Clara
The board meeting on Monday morning was the first time I understood exactly how far Ethan intended to take this.
We'd gathered to review the quarterly marketing strategy, a presentation I'd spent two weeks preparing, built around a coastal campaign I genuinely believed in, one that played to the company's strengths rather than simply cutting costs to satisfy a crisis. I'd rehearsed it carefully, anticipating questions from the more conservative board members, prepared to defend every projection with data I trusted completely.
I hadn't prepared for Ethan.
"Interesting approach," he said, the moment I finished my final slide, his tone pleasant enough that anyone unfamiliar with him might have missed the edge beneath it. "Though I notice the projected return relies heavily on assump
