Cassandra woke to thirty-seven missed calls and hundreds of direct messages. News alerts kept piling up as she scrolled through the list.
She reviewed the names before leaving bed. Her senior assistants had called first, followed by legal counsel, public relations, the accountants handling the Night Espresso company, and executives from several of her other businesses. Unknown numbers filled the rest of the list.
The headlines needed only a glance.
[THE COLD BUSINESSWOMAN'S FIRST PUBLIC COLLAPSE]
[FROM BUSINESSWOMAN OF THE YEAR TO CONDEMNED]
[DID CASSANDRA SELFMORE CONTROL BOTH SIDES OF CASCADE VALLEY?]
[NIGHT ESPRESSO FAILS FOREST HIDDEN AND DISBANDS]
