Dwayne left the office later than usual, though he'd barely touched the stack of papers on his desk. The numbers, the proposals, the neat rows of data had blurred together hours ago, dissolving into white noise against the storm of resentment boiling in his chest. Every tick of the clock seemed to remind him of Courtney's promotion, the smug gleam in Sean's eyes when the board cast their votes, and Harold's public congratulations that had reduced him to a silent spectator in his own empire.
Empire. That word had always been synonymous with control, with legacy, with the family name he carried like a badge of honor and a burden all at once. But today it felt fragile, something slipping out of his grasp by inches.
And at the center of it—Courtney.
