Return to Reality
They landed at Teterboro on a freezing February morning, skin still sun warm from the Maldives, hearts still soft from the last night on the beach.
Reality slapped them the second the jet door opened.
Twenty-seven missed calls.
Seventy-three urgent emails.
One subject line in screaming red.
EMERGENCY BOARD MEETING 2PM, POSSIBLE HOSTILE TAKEOVER
Lucian’s face turned to granite. Welcome home, Mrs. Blackwell.
By the time the car hit Midtown, the city already felt like a battlefield.
The threat was real this time.
A consortium of hedge funds led by an anonymous Cayman entity had quietly amassed 28% of Blackwell shares during the two weeks Lucian was off-grid. They were calling for an emergency vote to oust him as CEO and install their own puppet. The stock w
