan Pierce stepped into the boardroom at Pierce Capital like a man reborn, the weight of the last forty-eight hours sloughing off his shoulders with each stride. The room, sleek glass walls, a mahogany table that could seat twenty egos, fell into a hush as heads turned. Whispers rippled.
"He's back."
"Thought we'd have to postpone again,"
"No way, he'd sent the text himself."
"Wait, is he... smiling?"
Ryan slid into his leather chair, the luxury of it feeling suddenly foreign, almost offensive.
No apologies for the delay on the merger deals that should have closed two days prior. No barked orders. Just a calm, "Let's wrap this."
The junior exec, a kid named Ellis with sweat beading on his forehead, fumbled his opening slide, transposed two key projections, the kind of slip that,
