The city skyline glimmered in the late afternoon light, a dazzling spectacle of steel and glass, but for Adrian Blackwood, the view felt hollow. Standing in his office at Blackwood Holdings, he gazed at the horizon as if searching for a solution that had vanished from existence. The hum of computers and distant chatter of assistants seemed distant, irrelevant, swallowed by the weight of reality pressing down on him.
Adrian's hands rested on the polished mahogany desk, knuckles white from the force of his grip. The board meeting had concluded, but the damage had been done. Decisions had been made behind his back, deals brokered without his knowledge, alliances shifted, and within hours, Blackwood Holdings—a company built on decades of vision, strategy, and relentless effort—had slipped from his control.
