(Cole)
I sent the rejection to Gerald less than an hour ago.
The response said exactly what it needed to say. Clear, direct, and final. There was no counter and no version of that offer we were going to consider. The condition attached to it had already been answered before it was fully on the table, and there was nothing left to discuss after that.
Lena had not hesitated.
That made the rest of it simple.
I moved on to the next file on my desk and read through the first section, making two notes before continuing. The office was quiet in the way it usually was at this time of day, steady movement outside my door, phones in the distance, nothing out of place. Everything was moving forward exactly as expected.
Ryan knocked once and stepped into the office without waiting.
That alone t
