POV: Isabella
The summons came not as a phone call, but as a folded slip of heavy cream paper, delivered by a stone-faced security agent to the door of her dormitory room. It was past six in the evening. Isabella took it with numb fingers.
Ms. Hart,
Your temporary assignment with Hale Holdings is subject to a final review. You are required to attend a meeting with the Chairman at the Hale family estate at 7:45 PM this evening. Transportation is provided.
Failure to attend will be considered a termination of contract and a forfeiture of all associated privileges.
It was a masterpiece of bureaucratic menace. Not a request. It was a directive, veiled in the jargon of human resources. A ‘disciplinary review’ for a temp. It was absurd, a grotesque parody of corporate procedure that made he
