POV: Isabella
The demotion was not a single event but a perpetual state of being. Isabella existed in a professional purgatory. Her title, Lead Designer, remained on her door and in her email signature, a cruel piece of fiction. In reality, she was a highly paid consultant with no authority. Sterling, the Executive Project Director, held all the keys. He would bring her concepts and her own work and ask for "thoughts" with the condescending tone of a teacher prompting a slow student. She would give her notes. He would nod, thank her, and proceed to do something blandly and safely different.
The Vega project started to lose its original essence. The daring glass canopy was value-engineered into a standard sunshade. The living green walls were replaced with synthetic panels. Each change fe
