Chapter 2 - The Shockwave Across the FloorThe silence that followed was absolute.
Nina dropped her pen, the plastic clatter sounding like thunder in the quiet bullpen. Across the aisle, two developers stopped coding, their screens glowing softly in the dim light of the overcast morning.
Derek didn’t look back. He marched straight back to his glass office, slammed the door, and sat down at his computer, clearly feeling like a corporate conqueror who had just eliminated dead weight.
Nina scrambled out of her chair and dropped beside Ethan’s desk.
“Did he just... did he just fire you?” she whispered, her eyes wide with shock and suppressed fury. “Ethan, you saved the entire inventory pipeline during the holiday cyber attack two years ago! You literally spent forty-eight hours straight fixing the mainframe so payroll wouldn’t bounce!”
“He didn’t check the historical logs,” Ethan said softly.
He didn’t sound angry. He sounded like a man observing a natural disaster—impersonal, detached, and slightly weary.
“I’m going in there,” Nina hissed, starting to stand. “I’m telling him who you are—I’m telling him you report directly to Malcolm Reed at Crestline!”
“No,” Ethan said, catching her wrist with a gentle but firm grip. “Don’t.”
“Ethan, you can’t let this guy humiliate you! You own—well, you own a massive stake in this entire operation!”
“If I step in as the owner every time a manager makes a mistake, nobody learns how to run a business,” Ethan said, standing up. He reached into his bottom drawer and pulled out a small cardboard box. “Besides, I’ve been meaning to spend more time on my data modeling at home. Lily has a science project coming up.”
He methodically placed his stapler, his notebook, and the framed photograph of Sarah and Lily into the box.
When he walked down the aisle toward the elevators, the entire floor watched him in stunned silence. Frank, the security guard downstairs, looked up from his desk as Ethan exited the turnstiles.
May you like
“Early lunch, Mr. Cole?” Frank asked cheerfully.
“Permanent break, Frank,” Ethan replied with a small smile. “Keep an eye on the front doors. It’s going to get stormy today.”
