LOGINAs Adam considered that issue, he also thought about forty-three people and Thursday."I'll cover the remainder personally," he said. "As a short-term director's loan to the company. Documented properly, repayable when the client payments are clear."Melissa looked at him. She didn't seem surprised so she'd probably seen this coming before he had. "That's your money.""It's a loan. Not a gift." He held her gaze. "Draft the documentation today. I want it clean and with proper terms, repayment schedule, everything above board. This doesn't become a habit and it doesn't become invisible.""Understood." She wrote it down. Then, after a moment: "The cost cuts on the list. I think we should still implement them regardless.""All of them. Today." He picked up the list again. "What's the equipment servicing one?""Titan's site vehicles. Scheduled for next week. Pushing it three weeks doesn't create a safety issue, I checked.""Push it." He put the list down. "What about the Havenridge side sp
Monday arrived without ceremony.Adam was at his desk by seven-fifteen, which was earlier than usual and not by choice.He'd been awake since four-forty-three, the kind of awake that had nothing to do with an alarm and everything to do with a brain that had decided sleep was finished whether the body agreed or not.The weekend had been spent at Olivia's place.It was a good one.He hadn't brought the laptop and she hadn't asked about the thing she could clearly see he was carrying.For about six hours on the Sunday afternoon he'd managed to be present in the room with her rather than have his focus on spreadsheets. Even though he noticed her mind was also occupied, he didn't press it.That Sunday morning felt very far away now.Melissa was already at her desk when he arrived, which told him everything about the day before she said a word.She looked up when he walked into her office. "You may want to close the door."He closed it.She had three documents open on her screen and her not
Adam turned around to his name. Carter was standing at the end of the aisle, bag over one shoulder, his expression was one of annoyance and skepticism. "Good point in there," Carter said. It sounded more like the opening move of something than a compliment. "Thanks," Adam said, and turned back toward the door without bothering with whatever was about to happen. "The timing asymmetry thing." Carter fell into step beside him, which Adam hadn't invited but didn't stop. "Where'd you pull that from? I've read most of the major distressed asset literature and I don't recognize the framing." "I didn't pull it from anywhere." Carter looked at him sideways. "You came up with it?” "It's one of the things you can only understand in practice," Adam nonchalantly responded. They pushed through the door into the corridor, the ambient noise of the building settling around them. A few other students from the seminar were drifting in different directions, some still in conversation, Stein was
Adam slept nine hours on Friday night, which was either the most he'd slept in two weeks or his body was making an executive decision without consulting him.He woke up on Saturday morning with the clarity of someone who hadn't had a rest for years and finally decided to sleep for a week.The soft cushion of his bed invited him to stay for longer so Adam was there for a moment, looking at the ceiling.He was beginning to get used to seeing the ceiling rather than the one he had seen for over a decade.Unfortunately, his clear mind created more room for annoying thoughts to arrive.The cash position. The Palliser quote. The five items in Melissa's notebook.He let them sit in his head for thirty seconds, then put them away.It was Saturday.Melissa had said Monday and she'd meant it, and there was nothing he could do between now and then that would move any of the numbers in a meaningful direction.He got up, made coffee, and opened his laptop out of habit before closing it again.Satu
Olivia was halfway through a problem set when her phone lit up with a name she hadn't seen in weeks.Mother.She looked at it for a moment the way she looked at most things from that side of her life, carefully and with caution, the way you looked at weather that might or might not be coming toward you.Despite her reservations, she eventually had to pick it up."Hi, Mom.""Olivia." Her mother's voice had the particular brightness it took on during calls that were really about something else. "I hope I'm not interrupting?""I'm studying.""Of course you are." A deliberate pause on the other end. "I won't keep you then. I just wanted to mention that your father had dinner with Lacoste earlier this week."Olivia set her pen down.She kept her voice even. "Okay?""Just business talk. Nothing of consequence." Her mother said it dismissively before her words were properly examined. "But Lacoste mentioned his son. Kelvin, I believe. Apparently he's been involved in some kind of dispute with
The bank meeting ended at eleven forty-three.Adam knew the exact time because he checked his watch when the relationship manager stood to shake his hand.The meeting lasted an hour and seventeen minutes.It felt longer.He walked out of the building into the grey Friday morning that felt dull and oppressive and stood on the pavement for a moment before moving toward his car.Melissa was already in the passenger seat.She'd attended as Titan's financial officer, which was not technically her title but was technically accurate, and had sat across the table from the bank's two representatives with the composed readiness of someone who had prepared for every question and was mildly disappointed they hadn't asked harder ones.Adam got into the car.Neither of them said anything immediately so he silently pulled out into traffic."Well," he said, after two blocks."They'll probably follow up in writing," Melissa said. "Nothing in the room suggested they were moving toward anything drastic.
It was a chilly Saturday morning so there were not much people out on the street. Most were either sleeping in from the stressful weekdays or passed out from partying on a Friday night.A tall wiry built youth, with a slightly unkempt dark hair, just walked into a clothing store.The store had jus
Olivia's POVThe night air was a bit chilly and slightly biting to the skin but Olivia stood at the entrance of her place of residence, a seven-floor building. She lived on the top floor because it was the cheapest and therefore it was also unfortunately the smallest.Taking in a deep breath, Olivi
Startled at the unexpected question, Adam stumbled over his next words. Misunderstanding his lack of answer as implied consent, Olivia brought up her phone immediately. "I might know someone who can help us... If we call the police-" she began rambling, her hands trembling. Talking her hands int
Adam leaned back slightly in his chair, his expression neutral despite the shifting tension around the table.Olivia was still standing.Melissa was still seated.Daniel glanced between all three of them like he'd just walked into a conversation halfway through and deci







