MICHAEL'S POV The day had started like every other soul-draining, end-of-the-month grind.

Meetings bled into each other. My inbox exploded with reports, investor summaries, forecasts, legal approvals, and enough red flags from junior departments to give a less patient man a stroke.

Seventeen companies still fell under my hand, three less than before, thanks to Alessa. But power didn’t spread thinner just because you handed off a slice. It simply demanded you watch everything twice as ...