Monday mornings are bad enough, but this one feels like a personal attack. I wake up with a knot in my stomach, the kind that tells you the day is going to be hell before you even leave bed. My alarm buzzes on the nightstand, shrill and insistent, and for a moment, I debate throwing it across the room.

But then I remember: today is the official kick-off for the Portland expansion project. The one I’ve been unwillingly chained to. The one he is running.

I drag myself out of bed, force myself ...