The first sign was not a resignation; it was silence. For years, Adrian Hawthorne had built his company around certainty; people followed instructions because they trusted his judgement. Even those who disliked him respected his ability to stay several moves ahead of everyone else, but now, that certainty was beginning to crack.
The board meeting started at eight in the morning. Twenty people sat around the polished conference table on the top floor of Blackwell International's headquarters. The room looked exactly as it always had. The city stretched beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows. Reports were arranged neatly in front of every executive; nothing appeared different, yet the atmosphere had changed completely.
Adrian felt it the moment he entered; conversations stopped, people straightened in their seats, and several executives avoided direct eye contact. Others watched him too carefully; nobody seemed relaxed, and nobody seemed united.
