DAPHNE’s POV

They wanted me to stumble, to fold under the whispers, the rumors, the weight of every carefully planted doubt.

What they didn’t know was that I’d spent too many years carrying heavier things than their judgment.

They thought they buried me under failure but they didn’t know that I’d been clawing my way out of graves my whole life.

The boardroom was colder than usual, the glass walls gleaming like ice as I walked in.

A dozen pairs of eyes followed me to the front of the ...