Adrian had spent most of his career believing that power revealed the truth about people, success stripped away hesitation, authority exposed ambition, and pressure revealed weakness. Now, as Adrian stood outside Conference Room Seven on the forty-second floor of Hawthorne Group headquarters, he was beginning to understand a different truth: failure revealed far more.
The frosted glass doors remained closed, voices moved quietly inside, the meeting had supposedly been scheduled as an informal governance review, nobody had invited him, and nobody had informed him beforehand, yet everyone knew he was aware of it. That was the nature of corporate politics; the messages were often delivered without being spoken.
Marcus stood beside him. "They know you're here," Marcus said quietly.
Adrian kept his eyes on the doors. "I know."
"Do you want me to stop this?" Marcus asked.
