Serena walked into the boardroom with a sharp, confident stride, her heels clicking against the polished marble floor.

The atmosphere inside was thick with tension, an unspoken heaviness hanging between the members seated at the long glass table.

She could already feel their eyes on her, some filled with skepticism, others with curiosity, and a few with outright disapproval.

She had known this meeting was coming the moment she stepped foot back in Los Angeles. The murmurs, the side glances, ...