Her voice, soft yet intimidating and unyielding, filtered through the conference room like a haunting melody that wouldn't be silenced.
It commanded attention, not by volume, but by sheer power. Every member seated at the long mahogany boardroom table turned their heads, eyes wide with a mixture of reverence and curiosity.
Vera took a deep breath to calm her nerves, but it was barely effective. Her hands trembled slightly under the table as her eyes flicked between Desmond and Jessica.
Aaron, seated beside his father, clenched his fists so tightly under the table that the veins on his knuckles bulged. He struggled to restrain the fiery storm of temper swirling inside him.
Desmond, for all his usual composure, could feel something was wrong. The confidence exuding from Jessica wasn't the bravado of someone bluffing. It was a certainty.
He suddenly had a gnawing premonition that things might not go his way, especially if he allowed her to keep speaking.
