By morning, Julian Price had officially resigned.
By afternoon, he was trending for all the wrong reasons.
By evening, his wife had posted a quote about betrayal on Instagram.
Nina called it “a full buffet of consequences.”
You did not disagree.
On day thirty, you returned to Lujan headquarters for the first time since you quit.
The lobby looked the same.
Too much glass.
Too much chrome.
Too many people pretending not to stare.
You wore a navy suit and walked past reception with a visitor badge, not an employee ID. That mattered. The old version of you had belonged to this building. The new version entered by choice.
Alejandro met you outside the boardroom.
His expression softened when he saw you.
“You came.”
“I said I would.”
“I wasn’t sure.”
“That sounds like a personal problem.”
For the first time in weeks, he smiled.
Barely.
The board meeting lasted two hours.
