Chapter 3 - The Shadow of the Past
The morning sun filtered through the blinds of the high-rise office, casting sharp diagonal lines across the polished concrete floor. Julian Bennett sat in his executive chair, spinning a silver fountain pen between his fingers. He looked at his reflection in the dark glass of the window—young, untouchable, the crown prince of Bennett Enterprises.
His phone buzzed on the desk. It was an email notification from Human Resources.
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Subject: Termination Confirmation - Tech Innovate Restructuring Status: Completed. Employee: Emily Thompson.
Julian smiled, a cold, satisfied curve of his lips. The problem had been eliminated. No maternity leave liabilities, no stalled projects, no administrative dead weight. Just clean numbers and maximized efficiency. He stood up, adjusted his tie, and headed out for a morning meeting, completely unaware that the ghost of the decision he had made at a desk was about to collide with the reality his father had found in the snow.
