Chapter 63

The sound of papers crumpling filled the otherwise silent room as I crushed the letter in my hand. My suspension? It was a dagger straight to the gut, but worse, it had Marcus’s fingerprints all over it. He’d used the board’s recent doubts to his advantage, weaponizing numbers and politics to shove me aside. For the first time in years, my armor cracked. I sat at the edge of my desk, staring blankly at the copy of the suspension notice Rhonda had slipped me earlier. The words felt like acid on paper. My title—acting CEO—was gone.