ton

icient executive assista

at made him pause, his finge

r was And

request for a flight booki

ne read: Resig

rmal, polite, and unequivocal. Andrea Ayers was resignin

er years ago. A way to keep her officially on the payr

The "business trip" in Europe, and now this. It felt wron

skly to the heavy oak doors of my of

of several allied packs. I looked up, my expression annoyed by

ater, I unmuted

pped, my voice low and imp

n the desk, the email displayed clearly. "Mr.

e word "Resignation." My brow furrowed, n

thought w

s being dramatic.

ident. This was another passive-aggressive move

aped my lips. I pushed the tablet

mpt. "It's a useless position anyway. If she do

serious than it seemed. But one look at the icy fury in my eyes and he

smissively. "Follow standard procedure. And

ntion back to the video conference, my face onc

y orders. He sent a formal, impersonal reply to Andrea's email, accepting her resignation. He

of meetings. I leaned back in my

ing me. I needed a second opinion, someone to bounce ideas

the edge of my mind-a memory of other late nights when Andrea had stayed late to help me structure a negotiatio

head, dis

A mix of frustration and an odd sense of...

g away. It was just the stres

hone and dialed

d sweet, answered

as just think

h Bonnie. The strange, unsettling feeling in my chest

. Everythi

rea

alifornia, the email notificatio

ation A

words without any emotion. It

st official tie to Braxt

ed the

erlooked the sprawling tech campuses of Silicon V

logo was designed. A stylized, elegan

us L