The morning light slipped through the glass walls of the office, soft but intrusive, as Caro stepped into the boardroom holding her folder tightly against her chest. Her heartbeat was already uneven before she even saw him, as though her body understood before her mind that today would not be ordinary. Peter had requested her presence not as an assistant this time, but as someone whose opinion he actually wanted. That alone made her breath tighten.
Peter stood near the window, his back half-turned to her, framed by the city stretching beneath him like something he already owned. Without turning fully, he spoke in a calm, controlled voice that still carried authority. "You're early," he said. "Good. Sit down." Caro hesitated for only a second before obeying, placing her folder on the table as she tried to steady her breathing.
