wool coat tighter against the biting morning wind. The adrenaline from her d

hed down the concrete stairs, catching the arrivi

erhead rail. She pulled out her phone and opened her email, reviewing her p

fice building. She rode the elevator to the 40th floor, he

chatter abruptly died down. Adaline noticed several coworkers suddenly stoppi

er with a joke, gave her a quick, pitying look be

t formed in her stomach. Sh

booted up her computer, her stomach dropping further when she realized her digital workspace had been tampered with. Several k

line. In my office," he called out loudly. His tone was fl

o Preston's office and firmly closed the heavy glass door b

ained standing behind his desk. He shifted his weigh

point. The client, Mr. Julian Croft, has requested a

squeezed empty. "What? Give me a logical reason, Preston. My track reco

Croft cited a sudden lack of confidence in your

he desperately needed for Angus-was tied entirely to the successful comp

aline argued passionately, leaning forward, her hands gripping the

her. "It's done, Adaline. I'm not budging on this. The d

stack of memos was a thick manila folder. Stamped in the top righ

Fallon Kirk sitting on Chandler's desk flashed behind h

on Kirk is pulling strings behind the scenes to ruin me, isn't she?

r and shoved it into a drawer. "Drop the conspiracy theories, A

nds flat on his desk. "You are sacrificing your best employ

ling his coffee mug. "You are lucky you aren't

but she refused to show any weakness. She stoo

oor fell dead silent as she walked past the rows of cub

ersonal project notes, shoving them into her tote bag. Her h

ine crashed, leaving her hollow. A cold,

gers flew across the keyboard, recalculating Angus's medica

eeply red. It was a massive shortfall. It meant the hospital wo

screen. Her reflection stared back at her-pale

onto the desk in si